I want to take a night pic of the Harvest Moon...do I have to use the tripod? aNd if so where is the spot to plug in the cord to "take the pic" like I did when I used my Canon AE1 ?

Chances are your shutter is going to be slow, so unless you are very special and can hold your camera super still for a second or more you will need the tripod. About the cord, im not sure. I would wager a guess no, but i could be completly wrong since ive never seen the camera before.

Use your self timer if you cannot use the shutter release (cord):-)

Yes you will.And do it on manual at several exposures and f stop setting, oh and use a shuter release cable. so not to shake the camera.

I use the camera's shutter delay on a two-secod timer. That way I don't have to touch the camera.

My flash folds down into the camera body and won't work in that position. I also use a two second delay when taking night shots on a tripod.
I take a shot of the scene in "auto" mode and note the settings for apperture, shutter speed, and ISO. I then switch to full manual mode and adjust the above noted setting to get my desired effect.
A small apperture (higher number = smaller apperture) will give you a greater depth of field but will take a more sensitive ISO setting and/or a longer exposure time. Unfortunately, with digital cameras, longer exposures tend to make images look grainy, though there are a couple of cameras soon to be out there that fixes,or at least minimizes this problem. So watch for grain with images taken with a 1/4 second shutter or longer.

Its a NIKon Digital not a 35 mm And the Nikon will take night pics..on a tripod, but has no cable spot to plug into, I cant figure out why not...I mean wouldnt the pressing of the shutter button shake the camera?

Yes it will. If your camera has a self timer function (most have) use that. The self timer waits a few seconds before triggers the shutter which allows the shakes to stop before it takes the photo.

Piner: I think your statement that longer shutter speed cause graininess is just not true. My experience is that high iso (meaning a shorter shutter speed) causes graininess. This would be caused by the smaller number of photons getting detected. A smaller number of photons causes the deviation among adjacent pixels to be larger (this is grain). Having a long shutter speed increases the number of photons accepted and will thus reduce the sampling error.

Correct Mr. Caedes. The longer the exposure the less the grain.

And as far as the timerI,if you are using a zoom a subject can move quit a bit in a short amount of time. If you are using a wider angled lens the subject will seem to move moch less. So in the time that it takes for the timer to engage the subject could have moved enough to lose it's center.

That's partially correct. With a longer exposure there is less *grain*, but more *noise* introduced. Since CCDs act like photon buckets, the longer they're active, the more likely it is that they'll overfill randomly. Thus you get noise pixels scattered throughout the image. Many cameras have compensation for this, and there's always programs like Neat Image, but it's definitely something to be careful of.

CCD's ??? what is that? what can I do about it? timer? I dont have lenses for this Digital. You all are way beyond what I understand. can you explain this in plainer english?

A CCD is a group photo cells that are accumulated on to a charged coupling array which is set at a position in the camera at an optimal focal distance form the lens or at the back of the camera or as in a film camera, where the film would be. Each of the cells absorbs or in this case reacts to a certain type of photon or you might say color. It then trough the cameras electronics organizes the data stream in to a pattern that then becomes your image. I think that is a simple enough explanation. I can be corrected on this but I can also go into more detail if needed.

Depending on the quality of the CCD, some are more sensitive to Certain colors then others. CCD’s in many cases have color variance problem, in your case red and most likely others, that you have not noticed. But this can be easily corrected in a photo program with subtle adjustments.

Another thing you might want to do is go and buy a full version of a operators manual for your camera. It will have information on how the camera works and many hints on how to take and improve your photos, along with the use and output of images.
When ever I purchase a camera, I go out and buy the one for that camera.

Well that explanation helps as long as I very SLOWLY digest it...and I do have the manual..well, it came with it and maybe it is not the "full" one? im not sure.

Well they make manuals for the camera that is like a soft bound book. I tgive tipe ccolor images for example and much more enfo then the standerd one's. Just call around to cameara dealers and bok store until you find one.

Holy cow, Clayton -- "a CCD is a group photo cells that are accumulated on to a charged coupling array which...". Sorry, but my brain is full!

She asked Tracy! I could have given a more detailed discription, but she wanted it simple.
LOL

caedes- xentrik is correct, I should have written *noise* instead of *graininess*.

Vernabloo: To put it simply, you need to do the following: 1. Put the camera on a tripod and centre the subject 2. Maximum zoom available on you camera 3. Unless you have a remote, use the self timer as Trisbert suggests. This is the same feature you would use if you wanted to include yourself in a photo you were taking, for example. Usually there will be a flashing light on the camera and it will take the photo a few seconds after you presst the button, rather than straight away. You will probably need to look up instructions in your manual.

You may also be able to set a "night" mode or similar on your camera, but even if you can't the above should enable you to get the shot you want. Also be sure to turn all your quality settings up to max if they aren't already, this may enable you to enlarge the subject as unless you have a powerful zoom, it will be quite small in the photo.

BTW here is my own attempt if you hadn't seen it already.

That was a great shot Sam.

Verena,
If your camera and lens meets the specifications of all film cameras then their is an exposure law called the f/16 rule. This rule is based upon the same laws of physics that the ISO ratings are derived from. Simply stated it means that if you set your lens to f/16 and your shutter speed to the ISO rating the exposure will be correct. These settings should be on manual of course. Most images, of the moon, are overexposed due to the cameras built in light meter. This meter is usually an averaging meter and it sees a whole bunch of black and tells the lens to allow more exposes because the scene is dark. The moon is really brighter than it appears to the eye. Try to set your lens to f/16. Then set your shutter speed to the ISO that your camera is set for. Example; f/16 shutter speed at 200 SEC, or as close as you can set your speed. Most cameras now have a 250 instead. Try this at your different ISO settings and you will be surprised how this works. I also use this method for determining exposure when my battery goes dead. It is a good back up method. By the way USE A TRIPOD.
fotobob