I admit straight out that I am a dedicated Nikon fan. An all manual camera is preferred, especially in colder climates. Most of my shots were taken with a Nikon F body. However, some shots were taken with my Nikon 8008 body (which has an excellent, bright viewing screen).

The main thing with camera bodies is that you want a mirror lock-up function if possible. Mirror lock-up is mandatory prior to exposure in order to reduce mirror flop vibration. The Nikon F series cameras have this locking function.

However, the Nikon 8008 does not. To get around this, I employ the old "hat trick" method. Place a large flat-black object in front of the lens, trip the shutter (on bulb setting), wait for the equipment to settle, then expose by removing block. Replace block after proper exposure, then release shutter.

Oh yes, always use a cable release.

Focusing:
I had great difficulty focusing when I first began lunar work. I tried using an eyepiece magnifier (2x) that attached to the viewfinder. While this helped, the image was somewhat dark and still difficult to focus. Currently I have found that the Nikon DW-2 (6x) focusing magnifier is the answer I was looking for. Its bright screen and good magnification allows for excellent critical focusing! This device replaces the pentaprism on the Nikon F series cameras.

If you don't have access to equipment like this, there is another option: knife-edge focusing on a star. You can find a detailed description of this process here: http://web2.airmail.net/capella/myknife.htm

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