I had planned to photograph the moon this evening, but there wasn't a decent place around the house because of all the trees. So I waited until the wee hours of tomorrow when the moon was over our side patio with a clear view. The purpose of the exercise was to use the SX70 at its longest focal length (247 mm or 1365 mm equivalent). I mounted the camera on a real sturdy tripod and went out to get some snaps. As you all know, the moon is a very bright object. The image filled a lot of the view finder and I could spot meter and spot focus very well. That was a surprise to me, but a welcome one. In order to reduce vibration the camera was set on delay. It worked out very nicely. The images were very good. A little Topaz helped. The best part of the image is at the 4 o'clock position where there were long shadows to enhance the contrast. In the center it is high noon on the moon so there are no shadows. A very satisfying foray into astrophotography.