I'd wish this sub-forum was called "Photo of the night", but we got what we got. Attached are the results of the night trip to Sedona, AZ. Nikon D7000, as for the lens - sometimes Nikkor 35/1.8, but mostly Nikkor 18-300 and a good tripod. And, of course, no filter.

The Moon

The Moon is very bright comparing to the environment and the shots are pretty quick with low ISO. The quality usually depends on a number of factors where the air and the city lights are probably the most critical ones. The shots made in mountains are usually much better, more contrast with many details. They usually don't require any re-touch or a very limited re-touch.

F-stop: f/18
Exposure time: 1/80 sec.
ISO speed: ISO-100
Exposure bias: +0.7 step
Focal Length: 300 mm
Metering mode: spot, switched to manual after precise focusing.
35 mm focal length: 450

All these details are preserved in the photo and can be downloaded for learning purposes.

Ken,

Even a glass filter adds a blur, so the best way to avoid it is to remote the filter. I'm sure you remember the photos of Joe Bonamassa that I made across the entire building in the darkness. These photos are here on the forum as well. There was only a small fragment of the scene with light and Joe was sitting and playing in the middle. I removed the filter to take this shot as well because I knew its downside. I have read one article a long time ago about night shooting and the guy, who definitely knew the topic, wrote, that we should never use any filters when shoot the stars or anything else in the darkness. And he appeared to be absolutely right.

Dimi

A quick demonstration of the field of depth.