Hi, Andy,
Sorry I have not replied sooner -- I forgot which email address my replies were coming to!
My canon A-1 is a 1960s film camera. It does have a setting for automatic, but no, it definitely it is not fully automatic. The Canon A-1 is "the" camera of choice for many film camera buffs. It's the IBM Correcting Selectric II of the film camera buff's world, just as that typewriter is the classic machine, that people still use, and holds its value.
I even saw an ad here in Portland recently, that a high school (or community college? but I think high school) teacher was asking for people to lend working Canon A-1s to his entire class of beginning photography students! When I saw that, and see how many people have these which need repair, I am so delighted to have mine, which is like new!
Thanks for the info on the tripod,and not needing a tracking tripod. I have 3 tripods, two of which I inherited from my late husband. One of his is really terrific! It is entirely strong, has very, very wide-angle legs, and a universal joint at the top so it can adjust left,right, up or down.
All of them have 2-jointed telescoping legs, so be desktop to very tall in height, and stand on rough surfaces if need be.
I bought a battery-operated motorized switch unit so I can snap fast pics, without having to use the hand-crank each time. That way, I don't have to re-focus between shots of the same image.
flo
The A1 is a good camera, but it's fully automatic. Unless there's some confusion and you have a different camera than I think you have.
Usually you will not need a tracking tripod head to photograph the moon. It's so bright, your exposure will be short enough that the moon will not have moved in the sky.
However, the best thing to do, is try it! Use a small tabletop tripod, release the trigger gently without moving the camera, and include some cityscape or other landscape in the foreground.
Andy
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