New camera. Oooh, look it has a 'starlight' setting, whats that about then?...

Had to go out for a late night walk and find out! 
 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ukjeeper/sets/72157629004177597/

I just got the TZ18, but not had a chance to try this setting yet.In fact hardly used it last weekend.

I assume it was with a tripod of some sort

I'm in the same boat... with a new camera that does so many things that I'll never get to the end of all its menu options. Some of what it does could be useful, but some things are just plain weird....

* It has a 'smile recognition' setting, enabling it to take a picture only when the subject is smiling. I'm not sure how practical this is for landscapes. The weather has been pretty lousy since I got the camera, so the landscape just keeps scowling!

* It takes colour or black and white pictures... and in the black and white mode you can select spot colours, such as red, blue, yellow or green. If you have someone wearing a red jacket, you can keep the red jacket and have the landscape black and white. Or even have a black and white landscape with blue sky!

* Its low-light capabilities are incredible, and its ISO settings are remarkably high. The camera can 'see' stuff in the dark that I can't see at all. I can only assume it was programmed with lots of carrot extract!

* It does movies as well... even coping with an OM Mini Meet.

I think you did really well with the video clips Paddy, when I tried it with a small camera holding it by hand it was quiet jerky, next time I used a tripod and it was a lot better.

I tried to take photos of the stars last year and couldnt get it right, I tried   the manual focus (as suggested but still couldnt get it right ) I was using a tripod, perhaps I'll do better this year .

A few years ago I sat shivering on a bench, while my camera sat stable on a tripod, to get pictures of a lunar eclipse. Wish I'd had my current camera for that.

Pulling back, this is what the moon looked like when compared to my local hill and monument - Hoad Hill and Sir John Barrow Monument.

A few years earlier, I'd sat in almost the same place to watch the sun rise partially eclipsed.

I'm looking forward to my TZ18 and it looks like my little tripod will see some action soon!

Nice photos Paddy

I like your sky photos UKJ, I have a job getting my camera to see stars, as its windy in this area quiet a lot it tends to move you or the camera even with a tripod .