Oh, my. I've seen numbers saying the 63x zoom (+ 16 digital zoom) on my old Nikon Coolpix P610 point and shoot is equivalent to anywhere between an 800mm lens and a 1500mm lens. The photo on the left is not at full zoom, that's just the 63x. The pic on the right is taken with the 300mm lens that came with my new Nikon. I could easily fit the moon and Venus in the same frame at full zoom. Anyone want to make a donation toward a better lens? Oh, my, that's going to be expensive. I might be saving up for that for YEARS!
I looked at your exif on the D3400 and from that I suspect you are shooting in a Programmed mode. As a test, put your camera on a tripod, set to aperture priority, ISO to 400 and f to 6.3. If you know how, turn the VR off. Check the focus manually and take a shot. If still bad, have your lens checked. As a side note the settings you had for the coolpix were were ISO 640 1/60 second f6.5, while the D3400 was ISO 25600 1/4000 f6.3. The coolpix settings make sense. That is quite a difference. I shoot Canon, but next clear night I am going to go and shoot the moon to find out what I can expect. I will be unhappy if the best I can get is like your D3400. I have both full frame and crop so will try both.
I looked at your exif on the D3400 and from that I suspect you are shooting in a Programmed mode. As a test, put your camera on a tripod, set to aperture priority, ISO to 400 and f to 6.3. If you know how, turn the VR off. Check the focus manually and take a shot. If still bad, have your lens checked. As a side note the settings you had for the coolpix were were ISO 640 1/60 second f6.5, while the D3400 was ISO 25600 1/4000 f6.3. The coolpix settings make sense. That is quite a difference. I shoot Canon, but next clear night I am going to go and shoot the moon to find out what I can expect. I will be unhappy if the best I can get is like your D3400. I have both full frame and crop so will try both.
Thanks for posting this.