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Adrena1in
5th of November 2009 (Thu), 04:49
That's three evenings in a row now that a lovely moon has risen low from the North-East horizon, but every time I've tried to point a camera at it the clouds have rolled in. How irritating. Managed a few slightly arty shots last night, as the moon was making a triangle with the Pleiades and Hyades.

My nifty fifty was just about right for the job, stopped down a couple to f/2.8, ISO800, 1 second.

http://img42.imageshack.us/img42/2262/moonpleiadeshyades50mms.jpg


32mm with the 18-200mm, f/4.6, 4-seconds.

http://img188.imageshack.us/img188/7180/moonpleiadeshyades32mms.jpg


Got an odd and annoying problem with the 18-200mm though. There's a "loose" point in the lens where the weight of it causes it to retract or extend by itself. Pointing almost straight up I couldn't get it to stay fixed at anything between about 40mm and 120mm...it would just zoom itself out. Still, exposing while this happened gave this.

http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/9423/moonzoomoutsm.jpg


Shame about the lens flare each time, but with slightly crappy shots perhaps it adds a little.
FarmerDave8N
5th of November 2009 (Thu), 09:16
First shot is cool with the Pleiades poking through, and the last shot is a cool accident. I have a 70-300 push-pull that would do the same thing, a heavy-duty rubber band solved it - not sure if something similar would work for you.

David
Adrena1in
5th of November 2009 (Thu), 09:43
...a heavy-duty rubber band solved it - not sure if something similar would work for you.

I've heard people talking about using rubber-bands before. The 18-200mm isn't a push-pull...it's a twist to very focal length, so I guess a band won't help. Not a huge problem as I rarely shoot AP with it at anything other than 18mm, but still, for a nearly £500 lens you wouldn't expect this sort of problem.
FarmerDave8N
5th of November 2009 (Thu), 09:58
it's a twist to very focal length, so I guess a band won't help.

That is annoying to spend that much and have it do that - what if you use a wide rubber band and put it over the zoom ring and the body of the lens at the same time? The added friction might keep it from turning.

David