Photographers generally enjoy getting new equipment. I always find that a new lens or camera will inspire me to go experiment and try to find new ways of seeing. One of my favorite subjects for photography is the moon: very thin crescent moons, full moons near the horizon or eclipses (lunar or solar). I have used different lenses for these shots, but didn’t really have a long lens … so I would end up cropping a lot.
I recently treated myself to Nikon’s 500mm f/5.6 PF lens. This lens is a Fresnel type … and I tried it out shooting the Point Wilson lighthouse … which I thought was appropriate, since the lens in the light of a lighthouse is a typical use for Fresnel optics. The advantage of a Fresnel lens is that it is shorter than a standard lens design, and typically lighter weight … plus (big advantage here) cheaper. (not to say ‘cheap’ … but at least somewhat cheaper … the Nikon standard version runs nearly 3 times the price of the Fresnel version)
I’m looking forward to shooting some moon shots … just as soon as we have some clear weather here in Western Washington.
Awesome! excellent photo
Congratulations! Looking forward to your moon photos.