Posted inCamera & Lens Repair Photography

Reassembling the Canon 24mm f/2.8 S.S.C. FD Mount Lens

I was recently offered a free Canon FD mount 24mm f/2.8 S.S.C. lens, but it came with a small catch. It had been disassembled for a re-lube by the previous owner due to a stuck focus ring, who was then unable to figure out how to put it back together again. 😳 They guaranteed all the bits were there, but had no pictures or any other info on how to re-assemble the lens.

Unfortunately, there are no service manuals and very little detailed information on this specific lens on the internet. There is some info for other FD lenses of this generation (which are somewhat similar – check the links section at the end of this post) but pretty much zero for this one. So this became quite the puzzle, but after a lot of fun, a lot of frustration, and a little luck, I was able to put Humpty back together again…

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Posted inAstronomy Astrophotography

Lunar Eclipse – Portugal January, 2000

I seriously started to doubt my sanity when the alarm clock went off at 2:45am. I found myself pulling on layer after layer of clothing before dragging my tired carcass outside to join the telescope in the crystal clear 4ºC January weather. The moon looks like countless other full moons I’ve seen before. Maybe a little brighter than usual, but maybe that’s just my imagination.

I was starting to doubt that I’d got the right day, when the show finally started. “Looks like somebody’s taken a bite out of the moon”, I said and smiled to myself. Time to get to those pictures! In between pictures, I took occasional looks through my binoculars, but what really fascinated me was the environment. The crisp shadows were slowly dissolving, and the stars were beginning to show! A few times I couldn’t help removing the camera and looking at M42, or a cluster or two. Don’t get much chance for that during a full moon!

Turtle! 22/01/2000

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