Discussion
Having seen a typhoon at FOS last year I fancy going to an airshow this year.
Never been before,what to expect and what sort of costs are involved?
Is my 70-300 going to good enough for action shots?
Or should I just go to somewhere like corris corner for a weekend?
Your thoughts please chaps
Never been before,what to expect and what sort of costs are involved?
Is my 70-300 going to good enough for action shots?
Or should I just go to somewhere like corris corner for a weekend?
Your thoughts please chaps
I find a 70-300mm is very good for flypasts at airshows. As there's a decent amout of light you don't need a fast lens, and the magnification is enough to get you shallow DOF if that's what you like. Try to get to the front of the crowd - essential if you want to try for landing/take-off shots.
The main problem IMHO is that if you leave the camera to work out the metering you often get under-exposed airplanes due to the brightness of the sky - so it's a good time to practice exposure compensation or spot metering if you have it. Pan and keep an eye on shutter speed if you want moving propellers. This is one time when burst mode can be useful - hold the button down as you pan and maybe zoom as well to keep the framing.
The main problem IMHO is that if you leave the camera to work out the metering you often get under-exposed airplanes due to the brightness of the sky - so it's a good time to practice exposure compensation or spot metering if you have it. Pan and keep an eye on shutter speed if you want moving propellers. This is one time when burst mode can be useful - hold the button down as you pan and maybe zoom as well to keep the framing.
Furyous said:
Having seen a typhoon at FOS last year I fancy going to an airshow this year.
Never been before,what to expect and what sort of costs are involved?
Is my 70-300 going to good enough for action shots?
Or should I just go to somewhere like corris corner for a weekend?
Your thoughts please chaps
You don't mention what camera body you are using, but assuming its APS-C then a 70-300 is probably enough - if you are shooting full frame then I'd certainly want a longer lens.Never been before,what to expect and what sort of costs are involved?
Is my 70-300 going to good enough for action shots?
Or should I just go to somewhere like corris corner for a weekend?
Your thoughts please chaps
I used a 70-300 on a 30D at Leuchars Airshow last year, was pretty happy with the results but wished I had a 400mm lens for close-up shots. Depends on the sort of shots you are looking for really
As Simpo mentioned, part of airshow technique is combating the sometimes difficult exposure conditions. I found that spot metering was just too difficult to do on a small target, so in the end I used exposure comp. Even that isn't perfect when your waving your camera at a changeable sky (which luckily I had for Leuchars), so manual mode and setting the exposure yourself can give the best control (as you would imagine
)All 300mm on a APS-C camera:
Hope this helps,
Cheers.
Furyous said:
Cheers chaps, should have mentioned Im using a D200.
FPC, thats the kind of stuff I want to get.
So fractionally less reach then the Canon APS-C body's then (always liked the D200, almost bought one FPC, thats the kind of stuff I want to get.
)No urgent need to buy a new lens, no harm in always wanting more kit though
Cheers.
DiscoColin said:
+1 for Farnborough
[From a 400d with a lowly non-IS 75-300 USM. Looking forward to using the 7d this year though]
Nice shot [From a 400d with a lowly non-IS 75-300 USM. Looking forward to using the 7d this year though
]Think air shows are pretty forgiving on lenses - don't need the pro stuff to get reliable shots.
If you get lucky on the weather then your not normally shooting wide open - plus the action is normally perpendicular to your viewing angle, so its more technique than fast focusing.
Cheers.
I use a 70-300mm (Tamron) with a Canon 450D.
Your camera should produce some good results, Air shows are good as the things are usually above you (kinda makes sense 'airshow'). Make sure you post your pics on here!
Your camera should produce some good results, Air shows are good as the things are usually above you (kinda makes sense 'airshow'
). Make sure you post your pics on here!Edited by Mini1275 on Sunday 28th March 17:34
Edited by Mini1275 on Sunday 28th March 17:35
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