Aircraft Photography Lenses

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Skids72

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Simon
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Hi All

I am just try to sort out ideas, getting tips on equipment etc. Now apart from pics at home the other main reason for getting a dslr set up is for Airshows.

I am really into WW2 aircraft so my main airshow would be Duxford Flying Legends.

I am looking at getting a Canon (hopefully a 40D) but what lens would be the best for prop aircraft?

Thanks
Simon
 
Something in range of 70-300mm lens would be great..will be good to have image stablisation or VR for low shutter speed which you'll be for prop planes for blurred prop effect denoting motion. Hope that helps.
 
70-300mm would be good or get a sigma 50-500 or the 120-500mm lens is what I have used in the past.
DSC_1105.jpg
 
Lots of aircraft togs use the Canon 100-400mm L lens,

I have the Sigma 120-400 and on a crop sensor i find this to be long enough for me.

Depends on your budget I guess.
 
Hi Simon.

It would be better to give us an idea of your budget and we can put forward suggestions based on that. There isn't much point throwing the expensive, 100-400mm zoom, or 300mm and 400mm prime lenses at you if you cannot afford their £1,000 asking price (new).
 
Nice mustang Tony, love the prop blur.

As for cost well as I just getting into this not mega-bucks to start with. I will probably have about £200-£300ish (depending on how much my camera body is).

Not loads but I would rather save up than buy something that wont do the job.
 
OK, when it comes to aircraft photography in the air you will almost certainly need a decent zoom lens or a long prime lens. You have the versatility with a zoom but primes generally produce better image quality since the focal length is fixed.

Based on your budget and if you want something short term I think the EF 70-300mm f4-5.6 IS USM is for you. It gets favourable online reviews and comes with IS to help prevent camera shake and USM for quick autofocus. This will do the job fine, most of the time.
There will be times though when even the 300mm will not get you close enough to your subject.

Long term, you could save up for either a EF 100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS USM zoom or one of the primes, a 300mm f4L IS USM or 400mm f5.6L USM. You could also and a 1.4x extender to the 300 if you need more focal length at other shoots.

Best of luck.
 
I have just been reading a review of some lenses in a magazine and based on this you sould also consider the following lenses:

Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6 APO DG Macro - £185.
Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6 DG OS - £300.
Tamron SP 70-300mm f/4-5.6 Di VC USD - £350.

They tested ten lenses and the Tamron came out the clear winner with a 92% rating. The Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM only scored 80% in the same test.

More food for thought.
 
Thanks Kauto_Star I will take a look at them all, It can get confusing but this info will help
 
I hate to pour water on your enthusiasm, but to be honest a max of 300mm on any lens at Duxford isn't going to get you much in the way of 'close in' photos. If thats what you are after then 400 is the minimum you'll need, and even that isn't going to get that many close ups.
As has already been said, the standard fare for most aviation photos is a 100-400mm zoom, which is OK, but can be soft at the 400mm end, where you'll be most of the time.
Unfortunately, aviation photography, like I would guess bird photography, is expensive, and relies on very long lenses.
 
100-400 would be my shout. You can get them second hand at reasonable prices. I've paid £600 for mine and £800 for my sons, which was almost new. Both were from the classifieds on here. Also check out mpb.

I wouldn't say by default they are soft at the long end. Both mine are very sharp, something to be aware of when purchasing second hand
 
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Maybe I've been lucky, maybe as they get long they get knocked, or pointed downwards without locking. Not au if that would be enough to knock them out of kilter but I've read the IS can get damaged if you let the lens drop.
 
Skids72 said:
Nice mustang Tony, love the prop blur.

As for cost well as I just getting into this not mega-bucks to start with. I will probably have about £200-£300ish (depending on how much my camera body is).

Not loads but I would rather save up than buy something that wont do the job.
Click to expand...

The Legends ain't for a while yet, I would recommend you not buy anything now and save some more money, £200-300 for a long'ish zoom isn't much of a budget especially for Duxford, where as mention 300mm too short.

Also consider look at used equipment, you'll get more for your money, but you really need to push your budget to around £500+ and look at the range of sigma's like the 120-400mm etc

Check out Mifsuds, camtech, ffordes, MPB Photographic, Park Camera's or the forums as good sources of used equipment.
 
Go hire the lens that you need for the job for the weekend. Cheapest option without any sacrifices. Shooting aircraft can get addictive, with that comes expensive.
I've done it for a couple of years or so now and there's always another lens that will give you that extra reach.My next one is likely to be the Nikon 600mm. But until then the trusty 300mm with 2 x converter will suffice.
In fact that combo is working so well for me, that I may save myself £7k. :D

Kev.
 
ive used a canon 300mm F4 L ( non is ) for aircraft shows and got some very acceptable results on a canon 50d
the beauty about these lenses if you can find one they don't cost a lot of money and the image quality is what you would expect from L glass
the negative with it being a fixed lens is if you are too close but not really a problem at an air show

here's an example
abc934d0.jpg


hope this helps you on your quest
 
All depends on the venue how long a lens you need some the aircraft are on top of you and you need 200 others 400 isnt enough but more often than not longer is better.
 
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