Airshow DLSR camera/lenses?

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town4life

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Sean
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Hey guys,

Im new to the photography scene but have been attending airshows for years.

I have recently purchased a DSLR Nikon D3100 and Tamron 70-300mm lens

would this Camera/lens be fine for airshows?

what do you guys normally shoot with?

are there any AF-S 400mm lenses out there that are affordable?

Sean
 
hi, welcome to the forums!

I love a good airshow but I wouldn't pretend to be good at shooting them!
bits in my flickr link below.

anyway I used to shoot with a 300mm IS.
but I've seen some great shots with a 70-300 tamron and a sony cropped body
I would say IS is handy, and a monopod very good too option to have too.

My most recent shots were done with a 70-200 and a 2x TC (8MP cropped sensor so x1.6) on a monopod and I'm quite pleased with them but that was on my old camera and focussing was an issue.
I think my newer camera would nail it and get more keepers (and resolution).
can't wait until the next show!

don't forget with your camera you're shooting at 300mm-1.5x (ish) which is 450mm :)

most 400mm lenses I think are not designed for cropped sensors, but will work on them of course.
the sigma 50-500 or 150-500 would be pretty good
 
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Matt,

do you have any links to where I could buy these?

I have looked tirelessly on the internet and failed to find lenses that I feel would be beneficial

your help would be very much approved

also you say that you use a 2x multiplyer, could you advise where I could purchase one for my Nikon?

thanks
 
I shot Farnborough with D3100 + 55-200mm VR, okay, but hoped for more reach and VR was actually counter productive.

I shot Duxford with 5D mk2 + Tamron 70-300mm no VC, much better, and much more keepers due to easier to track target without VR jumping about and larger view finder.


with your D3100 + 70-300mm you should have enough reach, no need for 400mm. VR/VC isn't very useful with telephotos. (i know many will disagree) telephoto lenses are for action photography, so shutter speed will be in 1/500s anyway, sufficiently fast to be not affected by vibrations.

I think the key to shooting aircraft is to listen to announcements to know plane's approach. having a high MP camera also helps as people seem to prefer frame filling cropped images. you could also look at an ultra-wide angle lens for dramatic shots of planes on the ground.


don't bother with teleconverter, the Tamron 70-300mm lens is f5.6. with a 2x teleconverter you'll get f11, which is way too dark to do anything at all. D3100 auto-focus system only works at f5.6
 
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I would get some practice before you go at panning moving objects with the view finder go stand I.e motorway etc and try keep up or try on some birds this will be key to getting the shots you want, the only issue I can think of is th AF being slow this is where the ability to follow the subject being taking the shot will help.
 
I have been to the zoo and been taking images of animals etc, it was a safari so was fast moving generally

will try what you said with cars and birds

thanks for the advice, i suppose I will improve further with experience
 
300mm on a crop is ok for airshows, although I have no particular opinion in your lens as I've not used one. But you can never have enough reach at an airshow!

Panning practice is useful on cars etc, bear in mind that the faster jets will be moving significantly quicker, even accounting for the difference in distance. Get to know your autofocus system well because getting and maintaining focus on something small and fast moving in poor light can be tricky sometimes.
 
You don't need a 400mm lens for airshows, although some prefer them.

This year I left my long lenses at home and just took my camera and 70-300mm lens to Waddington. I found a good spot fairly central on the flight line, and here are a couple of shots. Yes, I could have got some different shots had I taken my long lenses, but not having it didn't reduce my chances, just changed my approach.


Swiss Air Force F/A-18 by Richard Lindley, on Flickr


RNLAF F-16 by Richard Lindley, on Flickr


Tornado GR4 Role Demo by Richard Lindley, on Flickr
 
I shot at waddington in 2011 with a Tamron 28-300 VC on a 550D and got some decent shots but found it a bit short for the smaller planes where I would've liked to get a bit closer. This year I was a bit more prepared and took a 60D with a Sigma 120-400 OS and a 5D3 with a Sigma 150-500 OS and got some great shots and got as close to the action as I'd wanted to before. I think a 150-500 will give you all the reach you need for the little planes and the flexability you need for the larger planes although the 120-400 was perfectly adequate on a crop body.

This is from the 5D3 and 150-500, no PP apart from a crop on this
7493943218_79cbfae498_b.jpg
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This is from the 60D and 120-400, again no PP apart from a crop
7530225548_423fcd4689_b.jpg
[/url][/IMG]

TBH I think either should be long enough for any airshow and I got both at www.panamoz.com
 
Just my opinion and experience with the Sigma 150-500 on a crop body. Don't get me wrong, it's a fine lens and capable of great shots but... Racked out to the 500mm end and wide open, it's not as razor sharp as it could be, especially if you pixel peep in the corners. Stop it down a bit (f/8 should be far enough) and things improve. At the long end, it's not easy to track flying objects - the frame isn't huge and it can be hard picking a plane ou from the sky! Focus lock on isn't as speedy as it could be either (at the long end, on a fast moving object wandering around the frame!) but once it has locked on, it follows and tracks well.

Last year and the year before, I shot a few planes at the Dawlish airshow - more a glorified flypast really - and used my 70-300 VR Nikkor in preference to the 150-500 (which I dragged up the hill and didn't use!) The biggest benefit of the 70-300 is the light weight compared to the 150-500, although I negated that by dragging the heavy one as well!

IF your technique is good enough, the 150-500 will give you the extra reach (especially on a crop body) but the 70-300 may well be enough, especially if the MP count on your body is high enough to allow some cropping.

Lancaster with Dawlish, Dawlish Warren and Exmouth as a backdrop. f/20, 1/100th s, ISO 200 at 300mm on 70-300 VR Nikkor on a D700.

4908166706_dba8521358_z.jpg


Vulcan with Red Arrows as escorts. f/10, 1/500th s, ISO 200 at 155mm (232mm 35mm equivalent) on a D70.

3842173077_3eed7f3b03.jpg
 
I used my nikon 70-300vr at a show, the pics were ok but would have been better if i had changed the setting from spot metering from taking pics the night before, didnt notice until the show was over wont be making that mistake again. But yeah the lens should be plenty
 
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TBH, especially for the Vulcan/Reds shot, I should have taken a test shot then switched to manual and adjusted until there was a better balance between the sky and the undersides of the 'planes. However, as the picture is is exactly how I remember seeing the scene through my own mince pies. I suppose shooting it in raw would have made it more rescuable but I loathe doing major PP and selections that complicated come under that banner for me! A quick dash of overexposure would have helped but pulling back blown highlights is harder than lifting shadows.
 
I got some really good results at RIAT this year using a D3100 and a Sigma 70-300.
 
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