Cosford Air Show advice

petrolhead

petrolhead

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I am taking my Nikon Z8 and 180-600 lens to the air show

What other lens should I take?

For shooting planes should I just hand hold or should I include a mono pod?

Any other advice re shooting air shows gratefully recd, thanks
 
You will need a lens for static aircraft on the ground, 24-70mm or similar, maybe a wide angle. There will be loads of people so dont expect to get nice clear photos without passers by in them. I wouldn't use a monopod for in flight aircraft the just get in the way and with fast jets you won't be able to pan easily. Slow shutter speed to get nice prop blur. Hope you enjoy you day & look forward to seeing your work.
 
hamster100 said:
You will need a lens for static aircraft on the ground, 24-70mm or similar, maybe a wide angle. There will be loads of people so dont expect to get nice clear photos without passers by in them. I wouldn't use a monopod for in flight aircraft the just get in the way and with fast jets you won't be able to pan easily. Slow shutter speed to get nice prop blur. Hope you enjoy you day & look forward to seeing your work.
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Thanks

I will certainly post some results, they may be blury tho
 
I don't have a Z8 (canon user) but i would think that the IS in it will help immensely. Don't forget to wear comfy shoes, a hat and take sun cream just in case we ever see the sun!
 
hamster100 said:
I don't have a Z8 (canon user) but i would think that the IS in it will help immensely. Don't forget to wear comfy shoes, a hat and take sun cream just in case we ever see the sun!
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Thanks, good advice. BTW, what is sun
 
24-70mm would be ideal for the static display at Cosford, quite a few of the maintenance training airframes are normally on display.

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I don’t know specifically about the static displays and cosford but I found a ultra wide zoom very handy to avoid cutting off wings plus getting in closer helps reduce the number of people in the photo. I often found that it can be quite difficult to pan whilst shooting as people get so bunched up close at time so a monopod is probably not that useful depending on where you are and what angles you’re shooting. Depending of how long the flying aspect of the show is and what aircraft you are interested in the camera gear weight could be tiresome handholding so if you have a smaller lighter kit consider that as well.
 
Well my camera is Z8 and was going to use the 180-600 lens. I have a 24-70, 14-24 and a converted 70-200

I am going as I would like to see how the Z8 does. Planes are not what I usually shoot
 
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I would leave the 70 -200 at home. Too long for static & not long enough for the flying. Depending on how much you want to carry then maybe leave the 14-24 at home as well. I always try to travel as light as possible
 
Spend as little time changing lenses, so I would suggest either the 14-24 or 24-70 but not both. If you are shooting with the 14-24 not to go too wide-angle...
 
gcgraphs said:
24-70mm would be ideal for the static display at Cosford, quite a few of the maintenance training airframes are normally on display.

View attachment 424540
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I remember seeing these fly, just reminds me how old I am, growing up when the new boy in the RAF was the Tornado F2, and the Phantom was just being phased out (Vulcan, Lightning, Shackleton were still 'active')..
 
welshwizard645 said:
I remember seeing these fly, just reminds me how old I am, growing up when the new boy in the RAF was the Tornado F2, and the Phantom was just being phased out (Vulcan, Lightning, Shackleton were still 'active')..
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Blimey.... I remember teaching Wilbur Wright how to mend a puncture........ :naughty:
 
Travel-wise, although it is a bit better more recently, it takes a while to get in from the M6. Also good idea to leave later than the end of the show, go and look round the museum etc.

Last year there were display cancellations, and I felt there was less flying interest than in the past. The F35 wasn't going to come, then did, and did a very short (but fascinating) display. (Fascinating because it hovered absolutely stock still in front of the crowd. Harriers used to move a lot when hovering)

Definitely not a monopod, unless you have a gimbal. Even then, it will restrict what you can do. Last year I had a 300mm on an Oly, so 600mm equivalent. I used a Dot Sight, which made tracking very much easier. Someone asked me what it was "A big cheat :)" I said!

Typhoon-2.jpg
 
The organisation was first class, no major ques getting in or out.

As for the photos, mixed, I tried to keep the shutter speed to 1/200 so that i got prop blur but they we all blury :( so I ended up upping it to 1/640 and although better none were tack sharp which I am dissapointed with
 
It takes practice, see it as a good excuse to attend more airshows.
 
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