Lens reach for airshow

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kartracer

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Possible trip to Red Bull Air Race at Ascot and want to make sure I'm covered in terms of lens reach. I have Nikon DX and FX bodies and a AFS 70-200VRI. Would I be better buying or renting a TC (which one?) or a 300mm F4, or what else? I'm gaining an interest in nature/birding so the kit would get used regularly which is why I'm considering rent vs buy. Other use is occasional motorsports (previously I've rented a TC). I prefer to use the FX body.
 
What DX body do you have? I've shot many airshows with DX and 80-200 alone
 
I have a D7000 (the FX is a D700). I prefer the D700 because of the viewfinder (I wear glasses). So 300mm should be enough?
 
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I have been to one of these events several years ago and the flying is quite breathtaking. The aircraft are small and depending on how close you can get or what type of shot you are after, I'd think that maybe an 80-400mm would be a good choice. Been to several air shows and always found that I was at 400mm for the majority of shots.
 
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I also like the D700/70-200 combo.

That was one of my concerns, that 200mm or 300mm would not have enough reach. I don't have a budget for the 80-400mm G/AFS. Is the D version going to be fast enough? I'll check on rental prices.
 
I've not shot an airshow but this weekend I did shoot with the 70-200mm f2.8 and 2xTC at a wildlife park and still found I could have done with more reach, and I would imagine planes would be considerably further away too. I did take my EM5-II with Panny 100-300mm too (which is 200-600mm eq) and 600mm was much better. Have you thought about a 150-600mm?

The 70-200mm is such a good lens it is difficult to drag yourself away from it (hence me trying the 2xTC) but there's just not enough reach, especially if you are thinking of taking up birding as you've eluded to.
 
Depends how far away you will be!

At Old Warden for example, 300mm f4 on FF is fine, but at Duxford 300mm on DX is often too short!

300mm f4 is a very fine lens!
 
Sounds like you're stuck in a three way trade off between price, quality and reach - pick any two!

I had the same dilema and went for one of the new Sigma 150-600's which seemed a good compromise for me as shooting full frame at 400mm wasn't giving me enough reach. I tried it out at Cosford where I was up on the crowd line - looking back afterwards I found most of my shots were in the 400 - 600 range depending on the size of the plane.

My previous combo was a 70-200 with a 2x TC on it and there was a definite quality improvement going to the Sigma.

This was at about 420mm

18979533905_27b1ea5e90_b.jpg


This was a crop from one at 600mm

19025842890_530b99f848_b.jpg
 
i have a 300 f4 fantastic pice of glass took it to shoot a local spitfire fly by last week but was rained off :(
its the older ed af but still by far the sharpest lens ive ever owned
 
The new Nikon 80-400 would be "ok," used on the D7k for birds/wildlife, D700 for airshows. A 120-300/2.8 +TC'S would be a more versatile option with the ability for lower light. If you're going to want to be shooting little birds on FF you'll probably want to be at 600mm+.
Everything is a compromise... I use the previous 2 combinations, but the one I use the most for birds/wildlife is the 400/2.8 +TC's, and usually at 800mm. For an airshow I would bring the 120-300/2.8...
 
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