Requesting a little (well, a lot!) of advice...

JamesM93

JamesM93

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James
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Hi all,

On Sunday (August 23rd) I intend to attend the Bournemouth Air Festival to see the Vulcan's last ever flight on the South Coast, but there's a problem.... I have no experience shooting aircraft with a proper camera. None.

As well as settings like ISO, shutter speed and aperture, what shooting settings would I need to use or try? Such as continuous frames, etc.

I want to shoot a range of aircraft, from small props to fast-jets and helicopters, and everything in between that is due to fly and I have absolutely no clue where to start. I will be shooting hand held, and I have a Nikon D5200 and will be using a 55-300mm VR lens.

I would appreciate any help and advice.

Regards,

James.
 
Get some practice in before hand on birds in flight!
 
Use AVservo or Nikons equivalent
Use single focus point
Use shutter priority
Settings for helicopter 1/200-250 second
Settings for props 1/250-400 second
Settings for jets 1/640-1250 second
ISO settings you can vary between 100-400 depending on the aperture you're achieving with the shutter speed, tend to keep aperture about f8
Panning, important pick the subject up early, lock focus, continue to pan with the subject until you happy to take the image, the take 2-3 shots, and continue the pan after you've taken the last shot, avoid machine gun style you'll get more keepers.

Important, smooth pan and feet position, good stance to allow you to pan, start with the faster shutter speeds and work your way down. Also think about where the sun is and use it to you advantage, best to have the sun behind you if you can. Don't use spot meter, just chose evaluative metering.

Best advice is just enjoy yourself and enjoy the display.
 
the vulcan is flying sunday afternoon, i dont think it is flying on saturday,, best check as dont want you to have a wasted journey
 
Vulcan doing a fly past on Saturday between Dawlish and Shoreham, its displaying at Shoreham both days, hence why I'm going to Shoreham
 
Thanks guys. I didn't go in the end due to the terrible weather predicted, and how bad the weather was yesterday morning when I got up. It cleared up in the end which I am upset about, but I'll go to old Sarum instead.

Pete, if you went to Shoreham on Saturday, I'm sorry you had to witness the awful events that unfolded.

PS. So instead of manual mode, I should pick shutter priority? What's the difference? What does SP do?

Thanks.
 
BTW, Pete.... I felt nosey and thus had a look at your Fb page. Amazing images!
 
I find the Vulcan one of the easiest aircraft to photograph. It's large and for airshows it doesn't fly that fast! I used an old DSLR and a 55-250mm lens and managed to capture some great images at RIAT. Fit a lens hood, f8/f11aperture where possible with a fast shutter, you may need to adjust your ISO depending on the light.
 
JamesM93 said:
PS. So instead of manual mode, I should pick shutter priority? What's the difference? What does SP do?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Manual requires you to set the aperture, shutter etc. shutter priority or aperture priority means you set the shutter speed or aperture and the camera sets the aperture or shutter speed. Means you can quickly adjust the shutter speed and not have to worry about setting the aperture. You can also adjust the ISO setting to get the required aperture you want at the shutter speed you've set by increasing or reducing the ISO setting.
 
Thanks Pete.

One last question for tomorrow.... focus. Auto focus or manual focus? Will the panning prevent the focus from constantly searching?
 
Firstly, enjoy the airshow and especially the Vulcan.

Ref focusing ~ as you are still coming to grips with exposure and camera settings I would advise autofocus not manual focus.......using manual focus in situation where the subject is moving is a technique/craft of its own. So leave that for another time to if you wish develop the technique. For the record I have relied on auto focusing for almost 100% since 1989 ;)

Now AF setting? I can only speak about Canon and surmise that Nikon including the one you have has similar functionality. With moving subjects I use AI servo (as opposed to 'one shot' focus) this makes the camera keep focusing on the subject whilst the shutter button is held 'half pressed' with full pressure taking the shot(s). There are techniques using back button focusing where you would engage & disengage & re-engage focus....but again this is a method requiring practice.

If you have time go and try out you panning and AF settings on road traffic perhaps from a motorway bridge though that would be traffic coming to and from you, an A road running across in front of you is good for panning practice. Note - have read the manual in regard to the AF settings? As that should help you with the choice of setting available on your model.

I look forward to seeing your pictures :)
 
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Thanks.
I'll think I'll switch between continuous and one-shot autofocus depending on how it works for me.
 
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