Best Still-Camera to Capture Jets?
03-12-2010, 09:19 PM
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RE: Best Still-Camera to Capture Jets?
I agree that it is all personal preference. I have been shooting a Nikon D40 for the last 3 years and a D90 for the last 18 months or so. The only thing I do not like about the D40 is that I'm extremely limited on lens selection. I originally bought the D40 because it was more comfortable than the comparable Canon at the time. As was stated earlier, if the photographer is any good, they can make any camera look great. My brother is a graphic designer and bought a D40 last year shortly before my niece was born. I get aircraft photos I'm very happy with out of my D40, he gets excellent portraits of my niece from his. Definitely sink the money into glass and not the body. I don't think I've ever met anyone who was interested in photography, invested in a dSLR (no matter what their budget), and in the end was unhappy with their decision.
03-13-2010, 10:36 PM
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RE: Best Still-Camera to Capture Jets?
Ran out today for a few practice shots - tomorrow we're going to Waco so I'll get to shoot some jets for the first time. I'm sure the shots will suck so I'm not gonna get my hopes up!
03-16-2010, 07:49 PM
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RE: Best Still-Camera to Capture Jets?
Ok, well, Sunday first day out shooting jets. I'm hooked! The Bobcat was shot with 70-300 and the Kingcat with Bob-o's 70-200 2.8
This was with auto everything and basically zero skills - reading everything Ican and saving pennies for the 2.8 glass
This thread has a lot of great info in it - thanks to everyone for the advice.
This was with auto everything and basically zero skills - reading everything Ican and saving pennies for the 2.8 glass
This thread has a lot of great info in it - thanks to everyone for the advice.
FJ 09
03-17-2010, 01:49 AM
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RE: Best Still-Camera to Capture Jets?
Hello Guy's!
I'am also look for what to buy at this moment.
What do you experts think about this lens?
Tamron AF 70-200mm F2.8 SP Di for Canon in combination with Canon EOS 450D Body?
Any comments and advice will be appreciated!
Regards, Henk
I'am also look for what to buy at this moment.
What do you experts think about this lens?
Tamron AF 70-200mm F2.8 SP Di for Canon in combination with Canon EOS 450D Body?
Any comments and advice will be appreciated!
Regards, Henk
03-17-2010, 02:00 AM
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RE: Best Still-Camera to Capture Jets?
Hey Henk,
I'm sure the Canon guys will be on shortly.... this has just been a great resource. Couldn't be having more fun flyin' and takin' pics! Good luck!
I'm sure the Canon guys will be on shortly.... this has just been a great resource. Couldn't be having more fun flyin' and takin' pics! Good luck!
03-17-2010, 04:30 AM
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RE: Best Still-Camera to Capture Jets?
Hi Henk,
Don't know anything about the lens, although Tamron usually do a good job. The only concern is its maximum focal length - 200mm is a little short. It will be fine if you're close to the pilot/flightline, but if you go to air shows & standing a distance away from the flightline you're going have very small aircraft in your pictures which will need heavy cropping. My view is 200mm is to short, you need a minimum of 300mm, 400mm is even better. I use a Canon 100-400mm with my camera. This is a superb all round lens.
Here's a review of the lens.
http://www.dpreview.com/lensreviews/...0-200_2p8_c16/
TTFN,
Neil
Don't know anything about the lens, although Tamron usually do a good job. The only concern is its maximum focal length - 200mm is a little short. It will be fine if you're close to the pilot/flightline, but if you go to air shows & standing a distance away from the flightline you're going have very small aircraft in your pictures which will need heavy cropping. My view is 200mm is to short, you need a minimum of 300mm, 400mm is even better. I use a Canon 100-400mm with my camera. This is a superb all round lens.
Here's a review of the lens.
http://www.dpreview.com/lensreviews/...0-200_2p8_c16/
TTFN,
Neil
03-17-2010, 04:52 AM
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RE: Best Still-Camera to Capture Jets?
[quote]ORIGINAL: -JC-
The key to really great shots is a fast lens and a decent camera. The glass is where you should spend your money. lens speed is measured in aperture and for zoom lenses, 2.8 is the magic number. The lower the aperture number (called f/ number) the more light the lens lets in and this is a quantitative measure of lens speed. You want a super fast lens that is able to bring the plane in focus the instance you press the trigger. Lenses are long term investments. My best lens is still my Nikon 70-200 2.8 VR (Same lens Uncle Joe and Bob Covish use) that I bought 7 years ago. It has survived 4 camera upgrades and is considered the best zoom lens on the market today as well. Price is around $1600
Camera body. Any modern DSLR has plenty of Mega pixels for your application. The more money you spend, the better quality housing, electronics and computing power. I use a Nikon D300 which is a great camera, but quite frankly, I can't really tell a difference in the quality of my shots when using that or my 6 year old D100. More pixels, yes, but other than that... Nothing really unless I shoot under extreme low light or difficult conditions. But you question was about what equipment for RC photography.
I also agree with Joe that long lenses over 300 mm are not very useful. They are heavy, large and not very flexible. Granted, if you are not shooting from the flight line, then you may need one of these behemoths, but other than that... no.
[quote]
Thanks Neil!
Very nice pictures!
I did the search for this lens after reading the post from JC as above!
Where he is mentioning the 70-200 2.8 is one of his best lenses.
But maybe you are right and I will have to go for a 300 + lens?
Kind regards, Henk
The key to really great shots is a fast lens and a decent camera. The glass is where you should spend your money. lens speed is measured in aperture and for zoom lenses, 2.8 is the magic number. The lower the aperture number (called f/ number) the more light the lens lets in and this is a quantitative measure of lens speed. You want a super fast lens that is able to bring the plane in focus the instance you press the trigger. Lenses are long term investments. My best lens is still my Nikon 70-200 2.8 VR (Same lens Uncle Joe and Bob Covish use) that I bought 7 years ago. It has survived 4 camera upgrades and is considered the best zoom lens on the market today as well. Price is around $1600
Camera body. Any modern DSLR has plenty of Mega pixels for your application. The more money you spend, the better quality housing, electronics and computing power. I use a Nikon D300 which is a great camera, but quite frankly, I can't really tell a difference in the quality of my shots when using that or my 6 year old D100. More pixels, yes, but other than that... Nothing really unless I shoot under extreme low light or difficult conditions. But you question was about what equipment for RC photography.
I also agree with Joe that long lenses over 300 mm are not very useful. They are heavy, large and not very flexible. Granted, if you are not shooting from the flight line, then you may need one of these behemoths, but other than that... no.
[quote]
Thanks Neil!
Very nice pictures!
I did the search for this lens after reading the post from JC as above!
Where he is mentioning the 70-200 2.8 is one of his best lenses.
But maybe you are right and I will have to go for a 300 + lens?
Kind regards, Henk
03-18-2010, 10:53 PM
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RE: Best Still-Camera to Capture Jets?
Today Itried getting out of full-auto mode..... not very successful.... everything was more blurry than sunday. I shot in aperture priority (7.1) and ISO 200, while I believe those settings to be right, Imust have been in the wrong auto focus setting. I ended up changing every few frames and couldn't really figure out which one was working the best because of the LCD in the sun.
Here is what my autofocus menu looks like on the D90 and the settings:
(sorry for quality, from iPhone)
So, my question is which "AF-area mode" should I be using?
"Single Point"
"Dynamic Area"
"Auto Area"
"3D Tracking"
OR....... is the "out of focus" because the shutter speed is too slow and Ineed to open up the aperture to get the shutter speed up?
Here is what my autofocus menu looks like on the D90 and the settings:
(sorry for quality, from iPhone)
So, my question is which "AF-area mode" should I be using?
"Single Point"
"Dynamic Area"
"Auto Area"
"3D Tracking"
OR....... is the "out of focus" because the shutter speed is too slow and Ineed to open up the aperture to get the shutter speed up?
07-15-2010, 04:07 PM
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RE: Best Still-Camera to Capture Jets?
A week of trial an error!
ok...... rented 70-200mm mk2, 1.4 tele, and 300 f4 prime for kentucky jets.
this biggest deal though is probably that Igot out of auto mode. Even with aperture priority set to 7.1 Ifound a few good shots and then other times the camera would just really stop down the shutter speed - resulting in really dark photos. In manual exposure mode, Istarted with a shutter speed of 800 and aperture at 7.1, from there Iadjusted the shutter speed to 640 and back as needed. The lighting was challenging because with the field orientation, subjects are primarily back-lit. Add some gray overcast and cloudy morning and it was difficult to find a setting and keep it. As tony q has suggested to me, for sunny days 7.1 is a great starting point. More to follow...
These are what Iwould consider some of the better shots, Istill need to experiment with exposure step and lighting temp, Ithink Icould get better color out of the setup?
ok...... rented 70-200mm mk2, 1.4 tele, and 300 f4 prime for kentucky jets.
this biggest deal though is probably that Igot out of auto mode. Even with aperture priority set to 7.1 Ifound a few good shots and then other times the camera would just really stop down the shutter speed - resulting in really dark photos. In manual exposure mode, Istarted with a shutter speed of 800 and aperture at 7.1, from there Iadjusted the shutter speed to 640 and back as needed. The lighting was challenging because with the field orientation, subjects are primarily back-lit. Add some gray overcast and cloudy morning and it was difficult to find a setting and keep it. As tony q has suggested to me, for sunny days 7.1 is a great starting point. More to follow...
These are what Iwould consider some of the better shots, Istill need to experiment with exposure step and lighting temp, Ithink Icould get better color out of the setup?
07-16-2010, 02:36 AM
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RE: Best Still-Camera to Capture Jets?
Hi Smitty,
Somewhere in the menu you will find something called color space (well that's what Canon call it) & the factory setting is sRGB - change it to AdobeRGB. That will improve your colours straight away.
If the subject is dark, with a bright background, then up the exposure control (EV) to +0.3 or even +0.7. As for the shutter speed - jets 1/800 - 1250 (depends how fast the model's being flown & how bright the day is), if you want sharp pictures.
TTFN,
Neil
ps great set of pictures, Smitty [8D]
NH
Somewhere in the menu you will find something called color space (well that's what Canon call it) & the factory setting is sRGB - change it to AdobeRGB. That will improve your colours straight away.
If the subject is dark, with a bright background, then up the exposure control (EV) to +0.3 or even +0.7. As for the shutter speed - jets 1/800 - 1250 (depends how fast the model's being flown & how bright the day is), if you want sharp pictures.
TTFN,
Neil
ps great set of pictures, Smitty [8D]
NH
07-16-2010, 08:57 AM
#90
RE: Best Still-Camera to Capture Jets?
Smitty
Set your white balance to 'cloudy' if you have not already. Not sure if my D70 nomenclature will transfer but i set my program up just for shooting jets and found it works for most outdoor stuff. let me get the body and i can share what i have.
Set your white balance to 'cloudy' if you have not already. Not sure if my D70 nomenclature will transfer but i set my program up just for shooting jets and found it works for most outdoor stuff. let me get the body and i can share what i have.
