Air Show Advice: What autofocus area mode for D200?

Glen, gary, you both have outstanding shots!

I guess I'm just a kid at heart but I just love these airshow threads. You guys who contributed the shots are magnificant photographers. Was that a stealth bomber that I saw above?

Well done all!

N

Toermalijn said:

Glen, gary, you both have outstanding shots!

Click to expand...

thanks for the nice comment Toermalijn.

Thanks for the kind words Nikko. I really enjoy airshow photography but I only get to about two shows a year. Yes, that looks like a Stealth Bomber in Glenn's shot above.

Gary

Nikko aus London said:

I guess I'm just a kid at heart but I just love these airshow
threads. You guys who contributed the shots are magnificant
photographers. Was that a stealth bomber that I saw above?

Well done all!

N

Click to expand...

Hello,

I used Dynamic Area with shutter prior at 1/1000s, d200 80-200..

I was happy with the results..

Have a nice day at the air-show ..

Lock on delays the AF from changing focus from a second to several seconds. In theory, it can be a good thing, as if a bird were to fly between you and your subject, with lock on in the on position, the camera would stay focused on your subject. Put another way, It delays the focus from changing which in my mind, slows down the entire AF process, possibly keeping the camera from tracking focus properly.
--

'I may not know much about art, but I know what I like' John Cleese, Monty Python
http://www.pbase.com/baywing

Hello Gene,

Late to the post, but I shoot D200 airshows all the time. I set up my camera with AF constant, Dynamic focus Center, AF set to FPS plus focus, Lock on Normal, and the key for me is I use the wide focus reticle, the center one all the time, and I use pattern 2 on the focus, which is the horizontal pattern, allows for good focus and tracking with horizontal panning shots. if you do your part and pan properly even on prop shots with slow shutter speeds focus follows very well:

D200 and 200-400VR handheld, shutter speeds between 1/250-1/320,











Of course sometimes I forget to speed up the shutter on the jets......
--
Commodorefirst on the http://www
NikonD200timestwo,Past owner NikonD70CP31000CP5000CP5700
http://www.AestheticPhotos.com

Commodorefirst, are you shooting RAW or JPEG?
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D200 Body ~ 17-35mm 2.8 AF-S / 28-70mm 2.8 AF-S / 70-200mm 2.8 AF-S VR / 80-400mm VR / 50mm 1.4D / 60mm 2.8D / 85mm 1.4D / 105mm 2D DC / TC-14E

Those are great airshow pics. Yours and the new japanese D300 pics are some very sharp images made wth the 18-200, a lens I keep reading is soft. I couldn't figure a way to pixel peep your shots, so I can't tell how much post sharpening you did, but can you tell me your overall impression of your 18-200? Is it possible that there are huge sample differences? Even my local dealer is trying to talk me out of getting the 18-200 when my D300 shows up.

What settings do you recommend for the D300 with 200-400mm lens?

Do I notice that you have jumped to the D3 and 500mm lens? What's that combo like?