FZ1000 Airshow #3: AFF/AFS, IS OFF, and HDR

Another airshow with my FZ1000 last weekend... Weather and lighting was not very good - it was an evening show with cloudy weather, and it was pretty dark by the end.

This time I tried:

• AFF and AFS autofocus.
  
• Stabiliser OFF for the flying shots. (Previously I've been using AFC and "panning" mode Stabiliser).
  
  I'm still using "panning" mode Stabiliser when attempting "full-disk" propeller-blurs though, using very slow shutter speeds (about 1/50th).
  
• I'm also using back button focus now.

I shot at 20MP and hand-held, the whole time. Here's a couple of examples, Straight Out Of Camera. They're very "flat" - partly due to dull conditions, but also part intentional - not too contrasty, and sharpening and noise reduction are reduced (SH-2, NR-3)... with the intention of tweaking those things manually in post-processing:

[ATTACH alt="FZ1000. Westland Lysander. 1/50th, attempting "full-disk" propeller blur"]681946[/ATTACH]
FZ1000. Westland Lysander. 1/50th, attempting "full-disk" propeller blur


FZ1000. Hawker Hind

To see what my photos look like after post-processing, I posted a bunch from this show over at the UK Airshow Review forums >> HERE <<

Overall, I think my results were slightly improved vs my last airshow, but I want to try these settings again in better light. I'm not sure if focus speed/accuracy with AFF is better or worse than AFC. If one is better than the other, it's not glaringly obvious.

However, I did find that I had fewer out-of-focus shots in bursts, with AFF. My AFC bursts sometimes seem to drift momentarily out of focus and then recover. (By the way, I saw several entire bursts that were out of focus throughout, despite using Focus Priority. But I get those with AFC too).

AFS didn't seem to work so well, at least not with 49-point AF or the "panning line" custom pattern. This may be partly because it is a little more demanding to use - I have to shoot as soon as I achieve focus, otherwise the plane may escape my available depth of field. (I use this technique very successfully with the FZ200, but that has inherently more depth of field available).

Image noise in the FZ1000 up to about ISO1600 seems quite "smooth" and fine-grained, and it cleans up well using specialist NR software (I use Topaz Denoise). But I had problems with shadow noise at ISO3200...

Another airshow next weekend, weather permitting. I plan to use the same settings, but I will also try 1-area for autofocus, with the box set fairly large.

~~~~~

I also tried making a few HDR images, of parked-up planes, earlier in the day. I used both in-camera and exposure-bracketed shots manually post-processed. I took "regular" single shots of each scene for comparison too.

Little to choose between them given these subjects and these conditions. After post-processing they all looked about the same Hence, not really useful to post examples.

The manual process using exposure-bracketed shots of course gives the most flexibility and control. But it also takes ages. The in-camera HDR is great for simply eg. cutting down on blown highlights without losing shadow detail or introducing shadow noise. I'm currently preferring doing everything on the spot with in-camera HDR and exposure compensation...

A couple of things of interest with in-camera HDR:

1. Moving objects can lead to "ghosts" when multiple images are combined. Most HDR software offer some means to prevent this - and it seems the in-camera HDR has anti-ghosting too (but there is no control over it). I took some photos where flapping "remove before flight" ribbons would normally cause obvious ghosts, but the camera did a fair job of minimising them. Doesn't always work perfectly though.
   
2. In-camera HDR also shows you a slightly cropped view when composing...
   The process of combining images for HDR that were hand-held, usually requires a little cropping after alignment - due to slight camera movements between each shot.
   When I'm bracketing for HDR I always leave a little space for this cropping, when composing. With in-camera HDR, I don't have to - the adjusted view lets me frame my subject, without worrying about unexpected clipping in the final HDR image.

PS. if you're wondering what happened to FZ1000 Airshow #2, I didn't post about it here - I didn't think there was anything noteworthy enough to report. But if you're interested, you can see some of the photos >> HERE <<

A truly exceptional set of photos, you seem to be able to achieve shots that appear to be taken while you are in the air with the planes !! Also love the pans with propeller blur.....

I'm hoping to get to the Duxford air show this month so I'll be brushing up on your tips before I go.

Many thanks for posting

Trevor

Hi Hatstand,

I was interested in your comments about HDR. I'm still evaluating this tool.

- Richard

Thanks for yet another detailed and informative post. I too am still trying to work out exactly which combination of settings will get me the most number of in-focus shots in burst mode.

You're getting some excellent results.

Hey Hatstand, you are one hell of a talented photographer! Terrific shots when you consider how new this camera is to you. I live in South Africa & unfortunately Panasonic as a company here no longer exists & only certain retail stores can get to order and the order takes months to arrive. I inquired & placed an order about this camera two months ago & I still have not heard anything, very frustrating so I get my fix looking at every other lucky sod who owns one( ha, ha)

Anyhow keep up the great work.

REgards,

Ray.

to my eyes the end products are not much different than the fz200 (w/ or w/out TC) which were holding there own against the dslr photos on that site, as I have seen there were some stunning shots on that site but as usual those were more about lighting and timing than sensor IQ.

anyway you are a great benefit with your attention to detail and explanation on the how you do it, regardless of the camera model you use. good work!

Enjoyed your airshow photos! They look very nice. Are these pretty much full frame images?

Thanks for posting.

Great set of images Hatstand. You really nailed the shutter speed for great prop blur.

Thanks for sharing those with us.

These two shots and the ones you posted elsewhere look excellent to me Hatstand. Your expertise in using the new camera is improving with each show you do. I would be surprised if you didn't get better results using a larger one area focus box rather than the one you are currently using. It gives more latitude for getting the subject in the focus area. I am also of the opinion that the use of a multi square focus area slightly slows the focusing time. It did on the FZ200 and I've read where it does on DSLR cameras as well.

Also I appreciate all the effort you are putting into this, as I know its of benefit to a lot of us FZ1000 users whether we photograph aeroplanes, or other subjects.

Have fun and success at the next show.

Another couple of very nice shots from the air show. Well done!

I agree with you that gray days and "low key" subjects are not the best for HDRs, which find their best use when there are large variations in the brightness of various parts of a composition - indoor scenes with a view to the outside, landscapes with lots of dark greenery and a bright sunny sky, etc.

Just to fulfill my curiosity - what burst rate are you using for HDRs? I try to use the rapid rate for HDRs, while I use the Medium rate for most other things. Also, what level of HDR did you use for these subjects? For most contrasty subjects, I tend to use at least level 3, but I might have used a lower level in the gray conditions you found at the air show.

ISO - you're doing better than I am. When I use it, 1250 makes a good 8X12 print, 1600 is okay if there isn't much fine detail required, but for me 3200 is only for medium sized web displays. For NR I use Topaz too. I have DxO Optics Pro, and I may try that on ISO 3200. DxO is a stop or so better than Topaz, but it's so slow that I don't use it much.

UK Airshow review shots are terrific! The shots you posted here - were they in camera HDR while moving?

Bill

Just fantastic!

Hi Hatstand,,,,Glad you are using BBF....it is a no brainer...........IN MY OPINION....Alexander

Hi, Went to your Flickr site...hmmm...all stationery...low ISO, typical for FZ200...sorry nothing special.

Alexander Meredith said:

Hi, Went to your Flickr site...hmmm...all stationery...low ISO, typical for FZ200...sorry nothing special.

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You clearly don't hold much love for the FZ200. You must surely feel better about yourself with the unnecessary denigration of someone elses proud work.

Well done mate, well done.

Hatstand,...I love the airplane shots and I wish I had that opportunity. However I would have shot these quite differently. On the Westland since you were at max zoom the FZ1000 only has 2'6" DOF at 50' and F4 and since the plane appears to be moving it would be difficult to keep it in focus at 1/50s. At 1/50s the propeller is invisible rather than blur. In the Hawker shot you can barly see one propeller blade at 1/320. I would have pushed the ISO and shot at F8 and 1/500s. At F8 and 50' the DOF would be about 6' and that 1/500s you could have frozen the plane.

The same goes for the Hawker,...F8, 1/500, ISO 1600 and the plane would be frozen again. Please don't take an offense to my comments as none was intended. It is only what I would have tried. Since I was not there and really don't know the lighting conditions,...mine was a guess.

sttweston said:

to my eyes the end products are not much different than the fz200 (w/ or w/out TC) which were holding there own against the dslr photos on that site, as I have seen there were some stunning shots on that site but as usual those were more about lighting and timing than sensor IQ.

Click to expand...

Yes, in good light, I think the FZ200 does indeed hold its own, certainly after post-processing and reduction for sharing on forums. And I plan to keep using it for the larger airshows, where I need more reach.

However, the FZ1000 has better dynamic range and is eg. retaining more sky/cloud detail, where the FZ200 might be more blown out. And at evening shows like this, the FZ1000's better low light performance means a lot less noise in the images.

But I mentioned in my "airshow #1" post - the biggest appeal of the FZ1000 for me, is not so much better image quality (although that's very welcome) - it's more the speed, handling, new/improved features etc.

Also, I think after all this time I'm probably getting results as good as I'll ever get with the FZ200, but perhaps I still have some way to go with the FZ1000...

Steve Hock said:

Enjoyed your airshow photos! They look very nice. Are these pretty much full frame images?

Thanks for posting.

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Thanks Steve - the images I posted here are straight-from-camera. Most of the post-processed photos I posted on the UK Airshow Review forum are at least cropped for balance and better framing... and some are quite heavily cropped, since the planes were more distant.

I generally wait until a plane fills at least 1/4 of the frame before taking a shot, but there are exceptions.

bill hansen said:

Just to fulfill my curiosity - what burst rate are you using for HDRs? I try to use the rapid rate for HDRs, while I use the Medium rate for most other things. Also, what level of HDR did you use for these subjects? For most contrasty subjects, I tend to use at least level 3, but I might have used a lower level in the gray conditions you found at the air show.

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Hi Bill - for HDR, I either use the in-camera HDR, with bracketing range set to +/-3...

...or I use "bracketing" mode on the drive dial (not burst) - 7 shots to get a +/-3eV spread. When HDR post-processing I'll normally only use 3 of the 7 shots - it's faster and less chance of ghosting from movement in the scene. I use the "0" shot, and either the +/-2 shots, or the +/-3 shots depending on the conditions in the scene.

Briansdad1 said:

UK Airshow review shots are terrific! The shots you posted here - were they in camera HDR while moving?

Bill

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Hi Bill - no, the shots posted here, and the post-processed shots over on the other forum... were nearly all shot in Shutter Priority mode. I normally use S mode to control the amount of propeller blur.

For jets and gliders, I'll switch to Aperture Priority.

HDR mode combines multiple shots, and wouldn't work properly - because of the movement between each shot...