Red Bull Air Race Photos - X-T2 w/100-400 and 1.4 TC

[racin06]

Yesterday, I attended the Red Bull Air Race here in Indianapolis. I have to be honest, this was my first time shooting airplanes and I never anticipated the difficulty. It’s tough! I quickly learned it’s a balance of using a slow enough of a shutter speed to produce a blurry prop, yet fast enough to produce sharp photos. I primarily shot with 1/500 and 1/640 shutter speeds. The most difficult photos are when you are shooting while panning the camera to keep up with the airplane. No doubt, I shot some out-of-focus and soft photos; however, I my keeper rate increased as the day passed. For the most part, the X-T2 continuous AF performed well and overall I’m pleased with how the photos turned out. Anyway, I'm having a blast with my X-T2!

 

[miles500]

Great photos. I have just acquired this combination and will be very pleased if I can such sharp photos whilst preserving prop blur - very well done!

 

[Miskec]

Yesterday, I attended the Red Bull Air Race here in Indianapolis. I have to be honest, this was my first time shooting airplanes and I never anticipated the difficulty. It’s tough! I quickly learned it’s a balance of using a slow enough of a shutter speed to produce a blurry prop, yet fast enough to produce sharp photos. I primarily shot with 1/500 and 1/640 shutter speeds. The most difficult photos are when you are shooting while panning the camera to keep up with the airplane. No doubt, I shot some out-of-focus and soft photos; however, I my keeper rate increased as the day passed. For the most part, the X-T2 continuous AF performed well and overall I’m pleased with how the photos turned out. Anyway, I'm having a blast with my X-T2!

I enjoyed these. Nice job! Did you fully enjoy the race, or were you occupied with focusingpanning and pressing the shutter? I would love to have a camera with a zoom lens, along with my x100t.

neven

 

[Jazz1]

Great shots! Wish I had that lens, or maybe just the talent

 

[racin06]

Probably more about the lens than my talent, but thanks!

 

[racin06]

Thank you! I hope you enjoy the 100-400 as much as I do.

 

[racin06]

Thank you! This was my first time attending a Red Bull Air Race and I had very enjoyable time, even though I spent most of the day with my camera raised to my eye.

 

[Crashton]

Probably more about the lens than my talent, but thanks!

Don't sell yourself short. Without you that lens is just a lump of glass. You did a great job, the prop blur is perfect!

 

[deednets]

"Great photos" seems to be the general consensus regarding your photos taken with the rather long tele combo.

So I checked out your images at 100% (not fair, but this is the nature of online fora that people have a "closer" look):







I don't know whether this is solely because of focusing issues - and if it was, what does this mean for the X-T2 - or the lens just not being that fabulous?

Here are some samples, also crops taken from the Nikon D500:





Dunno ...

I understand that maybe one should cut you some slack here, but since you posted those images, some scrutiny should also be allowed, right?

The images were taken from this dpreview post:

D500 200-400VR1 and Airplanes

Took my new D500 out to shoot some planes this past weekend. I have been shooting a significant amount with the D750 since it came out and have been very very happy with the results except for the very small buffer. I was excited to take out the D500 and see what it can do. Here are a few of...

www.dpreview.com

Deed

 

[racin06]

I have thick skin...LOL. The first two photos you posted of mine were shot zoomed all the way in at 560 mm. Comparing 560mm vs 200mm (the focal length of the two photos you posted from another post) at 100% magnification is like comparing apples to watermelons.

 

[deednets]

I have thick skin...LOL. The first two photos you posted of mine were shot zoomed all the way in at 560 mm. Comparing 560mm vs 200mm (the focal length of the two photos you posted from another post) at 100% magnification is like comparing apples to watermelons.

I did realise that! So you are happy with your results then? I had come across some D500 shots of birds in flight and thought they were simply amazing. Also some shots posted on the Oly MFT forum regarding even longer lenses.

Here is a D500 image taken at 340mm so maybe the images would deteriorate as you crank up the millimeters?



Re-posted from dpreview thread:

D500 Airshow! Sharpness? Pft.. (some other concerns though...)

Okay so just to set the record straight, I'm absolutely astounded by the AF system. There's literally nothing else I could hope for. In fact, I had to switch OUT of 3D AF because I was getting lazy and my spot metering was falling totally off subject because the 3D tracked it so well regardless...

www.dpreview.com

My post wasn't about testing your think skin by the way, I just couldn't share the enthusiasm, regardless of whether those images were taken at 560mm or not. I have been shooting Nikon for a few decades so still have a soft spot for those cameras - without any desire to actually using one of them ever again - but have this inkling that maybe Fuji would not be the first choice when it comes to ultra long focal lengths.

Deed

 

[maxxxx]

I have thick skin...LOL. The first two photos you posted of mine were shot zoomed all the way in at 560 mm. Comparing 560mm vs 200mm (the focal length of the two photos you posted from another post) at 100% magnification is like comparing apples to watermelons.

I did realise that! So you are happy with your results then? I had come across some D500 shots of birds in flight and thought they were simply amazing. Also some shots posted on the Oly MFT forum regarding even longer lenses.

Here is a D500 image taken at 340mm so maybe the images would deteriorate as you crank up the millimeters?



Re-posted from dpreview thread:

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4001562

My post wasn't about testing your think skin by the way, I just couldn't share the enthusiasm, regardless of whether those images were taken at 560mm or not. I have been shooting Nikon for a few decades so still have a soft spot for those cameras - without any desire to actually using one of them ever again - but have this inkling that maybe Fuji would not be the first choice when it comes to ultra long focal lengths.

Deed

One factor may be the movement of the planes. I got some pretty sharp images with the Fuji with shutter speeds around 1/1500 or faster. With slower shutter speeds the panning has to be very precise which is hard with the viewfinder lag of the Fuji.

But in general I agree. From what I have seen on different forums, it's easier to crank out sharp images with the D500 and Nikon lenses.

Here are some from a few weeks ago:

 

[Gilbert D]

Nice photos. Thanks for sharing. The last one is my favorite.