Airshow settings, tips and advice

vcxz wrote:

The planes are generally easy to track since they're big, they often move in predictable lines, and the background is an empty sky. Of course this is a generalization, but it's much easier than erratic birds.

There's no real answer on the shutter. The pre XH2 cameras have a finite buffer. Do you have a lot of self control? When I shot with the XT4 I didn't so I set it to continuous low at something like 5-7 fps and I could get around 35-40 shots. If you set it to the max fps the buffer will fill up quickly. Electronic preshot can also kill your buffer if you're not micromanaging it.

The XH2 removes all these constraints but I understand it might not be worth it for a single event.

Personally if I was shooting the XS10 I'd set the fps relatively low. The planes don't have facial expressions like birds and I'd be more worried about missing shots from a full buffer versus getting high fps. Just shooting them flying in a line shouldn't be too hard but some things like planes flying into each other and passing each other very closely might be tough with a limited buffer.

I echo these comments of setting the fps relatively low.  I've shot quite a few airshows and I use 3 or 5 fps for moving aircraft and Single for parked aircraft.  Even though the planes are moving at high speeds very little in the scene is actually changing in 1/10 of a second.  Spraying and praying at 10fps just means a lot more images to have to cull through.

A couple of more tips-  Consider where the sun is and try to shoot with it at your back or side.  Also look for the best backgrounds to shoot the aircraft in front of...  places free of distractions etc.  On the other hand, it's great to have other stuff in the image to give it some context as opposed to an aircraft by itself.  Things like the runway signs or other aircraft can add to an image of an aircraft taking off or landing.

Move around so that your images have variety.

Shooting propeller powered aircraft well takes practice.  It's easy to freeze them with a 1/2000 shutter but the frozen propellers detract from the image.  As Morris said, to capture propeller planes you need to be down around 1/125 and pan with the plane.  I usually start at a higher shutter and work my down.

thanks for your inputs. i went and bought a CPL for the 70-300 and 2 extra memory cards...although i think the 5 batteries won't be enough to fill 2 64gb and 2 32gb cards.. :))

Hi

For aircraft cruising at low speed across your field of vision in front of you (so you're panning), would you recommend using image stabilisation?

Thanks

jbancroft1957 wrote:

Hi

For aircraft cruising at low speed across your field of vision in front of you (so you're panning), would you recommend using image stabilisation?

Thanks

Yes-  I just leave OIS on anytime I'm hand-holding.  I makes focusing easier.

VisuallyOriented wrote:

jbancroft1957 wrote:

Hi

For aircraft cruising at low speed across your field of vision in front of you (so you're panning), would you recommend using image stabilisation?

Thanks

Yes- I just leave OIS on anytime I'm hand-holding. I makes focusing easier.

Thanks.

Thanks all for your advice. The airshow came and went and i got back with about 1300 photos to go through…got 50 keepers. Glad i bought another 64gb sd card as i ended up shooting in uncompressed raw. 8fps worked just fine. I kept the camera in manual mode with auto ISO and was switching between a lower shutter speed for helicopters and a higher SS for regular planes. The polarizer was always on, so i don‘t know how the photos would have looked without it. The 70-300 with the 1.4TC, at f8-10 produced wonderful results, at least to my eye.

here are some results:

Nice work-

I don't think I've ever seen a F-5 in flight before.  It's great the way the sun lights it up against the darker background.

The image of the Hind has just enough blade whirl to bring it alive.

If the AirSho has a photo pit, spend the xtra money for it.  You will have primo positioning, security for gear, shade, and water.   You want to be at show center.