aircraft settings?

[Flying giraffe]

going to R.I.A.T and this will be my first attempt at an airshow , im going armed with a 7d and a 100-400 and wondered what speeds/apertures are best for the different kinds of planes that will be shooting past me, im guessing ai servo but as for pin sharp images that stand out im a little unsure, any help appreciated

 

[seriousrikk]

It's all about the shutter speed for the airshows, or at least it starts there.

Jets, minimum 1/1000th
Prop planes... well start with a 1/250th shutter and see if you can go lower
Choppers... 1/125th or lower. Last year I got the best shots at 1/60th.

With your aperture, I'd say for optimum sharpness see if you can get between F7.1 and F11

AI servo focus is a must, yes.

Metering mode will depend on your confidence to change settings fast. I personally aim for manual shooting and dial in ISO, shutter and aperture myself. Then adjust aperture to keep the exposure right. Because I rarely use anything else I will step aside and let someone else with more experience assist here

 

[Flying giraffe]

thanks for the quick reply, ill prob leave the iso on auto i think to take something else out of the equation, i doubt there will be too much time for dial turning when they whizz past so want to have it set ready.

 

[gblades]

I remember seeing some fantastic shots on zeb's photo stream on Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/73071173@N03/
Maybe have a look at the exif data for ideas.

 

[Flying giraffe]

cheers for that, how do i look at exif files on flickr?

 

[gblades]

View a photo and then go to the actions drop down menu and choose to view the exif info.

 

[Flying giraffe]

View a photo and then go to the actions drop down menu and choose to view the exif info.

 

[Surrey Sam]

View a photo and then go to the actions drop down menu and choose to view the exif info.

If there is a camera model listed over on the right hand side when viewing the image, then you can also click on that which hot links to the EXIF information too.

Saves an extra click

 

[Flying giraffe]

If there is a camera model listed over on the right hand side when viewing the image, then you can also click on that which hot links to the EXIF information too.

Saves an extra click

thanks Sam

 

[modchild]

I was at Waddington airshow at the weekend and got some decent shots despite the English summer weather doing it's best to hamper all the tog's there. I took over 2000 shots over the weekend and have started going through them to cut the duff ones out, but most seem nice and sharp even if they will need levels etc. adjusting. I got this one with my 5D3 and Sigma 150-500 OS. I used TV and shot at 1/2000, ISO640 and f5.6 with +1 Ex Comp and this is a Jpeg SOOC with no PP apart from a crop.

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[mjb123]

Would you use evaluative metering?

 

[modchild]

I used spot metering all day for the airshow, as I usually do for aircraft and BIF, and then adjust exposure comp up or down depending on the light. I don't know how you feel about chimping but it helps to keep an eye on things as the light changes. The cloud cover was constantly changing and I had to go from no exposure comp to +2 1/3 at times, it may blow the sky but at least you'll get to see the aircraft properly.