Airshows and Airports - Lens and Location Advice needed

higgeh

higgeh

Messages
353
Name
Graeme
Edit My Images
Yes
Im going to an airshow next month and basically im going to hire a lens for the event from the guys at lensesforhire (good plug). I use a nikon d5100 and im considering a 70-200 f2.8 for the day. i think it should give me enough zoom and enough speed to catch what I want but what is other peoples opinions. My other option is the sigma 50-500 but i think its an f4-6.3.

also i live very close to edinburgh international airport. what are the rules about taking photos in the land around somewhere like this. I know how to get to some excellent locations i.e. in the flight line. but i was wondering if im going to get stopped from doing this.

Thanks for any help
apologies im new here:wave:
 
Hi
Which airshow are you going to, Leuchas? (sorry can't spell it,!)
If so, I've never been there, but I'd be confident in saying it's unlikely to be long enough, given the distance away from the crowd both CAA and Military regs mandate displays to take place.
Put it another way, I have a 300 F2.8, and a x2 extender, and thats not long enough a lot of the time!
Regs for photography at BAA owned airports, my specialist subject, I used to Police at West London International airport.
Defends on the Airport Authority attitude and or Police, and that depends on who you meet.
The simple answer is you can take photos at airports, but if you're on their property, then they can demand copyright. Thats contained in the airport by laws, which are much the same whichever BAA airport you go to.
However, you are only permitted to be on a BAA airport for 3 reasons, you are flying, you are meeting someone or you work there. Any other reason and you can be ejected. Now at Heathrow that wasn't a big issue unless the spotters/photogs took the micky, which they inevitably did. That ended badly for them usually. Moral of the story is therefore blend in and behave, and you probably wont get asked to take a hike.
Once you are off the airport property however, you can do whatever you like.
 
Cheers bernie for the reply. I might try and get my hands on a 1.5x adapter just incase.

I have in my bag then

17-55 (for the red arrows spreads)
55-200 f4.5-5.6 for general walkaround shots
300mm f4 for shooting
and the 1.5 to attach to the 55-200 and the 300 incase range isnt enough.

suppose i better get a monopod aswell

My plan is to go for a wander to one of the better known edinburgh airport spots outside the fence. I have a small memory card to take with me just incase i do get into trouble and have to hand over anything. we will see how it goes i suppose.
 
I wouldn't bother with a monopod, they just get in the way. 300 with a converter will probably do you for most things.
As for being outside the airport, I wouldn't worry about it, the stories you hear are mostly over hyped, and in any case, mostly all police will want to know is you aren't up to no good. I take photos outside military bases, and have never had any real problems, polite and honest answering = no problem, but I've seen people do the opposite and then wonder why they end up with a long search and every bit of kit being checked on property index.
 
I'd say the 70-200mm would generally be too short tbh.

Go with the 50-500mm and don't be afraid to close the aperture a little. Depending on the distance of the planes, f2.8 might make the DoF too narrow, especially when you consider the time your going to have to get focus and take the shot ;)

Don't forget too that if the sun's out (OK, stop laughing :LOL: ) then even at ISO100, you may need to close the aperture a little to expose the shot correctly (depending on what your camera's fastest shutter speed is).

With regards to the small memory card in case you have to hand anything over...... Whilst you should remain calm and polite if challenged about what you're doing, no one can make you hand over anything, check what's on your camera or make you delete images if you are on public land.
 
i never thought of using the 50-500 (im going to be hiring so the challenge is finding one since stewart is out of stock)

i love the 50-500 and was lucky enough to shoot on it a couple of years ago. will it be fast enough for aircraft? if so i might just get that and it will save me alot of hassle.

Once again thanks for all your help. Its only recently ive really started to get back into my photography and this place has been a good resource.
 
You won't get any bother at Edinburgh airport as long as your outside the perimeter fence, just make sure you've parked sensibly and for emergency vehicle access if it its needed.
Highly unlikely I know, but its the only way you'd get bother there.
 
chrism_scotland said:
Spotting at Edinburgh Airport is fine like Keith says as long as you ar parked fine, been a few times and never had any bother.
Click to expand...

Agreed.

70 - 200mm is no good in Leuchars although can be OK at certain places around the flight paths;)
 
higgeh said:
i never thought of using the 50-500 (im going to be hiring so the challenge is finding one since stewart is out of stock)

i love the 50-500 and was lucky enough to shoot on it a couple of years ago. will it be fast enough for aircraft? if so i might just get that and it will save me alot of hassle.

Once again thanks for all your help. Its only recently ive really started to get back into my photography and this place has been a good resource.
Click to expand...

When you say "Will it be fast enough" do you mean in terms of aperture or AF?
 
aperture. I know the af should be ok as ive used the lens before. but ive never been to an airshow with the serious thought of taking some pictures. dont want to get there to be destroyed by not having a fast enough shutter speed available.

To get crisp shots of an aircraft what speed do i need
?
 
higgeh said:
aperture. I know the af should be ok as ive used the lens before. but ive never been to an airshow with the serious thought of taking some pictures. dont want to get there to be destroyed by not having a fast enough shutter speed available.

To get crisp shots of an aircraft what speed do i need
?
Click to expand...

For action photography, i.e. aviation I would use TV (shutter priority) not aperture priority, but it does depend on the weather and light conditions to achieve the shutter speeds.

Prop aircraft 1/250-400 sec depending on whether its a turbofan (tucano), for jets 1/800 - 1/1250 sec, helicopters are a horrible breed, you need slow'sh shutter speeds, but this then tends to cause problems with soft images due to camera shake, but shutter speeds anywhere between 1/80 and 1/200 sec depending on how adept you are at hand holding a camera and lens.

Personally your 300mm f4 and a nikon 1.4x or 1.7x TC would work perfectly for you, I've used that as a canon setup for years, 1st with a canon 1.4x TC on a 300mm f4, now upgraded to the 300mm f2.8
 
Higgeh
You'll get differing opinions on which mode to use, I use AV, not TV for jets, works fine for me. I'm sure Pete finds TV works for him. But be aware, especially with a lens like the sigma, and the lack of the blue stuff in the UK, you may be setting a shutter speed the camera cannot deliver an aperture for, hence why I use AV, you don't get that problem.
A shutter speed of anywhere between 250 and the highest you can get can get you good Jet photos, but obviously the higher the speed, the better. If you're an ace at panning, then that helps.
As for props, the slowest you can go is better (and thats where I do use TV). mostly for props, you need 200 or under. For helicopters, a lot less. The blades on them spin relatively slowly. I have yet to get a good photo of a chinook for example where the rotors are a disk, and I've been down to 1/25th in the past!"
 
Bernie174 said:
Higgeh
You'll get differing opinions on which mode to use, I use AV, not TV for jets, works fine for me. I'm sure Pete finds TV works for him. But be aware, especially with a lens like the sigma, and the lack of the blue stuff in the UK, you may be setting a shutter speed the camera cannot deliver an aperture for, hence why I use AV, you don't get that problem.
Click to expand...

The same can be said of AV, if you setting a aperture of f9, you might get a ridiculously slow shutter speed if the conditions ain't right...... just the same as setting a shutter speed of 1/1000 sec, but you can play with the ISO settings to increase your chances (to a point) for achieving something usable if the conditions are a challenge, Fairford for example, one or two good images in your post bernie :D actually some cracking shots :)

Yes the sigma will probably struggle if the blue stuff ain't there and I hate photographing helicopters, boy are they difficult to capture, especially if you want the halo effect of the rotors :bonk:
 
sooo many options. my problem up here is that we really dont get alot of the blue stuff. went out tonight in what is usual leuchars conditions with my 70-200 and to be honest i was struggling to get the shutter speeds tonight

its more than likely going to have to be the 50-500 to get the DOF but i would rather have the 300mm for the aperture on the dull day. other option is the 70-200 with a 1.4 teleconverter on it. that gives me 105-300 f4 and the multiplication on the camera takes that to 150-450 lens. might do the job

although now im worried with all this chat im gonna end up with no photos :-D
 
use the 300mm f4 its a great lens and when conditions allow add the 1.5x TC that's the only lens I use for years for airshows.
 
The same can be said of AV, if you setting a aperture of f9, you might get a ridiculously slow shutter speed if the conditions ain't right
Click to expand...

Yes, but I'd not be so daft!
To be honest I almost never use anything but 100 iso. Yes, I know higher speeds aren't that bad, but old habits die hard and I am an old git with old habits!!
But to be serious, it really is horses for courses, and Av works fine for me.
choppers? well, keep trying and every so often it works out well. About as often as going to an airshow and seeing some of that blue stuff!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top