Renting lens for Airshow

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Daniel Shillcock
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Good evening everyone,

I am weighing up the prospect of renting a lens for this years RIAT. I have been considering renting a 300 f2.8 ISII from LensesForHire and possibly a 2x III extender to use with my 60D. However I have a few questions and was hoping for insight...

300mm + 2x extender + 1.6crop will give me a focal length of 960mm at f5.6 - will I be served well by this at RIAT?

Also, it's quite expensive (about £200 in total for the weekend) to rent that particular lens and extender, can anyone recommend another lens that may serve be better at a more affordable price point?

I have no doubt that this question has been asked to death on photography forums, but searching here I mainly came across owner club threads! Well, apologies for that :)
 
Hi,

I don't know what lens you have currently but that may strike you as heavy, using it for a whole weekend. You may be better off with a 400 F5.6? Would be cheaper, too.

Don't know how a 500 F4 would compare cost wise, maybe cheaper when you consider the cost of the convertor. It will be much heavier than the 300, though.

That said what you're looking to hire will be an excellent choice!

Harry.
 
Hi,

I don't know what lens you have currently but that may strike you as heavy, using it for a whole weekend. You may be better off with a 400 F5.6? Would be cheaper, too.

Don't know how a 500 F4 would compare cost wise, maybe cheaper when you consider the cost of the convertor. It will be much heavier than the 300, though.

That said what you're looking to hire will be an excellent choice!

Harry.


Cheers Harry! I'm used to a 70-200 but I'm still expecting my arms to fall off :D I'll only be there for the day, and trying to make the most out of it otherwise.
 
I've not use mine for an air show (yet), but I think the 100-400 mkII would be worth considering..
 
Cheers Harry! I'm used to a 70-200 but I'm still expecting my arms to fall off :D I'll only be there for the day, and trying to make the most out of it otherwise.

Will you be at any other airshows in between now and then? You're more than welcome to have a try of my 500mm if so see how you find it.

Actually the above post is probably not a bad shot/
 
I went to RIAT for the first time last year and took my both my 7D with the 300mm f2.8 and 2x attached plus my Pentax K-3 with 50-500mm OS.
I ended up using the zoom a lot more than the prime, it was fine for the big jets as they go out further but was a waste of time for the many display teams and suchlike. I think you would be better off with a 100-400mm MKII personally.
 
I went to RIAT for the first time last year and took my both my 7D with the 300mm f2.8 and 2x attached plus my Pentax K-3 with 50-500mm OS.
I ended up using the zoom a lot more than the prime, it was fine for the big jets as they go out further but was a waste of time for the many display teams and suchlike. I think you would be better off with a 100-400mm MKII personally.

Cheers Mike. Definitely food for thought. I have a 100-400 MkII is half the price of the 300mm f2.8 as well! That may be a more sensible option, especially considering the unpredictability of UK weather...
 
I've just bought a 100-400 L MkII to go with my 7D MkII and have used it for some wildlife, bird and just a few, so far, of planes. I can't wait to use it at an airshow soon, I thought the 100-400 L MkI was a great lens but the new MkII is just something else. I will use it on my 5D MkIII eventually, but it's going to be a while before I can prise the lens off the 7D MkII, it's a fantastic combination.
 
I think you will be frustrated by the lack of flexibility in a prime lens for Airshow work. I would definately look to a zoom.
 
I've just bought a 100-400 L MkII to go with my 7D MkII and have used it for some wildlife, bird and just a few, so far, of planes. I can't wait to use it at an airshow soon, I thought the 100-400 L MkI was a great lens but the new MkII is just something else. I will use it on my 5D MkIII eventually, but it's going to be a while before I can prise the lens off the 7D MkII, it's a fantastic combination.
It looks like it's a toss up between the 100-400 MkII and the 300 f2.8! I'm leaning towards the 100-400... As is my wallet! I hope you get to go to an airshow soon :)
 
I'm no expert at airshow photography, but I took a 70-200 and 300 to Shoreham last year (one on each body) - where I was able to get right down near the front without too many heads in the way (...good luck with that at RIAT...), and took about the same number of photos on each... looking through them, the 300 has no end of photos with bits of plane chopped-off (I did have a 2x but it never came out of the bag!) whereas the Zoom was much more flexible. Bearing mind the great distance at RIAT, and higher speeds (panning technique takes a lot practice!) - I think the 100-400 is the best idea.

Oh, also looking at the stats, barely 10% of the pics were below f4 (and all of those could have had much higher ISO) so going for a f2.8 isn't at all necessary...if anything, as I was shooting Shutter-Priority, lots of shots were too high f-stop - showing an embarrasingly grubby sensor...:eek:

I'm going to RIAT for the first time this year (fri & sunday) - will no doubt have the kitchen sink with me, but will be interesting what I leave in the car on sunday...
 
I'm now hoping to get to RIAT as well this year and intend to make full use of my 100-400mm mkII.
 
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