airshow lenses

[craigmason71]

My camera comes with a EF-S 18-55mm Zoom Lens will this be sufficient for taking photos at airshows ?

[captureasecond]

Re: airshow lenses

It will be fine for taking photos of aircraft in the static line-up, if there is one, but not really suitable for taking photos of aircraft flying. You'll need a couple of hundred mm of lens to get anything more than a speck in the sky.

To show you the reach you can attain with a longer lens, these were taken at Waddington airshow this year with a CANON 400m F2.8:







Keith

[craigmason71]

Re: airshow lenses

found and interesting article online basicly it says i will need 3 lenses
for close up work a 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 kit lens
for planes parked further away 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS
for aerial work 75-300mm f/4-5.6
is this good advice?

http://www.militaryairshows.co.uk/kit2.htm

[MX5]

Re: airshow lenses

A while since I was at an airshow (film days mainly) ... but I would use a 17mm for flight lines and in hangers and in those days a 400mm for flying. Always use to take two cameras. Kept a 135mm in the bag just in case. Therefore with a digital 'crop camera' ...ideally a 10-20 Sigma (10-22 Canon) would be useful as would a 100-400 I would have thought. However if money is tight the 18-55 aand 75-300 will suffice. Get in early and do the flight line (with 18-55) and other statics before the flying (last show I was at I paid a little extra for flight line access). Then put the the 75-300 on and enjoy the flying.

[czwotzit]

Re: airshow lenses

Keith

Out of interest on the Waddington shots did you use a gimble head on a tripod or were these all handheld?

Andre

[markgsmith]

Re: airshow lenses

If you can get close enough then 10-22mm on a crop or 17-40mm on a full frame is probably ideal. I'm sure you'll manage at 18mm to get most planes in the frame at the hanger. As for flight shots, please see below. Farnborough last year, all with a 400mm. Not that you need a 400mm but you'll need a longer lens. I don't see why you'd need much of a medium length lens.

Cheapest option is therefore likely to be a 75-300. Ideal would be a 300/4 with a 1.4x or a 400/5.6 if you want to do handheld. Worth considering the non-IS 70-200mm f4 which can be picked up for £350-£400 secondhand and is possibly one of the best value L lenses available.


The Red Arrows by markgsmith, on Flickr


The Red Arrows by markgsmith, on Flickr


The Red Arrows by markgsmith, on Flickr

[EOS_Jim]

Re: airshow lenses

Ideal lens would be something like a 100-400 but as the light falls you m,ay need to bump up the ISO a bit.

300f4L IS is another useful lens but the lack of zoom can be a but more limiting.

i like the 70-200 f2.8L IS and the 300f4L IS with a 1.4x converter







Wide leses are useful too though

[Loz :D]

Re: airshow lenses

A mate at work swears by his 100-400 L IS USM (I forget the f/number) & he gets some awesome shots. I'm sure he won't mind me sharing this with you...

Tarnish 9 ZD811 103 Tornado GR4 XIII Squadron by Sonic Images, on Flickr

Although L lens are very expensive & I would dearly love to buy one but their a little out of my budget. Would a EF 70-300mm f44-5.6 IS USM be up to the job?

[EOS_Jim]

Re: airshow lenses

A mate at work swears by his 100-400 L IS USM (I forget the f/number) & he gets some awesome shots. I'm sure he won't mind me sharing this with you...

Tarnish 9 ZD811 103 Tornado GR4 XIII Squadron by Sonic Images, on Flickr

Although L lens are very expensive & I would dearly love to buy one but their a little out of my budget. Would a EF 70-300mm f44-5.6 IS USM be up to the job?

Cracking shot. At the end of the day it's the photographer that makes the shot so yes a 70-300 should work well.

[captureasecond]

Re: airshow lenses

Andre,

I use a Manfrotto 393 bracket on a tripod. It actually makes tracking the aircraft a lot easier!

Keith

[czwotzit]

Re: airshow lenses

Thanks Keith - definately better than hand held :o)))

Andre