Airshow Lens

[bjannsen]

My first shoot at an airshow - in 2 weeks. I've read all about the 100-400 in these forums - seems to be the lens to use for airshows.

Has anyone had success with the 70-300 IS? I don't think I'd use a 100-400 enough to warrent buying it right now, and I'd rather not rent if it's not neccessary.

With that being said, I'd like some great shots. what do you think??

Thanks for the help,

Brian

[i_am_hydrogen]

It's a solid lens that is definitely capable of producing quality air show shots.

[bjannsen]

Thanks for the quick reply. The lens is a pretty good one - I've seen that. I guess my main question is regarding the FL - will 300mm on a crop be long enough??

Brian

[i_am_hydrogen]

Yes. I shot an air show in Chicago with a Panasonic DMC-FZ50, which has a 35-420mm equivalent lens. Adding in the crop factor to your lens, you'll be at 480mm, which is plenty long. Here are two shots I took at 420mm, with only a minor amount of cropping, that might give you an idea of how close up aircraft will look:

http://img116.imageshack.us/img116/2517/thunderbirds1oz7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/5346/fullformation2cr0.jpg

[tracer bullet]

I used my 70-300IS last year at an airshow, I was happy with it.

IMO, it's not the lens you need to worry about, it's your own ability to focus. I had a heck of a time keeping up with the jets zooming overhead, it was a lot harder than I'd expected. I'd advise you to not worry about the lens much and instead I'd study the manual on the camera focusing options, the lens abilities, and coming up with a scheme such as simply leaving the lens set to infinity or attempting to pre-focus it ahead of time, maybe leave it on manual, whatever works but get a plan figured out before the show and start practicing on something if possible.

Some shots with the 70-300:

http://www.sallee.org/greg/airshow/airshow-007.jpg

http://www.sallee.org/greg/airshow/airshow-009.jpg