Nellis Air Show

I captured a couple of these at the air show. It was my first time ever attempting to shoot an air show, and didn't know what I'd need lens wise.

From this I learned I need a lens with some longer reach. I was using a 70-200 F4 L and an old T1i.

Please be gentle.

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1, 2 & 3 look a bit soft compared to the rest which could be attributed to shutter speed, Your panning got better as the day went by or even atmospheric haze. Getting it perfectly on a first try is a nice goal but generally speaking practice (and the right gear) is what produces good results. You can't control weather, lighting or haze so you learn how to deal with it & do your best.

At most major airshow locations, the position of the flight line really makes 400mm a MINIMUM focal length. The new 150-600s from Sigma are looking to be very good choices for airshows. The Tamron is not so good as the VC won't work while panning at the slow shutter speeds that you need for propellor aircraft, or worst of all big helicopters. I usually find 1/160 will give decent prop blur, but for helicopters 1/100 might be Ok for a smaller one, but something big like a Seaking needs 1/60 or even slower if you want a the main rotor to produce a full disk.

I decided to have a quick look at your settings before I posted the above. You really need to be using higher shutter speeds with the jets. For jets I would always try to go for 1/1000 or faster. In this case I would have gone for 1/1000 and f/8 and upped the ISO until I got the correct exposure. It's only the propellor driven aircraft that need these slow shutter speeds to look good. Your panning did indeed get better as you went on. The higher shutter speeds just make the panning easier. This is especially true when using a longer more suitable lens.

As I cannot afford to have a really long lens sitting around I usually rent one for the weekend when I will be shooting a major show. That's actually a really good way to do it if you are only shooting one or two shows a year.

Alan

BigAl007 wrote in post #17273169
At most major airshow locations, the position of the flight line really makes 400mm a MINIMUM focal length. The new 150-600s from Sigma are looking to be very good choices for airshows. The Tamron is not so good as the VC won't work while panning at the slow shutter speeds that you need for propellor aircraft, or worst of all big helicopters. I usually find 1/160 will give decent prop blur, but for helicopters 1/100 might be Ok for a smaller one, but something big like a Seaking needs 1/60 or even slower if you want a the main rotor to produce a full disk.

I decided to have a quick look at your settings before I posted the above. You really need to be using higher shutter speeds with the jets. For jets I would always try to go for 1/1000 or faster. In this case I would have gone for 1/1000 and f/8 and upped the ISO until I got the correct exposure. It's only the propellor driven aircraft that need these slow shutter speeds to look good. Your panning did indeed get better as you went on. The higher shutter speeds just make the panning easier. This is especially true when using a longer more suitable lens.

As I cannot afford to have a really long lens sitting around I usually rent one for the weekend when I will be shooting a major show. That's actually a really good way to do it if you are only shooting one or two shows a year.

Alan

Cool! Thanks for the advice! I appreciate it.

At the higher shutter speed, would I still have been able to capture the afterburner rings of the F-16?

Chris R/T wrote in post #17273885
Cool! Thanks for the advice! I appreciate it.

At the higher shutter speed, would I still have been able to capture the afterburner rings of the F-16?

I would have thought so, as long as your exposure was correct. The biggest thing for getting detail in the afterburner flame is to have a relativly dark background. You are not going to see much detail if you have no contrast. I had to look quite hard to find a suitable image, as mostly my shots are over the sea, and that leads to lots of very pale grey haze on a warm day. My only good shots of an F16 with a deep blue sky and burners were mistakenly shot at 1/250. I have though found a Typhoon shot that shows detail in the burner flame, as it was shot on a day with some really heavy showers at the last Lowestoft airshow in 2012. so heres an example.

1/1600s f/5.6 ISO 200 @400mm on a 100-400L with my 20D.

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