Mk iii and airshows. What settings can I not forget?

Here it is.. I should get a new-to-me Mk iii... a day before I go to the Nellis Airshow in Vegas.

I've read through a LOT of threads here about settings. Birds in flight seems to be the most appropriate but they move a little slower than jets.

I've been through most of the x0d line 300, 20, 30, 50..

My main question is about AF 1st 2nd image priority and AF servo speed; but I'd welcome someone's complete airshow settings as a starting point.

Ideally I'd have a ton of time in with this camera before the airshow; but it wasn't in the cards.

Help and suggestions please?
Thanks in advance.

*subscribes to thread*

IF you use Center Point AF and IF you shoot in Manual Mode, then the only setting unique to the MkIII over a non 1-series (and maybe the 7D) would be the AF Speed.

I shoot mine at one notch off the slowest so that the AF will stay on the aircraft with which I'm panning when trying to shoot crossing shots.

With a long lens where you can fill the frame (or a large subject that does the same), you can choose to use helper AF points or not.

Also, I use the 9 Inner points but I bet I'm on the center point 99% of the time.

Have a great weekend. I was slated to make it to Nellis myself until we had a family tragedy this week from which I wasn't sure I'd have been home in time.

I found myself leaning toward the off-center AF points more than center, depending on the direction in which the aircraft was moving... right to left -> right AF, etc. I changed my AF speed to fast, thinking my slow setting that I always used in sports wasn't keeping up as I was loosing shots for some reason. It helped (or at least I think it did). Also, on my IIN, i found that when the plane was far away, it could not lock on...such as when the plane was just as large as my center AF point. I figured I had just reached the limit of focus, and it locked more accurately when there was something larger in the viewfinder. As for lens length, I was using my 120-300+1.4xTC and wish I had a longer reach for the aerial manuevers...but not the flybys.

Enjoy the day! Hope the weather treats you well.

Tdragone wrote in post #8987700
My main question is about AF 1st 2nd image priority and AF servo speed; but I'd welcome someone's complete airshow settings as a starting point.

I'd leave that at 0. Honestly I don't shoot airshows but when I shoot anything panning I don't need the full FPS burst rate so I'd ditch that for AF accuracy.
On top of that, I'd use Center point AF, the focus speed at default and have at it. Actually you could probably use it how it shows up and you'd be fine.

True to Mr. Clean, found that 6 fps was more than adequate in most instances, and often times found myself taking one shots more than the bursts...except when the classic crossing stunts, at 6fps I still couldn't catch it entirely. Forgot to bump it up.

Hi Tdragone,

I live in Vegas and will try to be at the show both days. It's my favorite event period here. Maybe we can even meet up, whichever (or both) days I'm there, I always head for the far far left side of the crowd. Center crowd is a disaster, I suggest staying away, and the show is just as good at the far ends. So you may see me far far left and against the metal crowd barriers. I'll have two bodies, one with the 70-200 2.8L and another with the 300mm 2.8L. The later should be dead-obvious and on my right side or pointed at the sky. I'll have a dark green chair with me. Send me a private message if you are interested in meeting up.

I have shot this show the past two years with a mark III. The first was only with the 24-105L, the second with 70-200L. I have not changed either of the settings that you asked about from the default. I found that I was very, very pleased! So I guess my answer is experiment, but also don't be afraid of the defaults for those specific settings.

As for which focus point, I have found that I go with one of the points towards the side of the frame that the aircraft is moving. Usually one of the inners, occasionally one of the outers. If you get sick and tired of flipping them, go center.

Don't forget your metering modes! From experimentation, I have found that spot mode, ALSO linked to the focus point, works best for me. Note that I shoot in raw.

Other than that I shoot in Tv, 1/250 for propeller aircraft, 1/125 but no slower for helicopters, 1/1200 or higher for fast aircraft, and 1/2000 or even 1/4000 for the fastest and closest passes.

Make sure your ISO safety shift is enabled (I am not near the cam, I forget where the setting is at). This saved a number of shots for me.

You may also wish to ponder your storage options. Any other time, I write to both. I stupidly did that last year with an 8GB CF and 8GB SDHC and hated life pretty fast. Got back in the game by blowing out one card and then having it write to the other, but I still ran out. Gotta love hard lessons. This year I rented another mark III body along with a 32GB CF and 16GB SD (and the 300mm mentioned). Both bodies will be set to auto-switch, that is to say, write to one card till its full then switch to the other. The 300mm setup will see the majority of the abuse (yay rentals).

I'll throw in any other thoughts I have if I think of any. Again, contact me via private message if you are interested in meeting up at the show.

I knew I forgot something. Some folks will chide me for it but, experiment and see what you think of it. Enable Af point expansion. Basically what it does is if it can't find something to focus on at the focus point you selected, it will try to find something in one of the neighboring points. This can be a real nice save.

I only see it turn on rarely, but it's very obvious when it does. You'll have one AF point selected, and you'll see one of the neighboring ones light up at about half the brightness of the main one while the main one stays lit up at full brightness. This on my list of favorites about the mark III.

Thanks to all who answered this plea for insight.
The Airshow went well; Nellis was fun.. there were more planes in the air than last year; and I had a ton of fun. One individual kept moving our chairs aside and getting in the way of me and a friend videotaping the show; but that's another story.

For the camera; I ended up with a LOT less OOF shots than I had in years past with the 30D and this years Miramar airshow with the 50D.

I used the following:
menu 3 fn 3 af/Drive AF priority. I REALLY wanted to use Drive speed priority; but didn't.
menu 3 fn 8 af expansion on
No other settings were changed from defaults.

I did use eclipse on the sensor before the show; but sadly had a bunch of crud show up on my sensor using the 100-400.
Can anyone point me in the direction of a link on how to apply Dust Data captured AFTER the original shots were taken??
A few uncropped shots as a thank you:

Nice photos! I can't wait till next years airshow season!

Nice. I had a good time, too. The shifted scheduling was a bit annoying, but I'll live. Moving the F-22 to the beginning of the show and the Thunderbirds to the very end bothered me.

I pushed myself and went both days, despite being sore... I had two mark III's, one with the 70-200L 2.8 IS and the other with the 300L 2.8 IS. While I found the weight a bit burdensome, the black rapid dual-camera shoulder strap setup was EXCELLENT. I cannot recommend one strongly enough.

I walked out of there with just over 3,000 images. Now begins the task of getting them in lightroom, doing backups, converting to DNG, rating, keywording .... Wee.

No samples yet, that's a long ways off...