[PIC_THREAD] Sports, Action, Transportation

So a fast shutter 1/2000 say for jets and a slower 1/320 or slower for props ? What are the drawbacks of using shutter for everything then... the aperture being too wide and DOF being compromised resulting in softer than desired images?
 
smr said:
So a fast shutter 1/2000 say for jets and a slower 1/320 or slower for props ? What are the drawbacks of using shutter for everything then... the aperture being too wide and DOF being compromised resulting in softer than desired images?
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The drawbacks of shutter priority will be that it might go a bit high with the ISO if it thinks you need more light. I shoot most stuff at F5.6 and that gives me enough DOF.

Tbh I'm not even sure I'd go past 1/1000 unless there was plenty of light and then it would be out of necessity to keep the aperture reasonable. The ideal situation is finding an exposure where you can get sharp images at the lowest ISO possible so there's no need to go fast with the exposures. You can always experiment as the day goes :)

I just had a look through the shots I took at Shoreham and Duxford airshows last year and 1/750 was about as fast as I went but then again I had the lens on a tripod practically all the time. A faster shuttle speed will make it easier to guarantee sharp handheld shots but it might come at a cost of a higher ISO.

1/320th will be enough to get you some blur but you might want to go a bit slower if you can. You can always practise on planes you don't like too much hehe :) I've gone as low as 1/60th before to try to get lots of blur but it's very difficult to get sharp shots!

Feel free to have a look at the shots I took at Shoreham Airshow last year - https://www.flickr.com/photos/phal44/sets/72157646711172090
 
smr said:
Thanks for the advice, that makese sense. Great shots btw :)
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They're ok but even looking back to shots that aren't even a year old I still wonder why I cropped some of them that way lol :)

Can learn a lot in 8 months or so I guess! :)

I'm lucky since Eastbourne (Airbourne) and Shoreham airshows are both pretty close to me so I can usually do both days. The second day can often be a good one to experiment since you'll probably have some decent shots already from the day before :)
 
I've soaked in a lot of information today and feel like I've found a few keys and unlocked a few doors!

When I went to photograph cars a couple of months back at Donington I didn't have my Camera set to Al Servo mode, which probably explains why it was losing focus on the cars when I was tracking them! At the time and until today I kept thinking that it was because my Camera isn't good enough and the 55-250 wasn't a good enough lens.

I guess that would go some way to explaining why i was struggling to keep the focus locked on the cars then! Also only found out about the centre point red dot focus yesterday and now thanks to your post and other reading on the Internet across various forums have discovered how AV and TV modes work.

99 percent of my photography so far has been landscape in manual mode which I think I have a decent understanding of, but action and sports photography is something which I have only just started sinking my teeth into.

I quite like the idea of keeping it in AV mode for the fast jets, at F8 or so (seems to be a lot of people's idea of a good sweet spot and I've noticed decent DOF and sharpness, hence sweet spot at this aperture in my landscape pictures as well)... then most likely switch to TV mode for props at about 1/320 (until I improve and have scope to go lower).

Hope I make sense!
 
Yeah I pretty much live in AI Servo mode :) The 7d2 has a few buttons which can be rebound to switch to different focus modes whilst you hold them but tbh AI Servo will hit the mark most of the time regardless.

F8 is great when there's plenty of light because you're killing two birds with one stone. You're ensuring plenty of DOF but you're also probably using your lens' sweet spot when it comes to sharpness. Most lenses aren't at their sharpest when wide open and F8 is usually a pretty good aperture for that.

That being said, you shouldn't always be using it :) To get slower apertures for propr blur, you'll probably need much narrower apertures F13-16 or more. Don't let it go too high or the results won't be as pleasant. When you get closer to the sun the amount of light available will increase so your camera will narrow your aperture to limit the amount of light. F22 doesn't look that sharp but it can do interesting things lol

Goodyear FG-1D Corsair by Etienne Fournier, on Flickr

F5.6 or even F4 can give you enough DOF usually unless the planes get pretty close so you might need this if there light is poor! You can use something like this DOF calculator to give you an idea of what DOF you'll get with different settings

http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/dof-calculator.htm

As an example, F5.6 with a 250mm lens on a 1.6x crop sensor still gives you 2.4 meters DOF. If planes are flying within 50 meters of you then I'm sure you won't need 250mm lol :)
 
phal do you use a nd filter on sunny days to get a slow shutter speed for prop blur ,sometimes i struggle to get the slow shutter speeds and f22 on my m43 cam dont look pretty as you mentioned .Diffraction and other things occur.
 
paul10 said:
phal do you use a nd filter on sunny days to get a slow shutter speed for prop blur ,sometimes i struggle to get the slow shutter speeds and f22 on my m43 cam dont look pretty as you mentioned .Diffraction and other things occur.
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I know what you mean, the issue is the same on my dslr on a sunny day.

I haven't in the past but I've definitely thought about it. A Polarised filter would probably be good as you'd get some nice blue skies or something like 2 or 4 stops would be good I guess but I've never tried.

My current lens doesn't have regular filters though! My 200-400 has a drop in filter holder but I haven't looked to see what's available.
 
Awesome day out at Cosford Airshow yesterday, the light wasn't great and it was my first time at Aviation photography but there you go.

Love the F16.

F16 Fighting Falcon:

F16 Fighting Falcon by Joel Spencer, on Flickr

F16 Fighting Falcon by Joel Spencer, on Flickr

F16 Fighting Falcon by Joel Spencer, on Flickr

F16 Fighting Falcon by Joel Spencer, on Flickr

F16 Fighting Falcon by Joel Spencer, on Flickr

F16 Fighting Falcon by Joel Spencer, on Flickr

F16 Fighting Falcon by Joel Spencer, on Flickr

F16 Fighting Falcon by Joel Spencer, on Flickr

F16 Fighting Falcon by Joel Spencer, on Flickr
 
a few from Le Mans this weekend :) https://flic.kr/s/aHskdCRVo7


IMG_0130 by Russell Walker, on Flickr


IMG_0157 by Russell Walker, on Flickr


IMG_0170 by Russell Walker, on Flickr


IMG_0188 by Russell Walker, on Flickr


IMG_0420 by Russell Walker, on Flickr


IMG_0200 by Russell Walker, on Flickr


IMG_0372 by Russell Walker, on Flickr


IMG_0484 by Russell Walker, on Flickr


IMG_0542 by Russell Walker, on Flickr


IMG_0520 by Russell Walker, on Flickr


IMG_0572 by Russell Walker, on Flickr


IMG_0668 by Russell Walker, on Flickr
 
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great shots of the vulcan hope to get some at fairford next month ,really like the gypo break shot i think thats what red arrows call it .
 
Thanks very much, the Vulcan was a bit over-sharpened, fixed that!

These were taken with my humble and very cheap 55-250 STM - absolute bargain of a lens IMO, everyone should have one in the bag, it's tiny for a small tele and cheap as chips :)
 
I agree, great lens, absolute bargain for what it is. Better light certainly would have helped though, but thats the same for most.

Having said that and seeing other shots at the airshow on 100-400s and 500s I really am thinking about getting a 100-400 Canon now to get that extra reach.
 
Gah all these airshow shots just remind me of how long it is since I managed to get to one! I do have a ticket for RIAT though :)

Le Man's! Awesome! I'd love to get there one day :)
 
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