(Final question on second page)


So I've never taken my DSLR to an airshow before but in a few weeks I'll be heading down to Cosford and I'll be using it then.

I'm just wondering if there's anything in particular I should try to bring which would be useful, or if you have any advice about what kind of settings to use.

Canon EOS 1000D
Tamron 70-300mm (not the best lens, but I can't go changing it right now)
Canon 18-55 (in the process of saving up to upgrade it to something like the 28-135 IS USM)
8GB SDHC Sandisk Ultra II
One Canon LP-E5 battery (1080mAh)
Canon 430EXII Speedlite (any point bringing this? I can only think of needing it when shooting towards the sun when very close up)


So is there anything else I could do with getting? I'll have to keep the lenses and the camera body of course, but other things like batteries and memory cards. It estimates I have 2073 photo slots available. Reckon that will be enough? How about batteries? I'd like to get a battery grip at some point but will I need a second battery?

As for general shooting is it popular to shoot props with Time Priority and jets with Aperture Priority? On a good day is 1/160th good for props or what would you suggest? I'm used to shooting fully manual but I am sure I've read people using those two modes for those two uses.

Any other info would be splendid.


Cheers.

Bring platform shoes, or better yet, stilts. Your most amazing shots will include the head of someone who popped out of nowhere, or some kid who was just hoisted onto a parent's shoulders. 

As for batteries, you can't bring too many.

I think you have the idea down for taking the photos.

I've never used more then one battery at an airshow, but 2 is a good bet, just in case.

Room for 2000 images should be fine. I generally shoot about 1500 (in RAW) but am fairly trigger happy when it comes to burst mode.

Enjoy yourself! If you can, make 2 trips to the show. One day for Static displays and one day for the Air displays. I always find it a hassle to try and to both in one day 

machineman9 wrote on May 26^th, 2010 at 8:34pm:

The 8 Gb memory card should be plenty unless you're shooting in RAW format. I agree that a spare battery is a good idea. A battery grip would be even better. Have a look round. Some manufacturers do them much cheaper than Canon, including one or two batteries. Forget the flash unless you intend shooting inside the museum. I've never used one at an air show yet.

Quote:

I've never considered myself an expert photographer & can only go by my own experience. As a general rule I use Shutter Priority (Tv) for props & Aperture Priority (Av) for jets. Settings will obviously depend on the conditions & your equipment. Also how good you are at panning. It will also depend on things like number of prop blades & engine revs. For aerial shots against the sky I would err on the safe side & use a faster shutter speed for the props. A nice blurred prop disc is no use if the aircraft is also blurred or out of focus. Anything up to 1/320th should still give you prop blur.

Always take plenty of shots & don't be too disappointed with the results. If you get one or two decent ones during the show you're doing OK.

I may or may not shoot RAW. I'd get about 800 shots on one card (plenty more than I've ever taken at an event before) but that would take an 8GB chunk out of my hard drive. I suppose I can just go through and clear up the naff images and it will help when developing the images further if they are in RAW. I'll see.

I am looking at a battery grip as a future investment too. I'm a bit obsessive when it comes to buying Canon brand equipment. With lenses I can get away with buying from other companies, but I like to make sure things on camera (and in it) are Canon built. Sadly the battery grip which is for my camera is the one which fits the 450D as well... and they matched the styling of the grip to the 450D and not the 1000D, but it'll be fine I'm sure. I could get some cheapy batteries for now, £7 for two of them delivered, then use those just for airshows until I can buy Canon brand. One person was cautious to use non-Canon grip or battery just because they didn't want to have their warranty messed about by using third party power supplies.


My camerabag is a shoulder one which usually drags me down on one side. It's not too bad and I can sling it around on my back, but it's not as good as a backpack (which I may have to upgrade to some time). I know the pain of carrying too much equipment. Flash probably isn't neccesary then.


I would make two trips, but I think it's just a one day event. I've not been to Cosford before so I don't know how they display the aircraft, but usually we do a walk about of the statics fairly early and are in good time for the actual displays.

For Cosford you dont need to worry too much about Statics, there isn't a great deal in terms of visitors, helicopters mainly, and the aircraft are generally what you'd be able to see on a trip round the museum anyway. It's worth visiting the Jaguars though.
As for the display, its usually from about 10:30 through till 5, it cant be quite difficult as you'll be shooting into the sun all day. 2 batteries will be fine, Also your photo estimate will actually be slightly higher, because there is less in the way of all round detail in aircraft pictures. 4gig's is pleanty.

machineman9 wrote on May 26^th, 2010 at 9:52pm:



You can't have too much batteries or memory. Seriously. The more you bring, of course, the more you'll shoot, so in the end you won't have enough no mater what you do.

As for the umbrella- another nuisance for airshow spectators/photographers! Consider the folks behind you...

I usually keep the center point for focusing and I'll stick it in AI servo. One shot works, and AI focus never seems to work, but servo is better at moving subjects.

How about metering? Shall I try and keep that on partial metering ensuring the sky is quite bright? Any need to go to the other metering types at all?