MoonManMike
Senior Member
Hi
I gave my 3100 the first real 'test' of aircraft photography at Duxford last weekend with mixed results
All static pics came out fine, using the S (shutter priority) setting.
Shutter speed 125th. I had the camera set at 200 ISO at all times
Here's an example:
However, I had some problems with in-flight photography.
I used the Nikon 55-200 zoom lens, mostly at 200.
Camera settings were as above. I assumed 125th may be fast enough as I understand the VR facility allows you to go 3 stops lower than usual. I also wanted to get some movement in the propellors as prop planes with frozen propellors simply dont look right in flight!
Here's one of my first efforts:
This could have been quite a good shot, but is either out of focus or blurred (or both!) and a little under exposed.
A number of shots were quite similar (ie poor). So I adjusted the shutter speed to 320th and also opened up a couple of stops to allow for the bright sky. Most shots were then acceptable, like this one:
Not perfect, but reasonable (this is without any editing other than a slight crop). There's a little movement in the propellor, although I would have ideally liked a little more. When one of the Spits came in to land, I got a nice shot, but being throttled back, 320th virtually froze the propellor. With hindsight, I could possibly have dropped it back in the region of 200th or so as the plane was travelling much slower:
So, back to my original question, do I have the settings about right or can I make any improvements? Is there any special setting I should have the autofocus on for in-flight photography? Or does anyone have any other tips?
Many thanks
Mike
I gave my 3100 the first real 'test' of aircraft photography at Duxford last weekend with mixed results
All static pics came out fine, using the S (shutter priority) setting.
Shutter speed 125th. I had the camera set at 200 ISO at all times
Here's an example:
However, I had some problems with in-flight photography.
I used the Nikon 55-200 zoom lens, mostly at 200.
Camera settings were as above. I assumed 125th may be fast enough as I understand the VR facility allows you to go 3 stops lower than usual. I also wanted to get some movement in the propellors as prop planes with frozen propellors simply dont look right in flight!
Here's one of my first efforts:
This could have been quite a good shot, but is either out of focus or blurred (or both!) and a little under exposed.
A number of shots were quite similar (ie poor). So I adjusted the shutter speed to 320th and also opened up a couple of stops to allow for the bright sky. Most shots were then acceptable, like this one:
Not perfect, but reasonable (this is without any editing other than a slight crop). There's a little movement in the propellor, although I would have ideally liked a little more. When one of the Spits came in to land, I got a nice shot, but being throttled back, 320th virtually froze the propellor. With hindsight, I could possibly have dropped it back in the region of 200th or so as the plane was travelling much slower:
So, back to my original question, do I have the settings about right or can I make any improvements? Is there any special setting I should have the autofocus on for in-flight photography? Or does anyone have any other tips?
Many thanks
Mike
Last edited: