Advice on shooting flying aircraft.

Hi all,

I am looking for advice on shooting(not literally)Jets which fly locally as part of their training exercise on the "Mach Loop".

I was out the other day with colleagues for my 1st attempt but appeared to be struggling with the focusing, where my Canikon friends managed to focus track all the way through.

Equipment & settings used:

Pentax k5 /DA 55-300mm
Continuous focusing with camera shake reduction turned off
Auto 5 centre points but when changed to a single centre focal point had a little more success.

What I dont understand is that when trying to track (5 centre points)the jets progressing towards us I had little success locking on focus as the lens would rotate through the focus range to the opposite of infinity and stop there??
Where as my friends were having no problem tracking with their settings on center focal points.

If I were to point the camera lens towards the sky on the single focal point the lens rotates through focus range and return. But when set on the 5 centre points it only rotates to the opposite to infinity and remains there??

A'm I missing somthing here or is it that this set up will only work with single point focusing only? or could it be that I have a focusing issue fault?

Any advice on set up and settings would be much appreciated. : )

The 55-300mm is not the best lens for aircraft by any means due to the fact (as you found out) that it tends to travel through it's complete focal range and back again before locking on to the target. Because of that I would guess that it's picking up the sky with 5 points enabled and giving up. Great lens normally but probably the last one I would pick for an airshow (although people have been lucky on occasions and got some good shots)

TBH Pentax is not the best make for fast moving subjects anyway, the af points are too spread out and so cover a greater area than other cameras which means(at times) it can get a bit confused as to what is it's intended target.

Thanks for the input Mike , as you said, that's exactly what was happening.

It was the only zoom lens available I had at the time which I had borrowed.

Would a Sigma 150-500 be more suitable or should I start saving and be looking at somthing faster like 70-200 2.8 or fixed prime 200/300? f4?

Would this help improve on the use of multi focal points or would I still be limited to single point focusing due to the cameras limitations?

Any feedback appreciated.

My biggest problem with Pentax is the lack of a 100-400mm lens for air shows. Nikon, Sony and Canon all have one so there must be a need yet we don't have anything with that range. If I remember correctly something is on the lens roadmap but when it will arrive is anyone's guess.

A 70-200mm is too short most of the time and a 300mm prime not flexible enough so you are basically left with the 60-250mm (still too short) or one of the big Sigmas (50-500mm, 150-500mm or 120-400mm). Personally I use the 50-500mm OS but have seen some excellent pictures taken with the 150-500mm.

Some from last years Bournemouth air show













I tend to use AF.C, one af spot and stick it in machine gun mode for airshows.

One from Cowes powerboat race last year with same lens.

Tend to agree as those are the settings I mostly use - mainly with the 100-300 Sigma F4 and 1.4x sigma converter to get something like 440mm effective (and with the ISO racked up to at least 400 if not higher). Generally better to manually focus at infinity before each shot as the lens tends to reduce its focus point as it tries to track the plane

Not a good idea to try objects heading directly towards you very fast - panning across in front of you, or slightly towards you, especially if curving in towards you - Dunsfold and Shuttleworth can be good for that because of the curved front of the crowd line (less so Duxford) often works well, and top-side shots are almost always better than underside shots.
I also agree about the 55-300 - same issues

Indeed, even Canon/Nikon can be a bit iffy where this is concerned although they to tend to be a lot more accurate than Pentax.

Never been to the Mach Loop .. always wanted to but it's too far from me but from what I have read (or seen on TP) I would say you may have a hard job catching much with the K-5 unfortunately.

Edit: Forgot to add ... I use Av mode most of the time for fast moving targets, highest shutter speed you can get away with for jets (auto ISO) and the slowest for prop planes and helicopters.

Should possibly have added that at Shuttleworth I tend to use the 70-200 F2.8 Sigma with the 1.4x converter because the aircraft fly closer to the crowd line and that combination is lighter and seems to focus faster even than the 100-300 on its own.

Agree about the shutter speeds for different aircraft as about 1/180th is about as fast as you want to go with slow prop-planes, and maybe 1/250th with something like a fast Spit, Mustang or a Seafury (they really motor, so the prop is turning quickly!).

Therefore something like a Mustang and a Hunter together is quite a challenge to get right - And I'll try to remember the AV settings Mike suggests for next time.

I'm not much of an aircraft shooter but here are a couple of uncropped, unsharpened shots taken with the Sigma 150-500 and a K10d.

[IMG]http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f24/Michael_Lech/U%20K/110624_IMGP9549_.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f24/Michael_Lech/U%20K/IMGP9172.jpg[/IMG]

Here are a few taken at the local Air field with the 150-500 Sigma, you may not be so lucky, as i had very good lighting conditions,but was shooting into the sun

the exif is in the photo,

[IMG]http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/ab142/montyaus/transport/IMGP5411-aa.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/ab142/montyaus/transport/IMGP5675-1024.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/ab142/montyaus/transport/IMGP5538-1024.jpg[/IMG]

Superb shot. the Dutch Angle perspective really makes it

Nothing wrong with shooting into the sun. No need to roll your eyes at it . The results can be very striking.

Thanks again guys for the input and some spectacular images here. I congratulate you all.

Jealous and depressed now... lol

Great tips for the prop motion, I shall try my best to remember this should I be so lucky to catch a Hercules again.

Here are a couple of sites that may be of interest, also some great videos on youtube if you search Mach Loop.

http://www.lowflymedia.com/info/mach_loop/mach_loop.shtml

http://machloop.co.uk/

That maybe enough to Tempt you members to pay a visit
Plenty of other scenery in the area to make it a worth while visit.

I totally understand having to drive distances Mike,(not getting any easier as I get older) as I have a son whom lives in Chard Somerset. I regulary travel back and forth and split hols between here,Somerset and Devon area, all equally as beautiful. Only one thing I would point out we have mountains here not hills.....

Well it looks like I'm going to have to dig a little into my pocket to improve on this kind of shots.

Thanks again for all your input and if anyone is visiting the area I'm more than happy to meet up for a shoot.

Tempted me Rob! I'll check machloop when I am up in N Wales next

SRS are still doing a good deal for the 150-500 so you can't go wrong plus there's cashback too.

420mmcough splutter...

420mmcough splutter...[/quote]OK - just a quick (and inaccurate guess)- but it works and is not far off the range of the bigger Sigmas

Hopefully I can find the time (time is very tight at the moment) to post some pics with this combination later today or tomorrow.

I use 100-300 F4 with a 1.5 converter giving me a 450mm ,
some people think the 500mm is nearer 450mm on the 150-500mm.

OK - just a quick (and inaccurate guess)- but it works and is not far off the range of the bigger Sigmas

Hopefully I can find the time (time is very tight at the moment) to post some pics with this combination later today or tomorrow.[/quote]