Advice on shooting flying aircraft.

With the K-5 & 100-300 Sigma etc., I continually reset it to infinity (which is pretty accurate) and let it track nearer where necessary, which seems to work quite well. If only it had a focus limiter to stop it focusing closer than about 100m!

One tip I would suggest if framing with little space around the edges of the frame: Make sure you check you have what you want in the frame.

It's really easy to miss wing-tips & tail-planes out of the edges of the frame (at least for me). You'll need to be panning quite quickly with long lenses, and airliners especially (thin wings & silver/grey colours) make it easy to loose them amongst a bright sky.

Also, wheels look OK either up or down, but rarely in between (watch out for the doors which look silly if the wheel has disappeared).

A rough break down of what I think ruins my shots:
30% - Framing errors, poles, fences, people in shot etc.
20% - Not sharp due to shake
20% - Exposure/flare problems
10% - Not sharp due to focus
10% - User error (fail to drive camera correctly)*
10% - Over ambitious attempts - sometimes you aren't going to get it but try anyway

* Don't drop the camera if you're trying to shoot quickly, the lens cap's on, your binoculars are tangled round your neck and you've got a hot dog in your hand...

EDIT - Deleted spurious 'the' in the second line.

That can be a problem if you use TOO long a focal length setting - I often have trouble at 300mm + the TC (= 440mm) because you get a great view of the aircraft, or at least MOST of it because the wing tips or tail get chopped off ! especially if you are panning quickly! That's another reason why a 150-500mm zoom may not be a purchase very soon.

Good morning John,

You are absolutely right, it was on the mound opposite the viewing park. It's where I normally go when I go there.

How often do you go?

Cheers,

Howard

Hi Howard,

Is that the mound behind the 'old' viewing park (which was the otherside of the runway tunnel)? I went looking for that about a year ago but thought they'd removed it when they built the second runway.

I used to go a lot, not so much recently but with the better weather might make it more frequently.

John.

Do let us know how you get on with this purchase.

Dave

Having looked at the reviews, I have just ordered one from Hong Kong

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/360-Gimbal-Tripod-Head-BK-45-Specialized-1-4-Screw-for...

Probably be around £90 when I have paid the UK import taxes etc., but it should be worth it to save the strain on my back which often aches a lot after a day at an airshow with the K-5 & 100-300 Sigma around my neck. OTOH, it means I have to take the tripod etc.,with me, and that ain't light!![/quote]

I happen to have had one of these for the last six months as well and it's probably the best money I've ever spent on new kit. Really good and does everything you could reasonably expect of a gimball head regardless of price.

On mine, for the unrealistic condition of just moving the head with no camera or lens attached, I can feel some small amount of stiction in the bearings but once weighted with camera/lens that completely dissapears. It's difficult to see what the much more expensive options could really do any better.

Rgds,
Rob.

[/quote]

Thanks for that Rob. Did you buy from the same source?

Dave

Hi John,

Yes - I think.

http://www.plane-mad.com/airport-spotting-guides/united-kingdom/manchester-man-e...

This is a good site for viewing positions, the one I'm talking about is position C on the map. It's under the 2nd tunnel (coming from the M56) turn left at the round about then sharp right and there's a narrow bit of the old road for parking. Through the gate at the top and follow the path. Easy (when you know how!!)

Hope that helps. Might see you there one day.

Cheers,

Howard

Update - the mount arrived on the 21st, so about 14 days from the order. And there was no import duty or VAT to pay, so it cost about £62 in total!

BTW - as commented in some other threads about this mount, the horizontal swivel was very tight to start with but spraying some liquid PTFE into the joint area seems to have helped considerably, and that should improve as it penetrates further.

Something else - I just found out that you will need a tripod thread adaptor something like this because the thread in the base of the Beike mount is a 3/8th" one, whereas most tripod top screws are 1/4" - Luckily I realised that I already have one (and some thread-lock compound is probably also advisable to ensure the bush stays in the bottom of the mount).

OTOH I realised that my old Jessops tripod is not really rigid enough for the combined mass of the mount, K-5 and a long lens on top - so that looks like the next buy . Anyone have suggestions for a decent but not too heavy and expensive replacement?

Thanks for the update. Seriously considering this purchase.

I too have puchased the same gimbal head as jeallen01 with pretty much the same buying experience. The seller is extremely professional with a very quick delivery and although I haven't used the head in anger yet it works smoothly and seems well made.

Hullo jeallen, yes the thread on the Beike is 3/8 female Whitworth and if you remove your tripod head you should find a male 3/8 Whitworth thread on almost every brand tripod I`ve ever seen.
Simmo

Unfortunately not on my old Jessops tripod, you don't - just a cheap pan & tilt head.