Airshow question

Maybe do it panning in only one dimension first. Standing by the side (preferably on the inside of a curve - see below) of a reasonably busy road should do it - just photograph the cars as they come by.

I'd suggest small apertures and slowish shutter speeds.

Small apertures will maximise the depth of field, thus minimising focus errors and making it easier to distinguish between subject movement and camera shake.

Slowish shutter speeds, since you want to give the SR something to do, but not so slow that it's too difficult to pan accurately.

Ideally, for the first series of tests, you also want to be at the centre of an arc (eg on the inside of a curve), so that the angular velocity of the passing subject is approximately constant, rather than peaking as it goes past.

If you can tell the difference between SR on and off in that situation, it might be worth repeating it when the cars go past on a straight piece of road, since that will superimpose the peak in angular velocity from panning, on to whatever shaking the SR is attempting to correct for.

This is quite a tricky experiment to do in a way that eliminates all the effects except the ones you're specifically trying to compare (not least the fact that your technique will improve a lot with the practice you get doing the experiment, and this in itself could easily skew the results).

Not to mention the anti-terrorist officers that will no doubt swoop down and tell you you're acting illegally.

I think i`ll stick to plan A!!!
I don`t expect to see any difference at the kind of shutter speeds needed for aircraft photography.
As for technique, Although i no longer go to Airshows these days, Back in the 70`s i spent most of my week-ends at Airshows or traveling around Airfields and Airports sometimes 6 in a day. And Airshows from Hannover Germany to Harlingen Texas. Using Kodachrome 64 which i frequently used 20-30 rolls per month in my 3 Pentax`s. I still use the same techniques now just on different subjects. Plus i still use the same (Modified) Kaiser Rifle Grip as it is by far the most stable way of handholding a 300mm lens that i have tried though i won`t pass up the chance of a handy fence post or wall if one is around!

Regards - Pete.

I took this yesterday at Eastbourne. Went for lunch with a friend who lives in Sovereign Harbour and while we were sitting on his patio I heard a loud roar.
I'd been showing him the 60-250mm and I pointed it at the sky when I heard the plane. I had time to add +1 to the exposure as the Lanc appoached and then just pointed the lens at the sky and fired away.
I've just checked and SR was on. I can't imagine it'd look any different with it on or off. The problem with all this sr on or off and all the other adjustments is that by the time it's all done, the picture's gone if you're not careful!
The Lanc is banking here as it readies to fly up the coast, so the pic almost looks like an air to air shot. The Lanc fills about 3/8ths of the frame. I had the camera on aperture priority, lens at f8 as I always leave it and exif tells me shutter was 180th. I'd have opened up to f4 ideally but then I'd have missed the plane!

Lemmy, that's a great shot of City of Lincoln! Shame there's no way to get the sound of those engines on there too!
Andrew

Nice bit of "topside" Lemmy. Quite rare for the Lanc.

Yes, a thrilling sound. I'd love to hear it from inside the plane. My other favourite sound is the Merlin on the Spitfire on the overrun. (I think that's when you get that throaty roar).

Does the Lanc have Merlins too do you know?

The vast majority of Lancaster's were fitted with Merlin engines, yes, although the Merlin engine did get developed extensively over the course of the war, but still technically a Merlin!

The Lancaster II had a Bristol Hercules VI Radial engines, though only approx 300 or so were made.

link

link

By the way, they should use your picture on the home page of the 2nd link!

SR may have been turned on, but was it stabilised before the exposure was , err, exposed.

That information is also in the EXIF data.

I can't really see the point of mounting a camera to a tripod, then simply press the shutter button for the exposure. Of course that will induce shake.

If it's on a tripod, why not use a cable release?

2 seconds delay even flips up the mirror and switch off SR.
If you use the IR remote it will also switch off the SR, don't know if it does it with the cable release, does anybody knows that?

At that time, most of our aircraft used Merlins - Spitfire, Hurricanes, Mosquitos, Lancs etc.

It does.

Martin.

I was testing by myself many times whether SR makes troubles when panning, but was able to get good results with SR on and off, so simple conclusion would be that it probably doesn't matter, however, many times I was surprised by the level of blurr when I was panning with SR on and what is more important when taking pictures at shorter shutter speeds, but when doing them with a panning technique - so, lens following moving object. I've done quite a lot of panining and sometimes I feel when it was good and when not (before checking on the screen) and I tend to think that SR may give inconsistent results. I would agree with what was put in here earlier, that smooth camera movement may help SR work properly during panning, rapidly-shaky hands during panning may cause SR reactions blurr photo.
Some panning examples with SR on:
http://www.airplane-pictures.net/image50909.html

http://www.airplane-pictures.net/image51102.html

Thank you Martin

That makes sense and is what I would expect. However, a jerky movement with SR off would also cause problems, unless the shutter speed was very high.

G