SIGMA 10/20 ON PENTAX

Neil, some terrific aircraft shots on your website.

Would you say a few words about how you go about airshow photography?

Hi again guys well took these this morning wonderd what you think re clarity and sharpness.

To be honest, clarity and sharpness are pretty much impossible to judge at this size. They look fine to me, but they may well be unsharp when viewed full size. Likewise, sharp images can be rendered fuzzy by careless resizing.

To me, the thing that stands out is their lack of contrast. The lighting looks very flat and uninspiring, yet there are crisp shadows and plenty of blue sky. This lack of contrast may give the impression of a lack of sharpness, as sharpness is generally increased by increasing the contrast along edges in a picture.

Here's one of yours with the contrast boosted, but no extra sharpening.




By the way, your sensor needs a clean, those dark marks on each pic are the result of dirt on the surface of the sensor.

Dan

Thanks Daniel I thought that might be the case re the size of the files. My main concern is the lens is sharp just loaded the pic's from my comp as is without any work on them. I will have to give the sensor a clean as you say thanks for the help.

Some stunning work there Neil thanks for the input.

That point I was trying to put across was; the lack of contrast may make the images seem less sharp than they really are.

Sharpening is a fact of life with digital images, either when shooting jpeg, when the camera will apply some (if you set the camera to do no sharpening, you'll need to apply some in 'photoshop' or whatever you use), or when you're processing your RAW files. Sharpening is an artform in itself. I tend to be a bit slapdash, but I get results I'm happy with.

Dan

Thanks Dan for the explanation I see were your comming from now cheers.

Very happy with the 10-20. Some samples

Thanks Chris and thanks to iceblinker, Martin & Phil for your comments.

I appreciate this is going to take this thread off topic so the Mods may want to move it, but in response to your request Chris I shall try to outline my air show approach.

I have only been to a few airshows in the last couple of years and still consider myself on a learning curve so I do not have a definitive approach as yet (maybe this year).

Last year I used a K10D and Sigma EX 100-300mm f4 occasionally with the matching 1.4x converter.

In terms of getting the right exposure, I sometimes use manual if lighting is consistent, but find that in the majority of situations centre weighted with between 1-2 stops of over exposure dialled in (depending on the brightness) works fine. If using manual exposure the most reliable way to get the exposure right is to put the camera in spot metering and take a value from the grass along the runway (assuming there is some).

When shooting auto, I use shutter priority to ensure I have the right speed for the aircraft type. 1/500th or above for fast jets and generally the faster the better, unless you are being creative. Prop aircraft shots need that all important prop blur so I shoot around 1/250th. This works in most cases but some warbirds can come out ok at 1/350 due to faster prop speeds. For helicopters, you need to go slower still - around 1/150th if possible.

Due to the slow shutter speeds with prop aircraft I use a mono-pod for all prop shots, but I prefer to hand hold for fast jets as it is easier to track them, especially when they go vertical.

I try to keep the aperture around f8-7.1 and ISO under 400. If push comes to shove I open up the aperture rather than increasing the ISO. (The better ISO performance of the K20D should allow more flexibility in this area).

I know plenty of people swear by manual focus for aircraft, but this has not worked for me in the last couple of years so I have all AF points active and the camera set to continuous focus. It hunts around a bit occasionally, but as long as a focus point stays over the aircraft it should sort itself out.

In terms of specific advice for the RIAT @ Fairford (worth trip) get there early and leave late. That may seem obvious but it amazes me how many people roll up in the afternoon as they left late and ended up in a traffic jam for several hours. I am fortunate enough to live only about 30 minutes away so it easier for me perhaps, but I get there for just after 6 and head for the flight line as soon a I get through the gates. After the flying display finishes I go round the static display aircraft (less people and better light) and head for home at sundown. I have not been stuck in a traffic jam yet.

Hope that is of some use.

Neil

Yes indeed, thank you for taking the trouble - much appreciated. I'm planning to go to Farnborough this year, which will be my first big airshow since going digital, unless I can get to Biggin, which is sadly looking a bit unlikely at the moment.

Metering off the grass is an idea I've not come across, and the shutter speeds are very much along the lines of what I aim for.

Thanks again.