Did you know that registration to Fighter Control is completely free and brings you lots of added features? Find out more....

Another "what camera / lens" thread.

Post your questions, reviews and technical issues here.
Post Reply
WinchesterMGF
Posts: 515
Joined: Tue Jun 07, 2016 8:42 pm
Location: Bury St Edmunds

Another "what camera / lens" thread.

Post by WinchesterMGF » Tue Dec 03, 2019 10:24 pm

Hi.

I'm looking to get back into aviation photography ( I spend far too long in Johns Field and the viewing area at Lakenheath wishing I had a decent camera again) and I would appreciate any advice from the F.C. experts.

Last kit I had was 5 years ago - basic Canon 400d bundled with a short zoom and a Tamron 70-200 which was all best described as adequate. I have a budget of £1200. It seems to make sense to go 2nd hand and get a higher spec for my money, the telephoto would be the key part of the set up and I'm happy to stay with Canon but welcome other suggestions.

My research so far is leading me to a 7d Mk2 body with a Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM zoom which I have found for about £1000 all in, leaving me the remainder of the budget for an as yet undecided short zoom. However, this may be entirely the wrong thing to buy. The more I look and read up, the more confusing the whole thing is becoming - just too much choice, jargon and I seem to be going round in circles.

So, if it was your £1200 to spend on getting decent photos of F15s breaking overhead or Ospreys handbrake turning over the rwy11 threshold to show off a bit of top side, what would you buy? Any suggestions or advice very gratefully received.

Thanks. Andrew.

phantom6
Posts: 548
Joined: Fri Jun 25, 2010 5:26 pm

Re: Another "what camera / lens" thread.

Post by phantom6 » Wed Dec 04, 2019 5:43 pm

I would think thats sounds a very good bargain providing everthing is ok

User avatar
Pune
Posts: 4189
Joined: Wed Mar 17, 2010 9:47 am
Location: Midlands

Re: Another "what camera / lens" thread.

Post by Pune » Wed Dec 04, 2019 7:50 pm

Sounds logical to go 2nd user to me, I've had very good results with Canon 5D Mk2 and 100-400 L series, but from what I read on here the 7D is pretty damn good too, and you can't go far wrong with 'L' series glass, I guess you make your choice and take your chance.
MPB have always served me well, cannot fault them, and I'm sure the gear is guaranteed for 6 months.
The choice available is huge and as soon as a new model appears, lots of excellent condition cameras and lenses become available..some folk have to have the latest gear.
Good hunting, hope you find something to suit and have fun.. :thumb:
Cheers
Pune
If you can keep your head whilst all around are losing theirs, you have probably completely misread the situation!!

WinchesterMGF
Posts: 515
Joined: Tue Jun 07, 2016 8:42 pm
Location: Bury St Edmunds

Re: Another "what camera / lens" thread.

Post by WinchesterMGF » Thu Dec 05, 2019 5:42 pm

Thanks for the replies , much appreciated.

Alas, the 7d/100-400 combo for the £1000 turned out to be too good to be true - didn't look particularly well loved and my spider-sense was tingling re it all ending badly! So I'm going to play safe for the stuff with more to go wrong - a brand new, shiny EOS77d bundled with an 18-55 lens (bargain £519), coupled with L series glass as suggested for the big bit - a used but very good condition Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 L IS USM (£699). Total all in for £1219, so just on budget.

Can't wait to get to grips with it and start posting the results.

Andrew.

John flightpath
Posts: 714
Joined: Mon Jul 13, 2015 9:48 pm
Location: Birmingham

Re: Another "what camera / lens" thread.

Post by John flightpath » Thu Dec 05, 2019 10:40 pm

Hi Andrew. Think you have chosen well because you kinda had an idea what you needed. However, if you ever travel around a bit and don't want to carry the 'big stuff' around i can recommend the Canon 55-250 IS STM lens. HD quality and a lot less weight to carry if you are on the move. Should be able to pick one up for 100-150GBP used.

Cheers
John 'flightpath'.
Equipment
Canon EOS 750D

Sigma APO OS DG 150-500mm
Canon 55-250 IS STM Lens
Sigma APO DG 70-300 lens

page_verify
Posts: 1640
Joined: Mon Dec 06, 2010 9:19 pm

Re: Another "what camera / lens" thread.

Post by page_verify » Sun Jun 07, 2020 11:53 am

Granted I'm a bit late in replying, but I can share an alternative view for anyone reading this in the future. Today I've got 3 (heavily) used EOS-1D MkIINs that I paid under £200 each for from LCE over the last few years and a bag a L series lenses I've invested in over the last 20 years. Each EOS-3, D30, D60, 10D, 20D, 50D and 70D I had are long gone and while I'm just a bored amateur I think my 15 year-old EOS-1Ds give the best results of any of the bodies I've had. They won't last forever but that's why I buy an extra one every year or so. I know I sound like the type of person saying you should buy a 15 year old Range Rover rather than a new Ford Focus, but in the same way a Range Rover's doors go thunk when you close them so do my camera bodies when you drop them!

Supra
Posts: 2700
Joined: Tue Jun 15, 2010 8:01 pm

Re: Another "what camera / lens" thread.

Post by Supra » Wed Jun 10, 2020 10:35 am

Interesting comments page_verify & completely in-tune with my thoughts. My 1D MkII fell of my stepladder & did suffer some shutter-box disturbance which I didn't notice. By continuing to use it for less than 20 shots the damage became apparent with a Error99 message. Quick peep in the front revealed the shutter blades stuck at a crazy angle. Dust-off the Insurance Claim-form & off for repair. Sadly they were disinclined to replace it with the current (at that time!) 1Dx & chose to repair it. :Wow:
I now have a 'Brand new' 1D MkII with replaced Shutter-box, Mirror-box & Bypass filter that cost them £1329 to fix sitting in its box with just 30 actuations to check it worked! Sadly, mere months before that incident I had to replace the fairly 'Unique Charger' at a cost of £275 for the only used one I could find! :'( There's no-way this kit has any real value/purpose beyond sentiment as I already have a 1D Mk3 as my 'Doomsday Backup' should my usual two SLR's get damaged, lost or nicked! :)

page_verify
Posts: 1640
Joined: Mon Dec 06, 2010 9:19 pm

Re: Another "what camera / lens" thread.

Post by page_verify » Wed Jun 10, 2020 7:22 pm

Good to hear I'm not the only one who takes this approach! It wasn't until I Google'd your 1DMk3 just now that I realised I didn't even know how many megapixels the sensors on my 1DMk2N bodies have. 8.2Mp apparently, although I resize everything to 1200pixels wide so I'm sure many megapixels go to waste. I value it having the 1.3x rather than 1.6x multiplier more.

Supra
Posts: 2700
Joined: Tue Jun 15, 2010 8:01 pm

Re: Another "what camera / lens" thread.

Post by Supra » Fri Jun 12, 2020 12:48 pm

For anybody wanting flying shots of aircraft or birds the requirement of more actual or equivalent 'focal-length' is seen as a primary goal. I also value the APS-H (1.3) crop-factors of my current Canon SLR's, but remain frustrated at the measly pixel-count available on the current Canon range of SLR bodies. I have never been drawn to the Canon EOS APS-C (1.6x) crop-factor offerings. Sad to admit, but Canon SLR improvements/updates are almost exclusively aimed at the 'movie' side of operating & I think they have lost the Plot! Meanwhile, Nikon continue to develop great SLR's with amazing pixel-counts/ processors allied to superb (if a tad expensive?) optics. I haven't even looked at the new Canon 'R' system as it needs a few more years to iron-out the wrinkles & I'm miserably traditional! ;)

Cyberfox
Posts: 161
Joined: Mon Jun 21, 2010 11:01 am

Re: Another "what camera / lens" thread.

Post by Cyberfox » Tue Aug 11, 2020 10:55 am

So hypothetically, what is the very best long lens available for getting close up shots to fill the frame if a jet is about a kilometre away? I've seen people carrying some huge kit, at bases and bird reserves.

Apologies for such a novice question but are they all a universal fit, or do I need to get a Canon lens for a Canon EOS camera body? Would a Canon 800mm be significantly better than my current 75-300mm zoom?

User avatar
Yunglee
Posts: 915
Joined: Sun Mar 15, 2015 9:47 pm
Location: South Yorkshire
Contact:

Re: Another "what camera / lens" thread.

Post by Yunglee » Tue Aug 11, 2020 11:43 am

Cyberfox, generally speaking you'll need a Canon lens for your Canon camera. There are adapters but they can come with a penalty in terms of autofocus speed (but not always).

Tamron/ Sigma do lens such as the 150-600mm in different lens mounts such as Canon, Nikon or Sony.

As for shooting 1km away; I'd say on a DX/ crop factor camera (Nikon D7500/ Canon 90D) a 150-600mm lens will do depending on the size of the aircraft, perhaps with a bit of cropping if the aircraft is small (Typhoon, Hawk, F-15 etc). However at those longer length heat haze and atmospheric distortions become a much bigger issue. I'd prefer to use a 70-300mm and get closer (if possible/ legal) especially in the summer months.

From my house I overlook the approach in to Doncaster airport at about 800m away from the center line. 600mm on a Nikon D500 is OK for shots of biz jets (perhaps a little cropping) or roughly 300mm for passenger/ cargo stuff. I don't bother so much in late spring, summer or early autumn unless it's cooler and early morning/ late evenings.

Hope that helps.

Cyberfox
Posts: 161
Joined: Mon Jun 21, 2010 11:01 am

Re: Another "what camera / lens" thread.

Post by Cyberfox » Tue Aug 11, 2020 2:27 pm

Thank you Yunglee, that is very helpful!

So do you think 600mm would be good enough to get some of the F-15 shots people seem to get on here, where you can almost see the instrument panels when landing they're that close up? I agree it's much better getting as close as possible though.

I hadn't considered haze, etc that's a good point. I use it for photographing wild birds out on reserves or in the garden too, but again it sounds like a 600mm would be enough.

page_verify
Posts: 1640
Joined: Mon Dec 06, 2010 9:19 pm

Re: Another "what camera / lens" thread.

Post by page_verify » Tue Aug 11, 2020 6:46 pm

The best photos depend on good light, rather than the right length of lens. The quality of the photo tends to quickly drop with distance in the same way it does with light. I bought an 800mm mirror lens used for about £300 back in the day when I thought it was all about focal length - a chocolate teapot for what I wanted so I traded it in for a tripod. My guidance would be that a long lens can't see something that isn't visible in the first place, long lenses just make what you can see bigger. You can turn a small dot into a big low quality dot, or a big dot into a massive low quality dot, but generally speaking you need to be able to see something clearly with the human eye to start with before you can visibly zoom into part of what you can already see and create a reasonable photo.

In summary, you may get just as good photos with a 300mm lens as a 500mm lenses, unless you're the NRO - they can do magic.

User avatar
Yunglee
Posts: 915
Joined: Sun Mar 15, 2015 9:47 pm
Location: South Yorkshire
Contact:

Re: Another "what camera / lens" thread.

Post by Yunglee » Tue Aug 11, 2020 7:39 pm

Cyberfox, I’d recommend finding photos you like on here and if they are on Flickr you can take a look at the photos information. Many people leave the camera data and you can see the focal length used, that’s a great way to see what settings and gear folks are using.

Lee

Cyberfox
Posts: 161
Joined: Mon Jun 21, 2010 11:01 am

Re: Another "what camera / lens" thread.

Post by Cyberfox » Tue Aug 11, 2020 9:37 pm

Thank you gents, that's really good info. I appreciate your replies.

Certainly I think you've saved me wasting a thousand or two on a massive lens!

Post Reply

Return to “Photography Q & A / How to post photos”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: DC7C59 and 17 guests