FighterControl

Hi All,

What would be advised for fast jets, shutter priority or manual?

I don't do jets enough to know, so would be grateful of any advise.

Many thanks!

Personally, start off with shutter. Manual can be a headache to get around it, until you get some practice in.

They say for jets you should have a minimum shutter speed that is above your max focal length - for instance, 400mm, want to be 1/400 and higher. Often for jets I shot upwards of 1/640 in the air, up to 1/1250. For any props, bring it down to beneath 1/320 to get the shutter blur (and good for panning shots if you fancy it!)

Best advice is just get out there and practice! Trial and error until you get something you like. Auto ISO, too, personally.

Aperture priority for me all day long

I can have some control over the Depth of Field plus try to stay within my particular lens sweet spot

Obviously I keep and eye on the resulting shutter speed or closure time

Agree with Slogan.
I use aperture priority for jets. Use the f stop that puts the lens in it's sweet spot and the lowest possible iso that enables the minimum shutter speed you require.
I will use shutter priority if I want a panning shot or for props.
I realise some of us have steadier hands than others but I like to convey a sense of movement rather than have a 'frozen' shot.

Interesting take, hadn't thought of that before. Suppose it's all dependant on where you're shooting and the shot you want - if an airshow I suppose depth of field isn't as important in the air.

Personally I've shot manually the last few years. Always found it's a personal preference down to the style of photo you like, want to get and get comfortable with taking

cat1 wrote: ↑

Thu May 09, 2024 11:45 am

Hi All,

What would be advised for fast jets, shutter priority or manual?

I don't do jets enough to know, so would be grateful of any advise.

Many thanks!

Try this it’s a helpful reference site.
https://www.military-airshows.co.uk/air ... basics.htm

Personally I use manual mode and leave the ISO on auto. Give a little aperture so DoF not too narrow and this typically uses the sweet spot for the lens.

Shutter speed depends on what I'm trying to convey but typically very fast for fast jets and longer exposure for props and even longer for helicopters/CV22.

I also use longer exposures if wanting to show movement (background blur) with panning.

I have recently gone to manual with auto ISO bracketed to a max of ISO800. Kept getting caught out on shutter seeds sometimes when i was using Aperture Priority , Especially on the Lakenheath Quick climbs for instance.

I have used both shutter priority and aperture priority at times. The thing to remember is that your aperture has a smaller range to work with compared with your shutter speed, but you can get around this. I often do a sweep of the sky, pointing my camera from one end of the display line to the other just to check whether my settings will stay within normal limits for the light at that moment. You may need to repeat this as the light changes.

Thinking about this... I think my 'normal' setup is to set aperture priority with an f-stop that gives me a decent bit of performance from my lens (f8 or thereabouts). Then check what shutter speeds that gets me for the area I'm looking at and adjust the minimum ISO up if I get into speeds that will be too slow. If the light changes during the display, just go down an f-stop or two as a quick fix.

In most cases, I follow the advice of Snoop55. If your camera has auto-ISO, then unless it is very cloudy and the ISO goes off the scale, there will be little noticeable noise unless you're wanting to display your image on the side of a bus. Even then, using de-noise software will get rid of most of it. So use manual where you can set the shutter speed for the lens and subject (so over 1/500 for fast jest) and the aperture for the depth of field you want to see in the resulting image. Let the camera and the auto-ISO do the heavy lifting for you.

I confess to be an absolute heathen in all of this and have pretty much always used Program (P) mode which allows me to adjust ISO, exposure or shutter speed at will with the use of 3 of the dials / wheels on the back / top of the (Canon) camera.

My main issue is that I often forget in the heat of the moment to look at the viewfinder display to see what settings I am actually shooting at!

Bear in mind if using a crop sensor camera then you really want to be over the 400mm 1/400 sec rule. Canon crop is 1.6x so for 400mm you should be around the 1/640 sec. Then you have IS/VR compensation built into most telephoto lens now that can give you some leeway. With today’s sensor resolution getting higher some people swear using twice the shutter speed in relation to focal length. I tend to set the aperture to the sweet spot then control the shutter speed myself and let the Auto ISO/camera work out the rest.

The shutter speed being the reciprocal of focal length to avoid blur is something camera magazines spout routinely.
Alas they are not photographers. With practice and a steady hand you can get 'keepers' with 300mm plus at 1/60 and slower.
Without image stabilisation. Far more important is how you hold the camera/lens.
About 1 in 30 of the 'photographers' I see have good technique.

The rule is still a followable rule for beginners. It's a basic rule of thumb to get a 'sharp' photo. Your slower shutter speed point is correct, however, requires a lot of practice. It all depends on what the individual wishes to shoot - a nice sharp photo from corner to corner, or a blurred background with a sharp subject.

Interesting you feel qualified to critique others based on what you think is correct. It is subjective to the individual and their end goal, just like yours is. What is a "good technique"? Someone could pick apart your photos, and say you've not got a good technique - Yet if you are happy with your outcome, then there's no issues.

I should have elaborated. Lost count of how many times I see people grabbing the lens from the side or even from the top!
Rather than 'cupping' it or using three fingers as a tripod.
It really shouldn't bother me as much as it does, I realise that.

And if it works for them why do you care? Focus on your own photos and let others take theirs.

B58Hustler wrote: ↑

Fri Jun 07, 2024 9:03 am

I should have elaborated. Lost count of how many times I see people grabbing the lens from the side or even from the top!
Rather than 'cupping' it or using three fingers as a tripod.
It really shouldn't bother me as much as it does, I realise that.

To each their own... I often see people taking photos in the portrait orientation with the grip side of the camera down... Completely opposite to what all the camera manuals will tell you and it can't be comfortable or easy to keep a good grip on the camera. But who am I to judge them.

Surely doing portrait that way lets you tuck your elbow in and so brace the camera to avoid shake. I personally shudder when I see it the other way, with the right elbow waving about in the wind, actually inducing camera shake. Perhaps people with image stabilisation don't care but I was taught a long time ago.

Playing devil's advocate... and ignoring that we're straying off-topic a bit:
As your right arm is the one doing the shutter-button-pressing bit, that is not the one I want to have stable against my chest. The fact that with that arm down, I can only get the tips of my fingers on the camera body means that the camera is less stable and combining that with depressing the shutter button actually introduces more opportunity of shake.

Turn the camera with the grip pointing up and support the other end (now facing down) on the palm of your left hand. Have that arm tucked in against your body. You now have a stable camera 'platform' in your left hand, can manipulate the zoom ring with the fingers of your left hand if needed, can keep a steady grip on the grip side of the body with your right hand, have the back of the camera against your face (at least the eyecup, I don't go for the 'peer at the screen' thing), the total of which should give you the best possible (steady) basis for a photo. Because your right hand is fully around the grip, depressing the shutter button doesn't introduce as much of a possibility for additional movement.

Anyway I already said to each their own. Everyone is free to use their camera as they see fit.

Thank you for thta last line - I can ignore the previous two paragraph sermon then as well as others previously given.