Tech Details for the Photos
Hi There
A bit of information on the aircraft shown and the details of exposure used etc for those interested in such things
All shots taken on an EOS1D MKIIN with an EF 500mm F4L IS Lens
Shot No 1 1/2500 @ F4.5 ISO 400
This is a Belgian Airforce F16 "Fighting Falcon" performing a knife edge pass to give a view of the top of the aircraft, which is generally more interesting than the bottom, and you can also see the canopy and the pilot. From an airplane enthusiasts point of view a "topside" shot is the one we are always trying to capture.
Shot No 2 1/2000 @ F4.5 ISO 400
French Navy "Super Entendard" This aircraft had flown in as part of the 25th anniversary of the Falklands conflict.
The large white missile under the wing is an "Exocet" anti shipping missile which was used by the Argentinian airforce against surface ships.
Shot 3 1/250 @ F10 ISO 100
Royal Navy "Lynx" helicopter taking part in the grand finale Commando assault demonstration. I had lowered the shutter speed to try and get some motion blur on the rotors.
Shot 4 1/250 @ F13 ISO 200
Royal Airforce "Chinook" heavy transport helicopter, again a lower shutter speed and larger depth of field to try and get it all in focus.
What impresses me about the shots 3 & 4 is how sharp the rest of the helicopters are only having used a 1/250th of a second to shoot it with a 500mm long lens.
Conventional wisdom has it that you shoot at the reciprocal of the focal length as a minimum shutter speed... So i should have been using 1/500th minimum. The aircraft was moving quite quickly, not as fast as the jets but nonetheless it wasn't hovering. Now i may have been lucky with my panning technique, or possibly the IS on the lens may have made all the difference.
I will post a couple of 100% crops to show you what i mean as you can't really judge from the low res shots shown here
I would be interested to hear from anyone who has more experience on this aspect and has used this particular lens, and bear in mind these were all handheld!. The lens was not mounted on a tripod on a gimbal head.
Just point and shoot with a 500mm at 1/250th of a second and get a pin sharp pictures. I find all this modern technology quite amazing.
John
