> On Aug 17, 2021, at 12:39 PM, John Francis <[email protected]> wrote: > > On Tue, Aug 17, 2021 at 07:41:12PM +0200, Alan C wrote: >> The South African Aerobatic Championships is currently on in Phalaborwa with >> plenty of Photographic opportunities. I've tried everything but just don't >> seem to be able to focus on fast moving aircraft at height. I get close with >> MF but AF.S?? AF.C are hopeless. Perhaps someone can enlighten me? Perhaps >> screw drive is too slow? I've tried the K5 with the HD 55-300 @ 300mm & the >> Sigma 170-500 DG @ 500mm. I can focus just fine on the quarter moon! > > Are you sure it's focus that is your problem? A plane flying at 250mph > (which is what the faster aerobatic planes seem to be capable of) will > move over a foot in 1/250 of a second - more than enough to blur the shot. > If you haven't had a lot of practice panning to keep your target relatively > stationary in the viewfinder you're going to see quite a few fuzzy shots.
That’s a very good point. I would suggest shooting in TAv and really cranking up the shutter speed. If that makes the blur go away, you can drop the shutter speed to recover a bit of noise and dynamic range. By the same token, maybe not shoot wide open to get a bit more depth of field. I had forgotten about my attempts a couple of years ago Looking at some photos from a couple of years ago, the blue angels were practicing for the Salinas airshow and the pot farm I was working at was pretty much directly under their flight path, so when they were practicing I’d take a break and grab some photos. It looks like I’d shoot at f/8 and either 1/800 or 1/1000 in TAv mode when they were close, using a K-3 and Sigma 50-500: https://www.fluidr.com/photos/ellarsee/sets/72157677323484307/ Also a DeHaviland Vampire: https://www.fluidr.com/photos/ellarsee/sets/72157704200196382/ And some stunt planes: https://www.fluidr.com/photos/ellarsee/sets/72157705985048831/ > > While you can elimnate much of the motion with higher shutter speeds you > then end up with shots that look strange because the propellers appear to > be almost stationary (e.g. http://www.panix.com/~johnf/temp/FatAlbert.jpg) > -- > %(real_name)s Pentax-Discuss Mail List > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow > the directions. > -- Larry Colen [email protected] -- %(real_name)s Pentax-Discuss Mail List To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
