Guidance

[cambsgirl]

just starting off thinking about progressing my airshow and general photography. RIAT ones v v bad.

Can anyone recommend any good books to help me?

Does anyone use the HS20 exr with sucess at these things??

[Hatstand]

I had the previous model, HS10 - not much different to a HS20.
I liked it for everyday walk-around photography, but for aircraft in flight my opinion is: it's virtually useless.

Autofocus is nowhere near fast enough, shot-to-shot speed is way too slow, burst modes are of little use, image stabilisation is inadequate, viewfinder and rear screen are not responsive enough - and they black out for seconds at a time between each shot. It's point and pray, rather point and shoot. Maybe you don't want to hear it, but I really think a new camera is the way to go. Either a DSLR, or a faster superzoom.

I sold my HS10 and all my DSLR gear, and only use a Panasonic FZ150 now - viewfinder/rearscreen are inadequate, image quality is not as good as a decent DSLR with a quality lens, and smallest aperture is ony f8 (which is troublesome on a bright day when you want slow shutter speeds for prop blur). But it'll match a DSLR for just about everything, else at a fraction of the cost... it beats a DSLR for movies, and of course has size/weight/convenience advantages which are important to me when I'm not at an airshow.

I use a red dot sight to overcome the viewfinder issue, polarising or neutral density filter to overcome the f8 aperture limit... and I find the image quality is good enough for my needs. Another generation or two, and maybe there will be superzooms that will cope with airshow photography right out of the box.

As for books... I think there's plenty of stuff online for free. I found this site very helpful in understanding cameras and photography in general: http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials.htm, but I've also seen lots of sites with airshow photography tips as well.

[Arthur Tee]

Hatstand has made a very good suggestion with the Panasonic - even though they do make televisions!


I opted for the Canon SX40HS. Yes I know Canon make printers - but so far I'm very impressed.
Quick focussing etc...

My shots at RIAT are here:

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=44818

Arthur

[Jetnoise]

I too looked at the SX40HS when my Sigma 18-270 "holiday lens" died. Rather than buy a new lens (and continue to incur the wrath of the wife for lugging camera bag & SLR around on holiday) I got the SX40-HS. I must say that I am mighty impressed with it for general photography, but it takes some getting used to for aviation photography - there is a noticable shutter-lag and zoom adjustment whilst panning is difficult. Here are some shots taken on holiday in May in Faro - these are straight from the camera with absolutely no post-processing other than crop and frame. The first is at its widest (equivalent to 24mm) and then narrowest (840mm equivalent) and are taken from the same spot (chair at the bar!)...............


SX40HS-24mm by Ralph Lunt Photography, on Flickr


SX40HS-840mm by Ralph Lunt Photography, on Flickr

As I said, very impressed,

Ralph

[Orion]

I think that for air show stills photography a DSLR is essential. The problem is the expense but the bridge cameras just don't have the response times that are needed for action photography.

Regards

[Hatstand]

I think that for air show stills photography a DSLR is essential. The problem is the expense but the bridge cameras just don't have the response times that are needed for action photography.

The Panasonic FZ150 certainly does have the response times - autofocus, shutter lag, shot-to-shot speed, continuous shooting (with autofocus for each shot), burst rates, image stabilisation). This is precisely why I bought one, and ditched my DSLR.

In my opinion, the reasons to choose DSLR over superzoom (for action photography) are now down to EVF/Rear screen, image quality, and aperture range.

[Arthur Tee]

I think that for air show stills photography a DSLR is essential. The problem is the expense but the bridge cameras just don't have the response times that are needed for action photography.

The Panasonic FZ150 certainly does have the response times - autofocus, shutter lag, shot-to-shot speed, continuous shooting (with autofocus for each shot), burst rates, image stabilisation). This is precisely why I bought one, and ditched my DSLR.

In my opinion, the reasons to choose DSLR over superzoom (for action photography) are now down to EVF/Rear screen, image quality, and aperture range.

Hatstand - totally agree - although my EVF is (I think) very good.

As for Orions comment that a DSLR is essential - I don't think he looked at the Polish MiG-29 on my RIAT thread - not blowing my own trumpet - but my results were certainly better than some shots posted on here using DSLRs.

Arthur

[Macc]

I think that for air show stills photography a DSLR is essential. The problem is the expense but the bridge cameras just don't have the response times that are needed for action photography.

The Panasonic FZ150 certainly does have the response times - autofocus, shutter lag, shot-to-shot speed, continuous shooting (with autofocus for each shot), burst rates, image stabilisation). This is precisely why I bought one, and ditched my DSLR.

In my opinion, the reasons to choose DSLR over superzoom (for action photography) are now down to EVF/Rear screen, image quality, and aperture range.

Hatstand - totally agree - although my EVF is (I think) very good.

As for Orions comment that a DSLR is essential - I don't think he looked at the Polish MiG-29 on my RIAT thread - not blowing my own trumpet - but my results were certainly better than some shots posted on here using DSLRs.

Arthur

I'm not having a go in any sense, your photos were very good. However, the editing done to photos makes the key difference when presented on online forums so it could be those photos were just well taken and poorly edited.

[Orion]

A review of the Panasonic camera is here: http://www.expertreviews.co.uk/digital- ... ifications

Certainly seems to be very good, although there are reservations about it vs DSLR. I was most interested in its video capabilities - 1080p shooting at 50p!

I certainly agree with the poster who commented on the enhancements possible with Photoshop. This software is very good, but it can hide weaknesses in the photographers technique as can the modern practice of putting the camera on the continuous shooting setting and then shooting off tens of frames of a subject and then choosing the best. A skilled action photographer will wait for that one shot and then take it; full frame, correctly exposed and in focus! There was a time, when film stock was expensive and processing even more so, that photographers had to learn skills that are all but laughed at now. But I think it made us better photographers!

Regards

[Hatstand]

Certainly seems to be very good, although there are reservations about it vs DSLR.

Yes, as it is straight out of the box - I wouldn't call it a direct replacement for a DSLR and I wouldn't recommend it for airshows. But it's got enough raw performance that with a few add-ons, it becomes "usable" for airshows and other action photography (red dot sight to make up for lack of decent viewfinder, and neutral density filters to make up for limited aperture range on bright days with slow shutter speeds). DSLR + decent lens will still win on image quality - just have to live with that. Maybe another few generations of superzooms will close the IQ gap...

I was most interested in its video capabilities - 1080p shooting at 50p!

Yes, the video capabilities were a big attraction for me too. I found the video capabilities on my DSLR (600D) rather frustrating - autofocusing, tracking subjects, and zooming while recording were very weak. And bad rolling shutter effects.

The Panasonic has continuous autofocus and subject tracking which work very well, and you can use the zoom while recording... all with practically no mechanical noise added to the audio. The autofocus does occasionally do a brief "hunt" especially if you're heavy handed with the zoom speed, but overall it's very impressive. For "serious" videographers, there is a socket for an external microphone. The manual modes allow shutter priority: bump it down to 1/30th and you can get full prop blur in your video - no rolling shutter weirdness, and minimal strobe effects. Hmm... Perhaps I'll post a short example to demonstrate, in the video forum*.

I certainly agree with the poster who commented on the enhancements possible with Photoshop. This software is very good, but it can hide weaknesses in the photographers technique as can the modern practice of putting the camera on the continuous shooting setting and then shooting off tens of frames of a subject and then choosing the best. A skilled action photographer will wait for that one shot and then take it; full frame, correctly exposed and in focus! There was a time, when film stock was expensive and processing even more so, that photographers had to learn skills that are all but laughed at now. But I think it made us better photographers!

So true. However, I do believe the photographers that have those skills will get a lot more "keepers" and capture more pleasing images, than those of us who just blast away (yes, I am one of the unskilled "continuous" crowd).

*EDIT: Example video posted under topic "Sybille" Dragon Rapide. Not a particularly good example, I don't have many clips to choose from yet - but it shows you can get pleasing prop blur in recordings.

[Craig_85]

I think that for air show stills photography a DSLR is essential. The problem is the expense but the bridge cameras just don't have the response times that are needed for action photography.

The Panasonic FZ150 certainly does have the response times - autofocus, shutter lag, shot-to-shot speed, continuous shooting (with autofocus for each shot), burst rates, image stabilisation). This is precisely why I bought one, and ditched my DSLR.

In my opinion, the reasons to choose DSLR over superzoom (for action photography) are now down to EVF/Rear screen, image quality, and aperture range.

Hatstand - totally agree - although my EVF is (I think) very good.

As for Orions comment that a DSLR is essential - I don't think he looked at the Polish MiG-29 on my RIAT thread - not blowing my own trumpet - but my results were certainly better than some shots posted on here using DSLRs.

Arthur

I'm not having a go in any sense, your photos were very good. However, the editing done to photos makes the key difference when presented on online forums so it could be those photos were just well taken and poorly edited.

Exactly, and viewing at web sizes hides a lot of deficiencies in IQ, compare at 100% or an A3 print then see where a well edited dslr image comes into its own...the equipment is only as good as the person pressing the shutter and in this day and age doing the processing!