Camera settings

[telscossie]

Hi, I going to a few airshows this year and was wondering what would be a good starting point for camera settings for prop and jets ie:shutter priority , aperture or manual . iso , white balance and metering modes . i will be using a nikon d800 with sigma 150-600 c , and help or advice is much appreciated , thanks

[flashman8]

There is an unwritten rule that says, the minim um shutter speed you should use, is the one closest to the longest focal length of lens you are using.

But with the advent of antishake etc, and a bit of practice, you can get away with slower, as for ISO, I always try to use the lowest possible.

When taking propeller shots, you can use either aperture or shutter priority, but don't go any faster than 1/200th to 1/250th of you will freeze the movement of the blades, for jets, as fast as possible.

I would not really worry about white balance though.......

[rockfordstone]

i tend to run in two settings at air shows

for props i tend to go with shutter priority, then set shutter speed around 125/160 which seems to catch the blur and hold focus

for jets i go aperture priority and just go fast as possible.

i've seen some places suggest that setting iso to auto makes life easier, but i'm a glutten for punishment

i might change it and shoot manual this year... if im brave enough

[speedbird2639]

for jets i go aperture priority and just go fast as possible.

The advice I read was you should be using about f8 or above on a telephoto/zoom lens as shooting with the aperture 'wide open' can lead to a 'soft' image. Using something like this can help you look at when the aperture of your lens produces the required sharpness/ focus.

I know a lot of people are reluctant to increase the ISO setting on their camera but I think with modern cameras the risk of introducing 'noise' is only really valid at extreme low light photography (such as a bulb exposure of a starry night sky) and to all practical purposes doesn't really apply when taking photographs on a (hopefully) sunny afternoon. The tiny increase in noise is more than compensated for by being able to use an aperture and shutter speed that produces a sharp crisp photo.

The advantage of the digital age is you can take as many photographs as you want experimenting using a wide range of settings and work out what works for you/ your equipment. If you have an airport within your local area you could go along and just practice using commercial jets and GA aircraft as target practice.