Photography help needed.

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stu_h
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Photography help needed.

Post by stu_h »

I'm hoping someone will be able to advise on what I know are newbie questions.
I suddenly find myself the caretaker of a Nikon DSLR (d7000), with a request to capture the static over Saturday and Sunday. It should be my dad doing that, but ill health's got in the way.
The last time I shot aircraft, it was 1994 and film was rewound by hand before giving it over to the dark art of Jessops or similar.
So, a couple of questions :

1 - The camera has two memory card slots, currently only containing one 16gb card. From reading on here I'm guessing that's too small for capturing a number of images of each static, plus line-up shots?
2 - Am I right in thinking a 18-105 lens is too short for capturing any flying? Think I have seen that 300 is the minimum size? Would 105 still get decent touchdown/ takeoff shots?
3 - Batteries. I have two, both fully charged and will be recharging Saturday night for Sunday. How power-hungry is kit these days? If I conserve power, should two be enough (they are the model supplied with the Nikon, but the manual doesn't give a guide).
4- UV filters. Needed? They've remained unused in the kit for as long as dad's had it, so guessing not? If they're a good idea, what should I look out for?

I appreciate the above are probably simple, and if time permitted I'd spend a few weeks testing, but this has come up last minute. Any advice gratefully received.

Aside from the above, I hope everyone has a great next few days. Lost count of how many times I f5'd the arrivals thread today!

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speedbird2639
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Re: Photography help needed.

Post by speedbird2639 »

Hi

1. My Canon 650D (18m) with a 32gig card tells me in RAW I can shoot 1026 shots or in the largest jpeg setting 3525. Your Nikon is a similar size sensor so with a 16 gig card I would expect roughly half those totals. I would say jpeg would be fine for shooting the static; you only really need RAW for the more challenging flying display.

2. I have a 300mm lens and I struggle with that but as I only attend a couple of shows a year I can't really justify the expense of a longer lens. But 105 is going to be way too short for flying shots. Sorry. I doubt it will even be any good for take off shots as the crowd line is a quite a way back from the runway (100m+) and if you are, for example, as central as you can get for the displays on the lawn area you will be something like 500m+ from the typical touchdown point.

3. I find batteries have improved hugely over the last 10-15 years and one battery will do me all day. 2 should be plenty, but if you are concerned then you can adjust the lcd screen 'on' time and switch the camera fully off when you are not using it to save a bit of power.

4. This was discussed on here fairly recently and the consensus was no filter. UV/ skylight filters used to be recommended as film was affected by UV light but the digital sensors aren't so no need for it.

Planes TV are covering RIAT with live feed http://planestv.com/RIAT2017 - not the same as being there obviously but if his health prevents him from attending then this might be better than nothing; just a thought.

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Tbolt
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Re: Photography help needed.

Post by Tbolt »

With the D7000 set to 12bit Raw you should get around 700 shots on a 16GB card, but that will obviously depend on the size each image. Obviously if you are shooting JPEG ( why I don't know ;) ) you will get a lot more. So if you can get a second card to go in the other slot ( and set the camera to overflow) it would be good as it's easy too take a lot over the two days.

I use the 18-105mm but it's a bit short for the display apart from when it comes to the display teams. Larger aircraft on the runway will also be doable with this lens.

The battery on the D7000 is very good and If it's full charge one should last you all day as long as you don't have the screen brightness right up and don't use Love Live View too much, but since you have two they will easily last. My record for the day at an airshow with one battery on the D7000 is 3300 shots with 4% battery remaining.

UV filters can help on digital cameras but only in extreme situations but in general they are not needed, I don't own a single one. I do use high quality protection filters on my lenses though. A CPL is handy if you have one for the static aircraft especially if the Sun is out.

stu_h
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Location: Sunny south coast

Re: Photography help needed.

Post by stu_h »

Thanks both for the replies. Off to buy an extra card it is then, and the filters stay in the box.

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jasonT1981
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Re: Photography help needed.

Post by jasonT1981 »

Sorry to butt in, rather than start a new topic.

I am bringing my bridge cameras, on auto/scene selection the shutter is very slow to both focus and shoot so looking to set manual settings for the first time at a show. What ISO or Aperture would you recommend?

I've been told 1/125 to 1/250 for Props and 1/600 to 1/800 for Jets in terms of shutter speed. Any other helpful tips for a first time shooter in manual?

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Tbolt
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Re: Photography help needed.

Post by Tbolt »

jasonT1981 wrote:Sorry to butt in, rather than start a new topic.

I am bringing my bridge cameras, on auto/scene selection the shutter is very slow to both focus and shoot so looking to set manual settings for the first time at a show. What ISO or Aperture would you recommend?

I've been told 1/125 to 1/250 for Props and 1/600 to 1/800 for Jets in terms of shutter speed. Any other helpful tips for a first time shooter in manual?


I dont quite understand when you say slow but it would be best to shoot in S if you cameras is OK in that mode as it will be hard in manually if the light is changing a lot as the Sun comes out then a cloud comes along, I only shoot manual if I have pretty constant light.

For props as slow as you can get while keeping the subject sharp, that depend on how steady your are, don't go too slow otherwise you may just get loads of blurred aircraft. Start at 1/320th and check your pictures and go up or down as needed. On a bridge camera you may need to use, if your camera has it, the built in ND filter if the Sun comes out to get a slow enough SS.

For Jets I'll be starting with 1/800th, but will go up if the Sun is out.

If your camera has Auto ISO put it in that. If not leave it at 100 until you need to up it to get your required SS.

The hardest thing with Bridge cameras is panning with aircraft because of the viewfinder blackout when you take a shot so it will take some practice.

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