Biggin Hill Festival of Flight

[Mike Farley]

A 1DX and 100-400 combo definitely makes for an arm ache inducing bit of kit.

The last time I went to Gigrin Farm to photograpph Red Kites, the other two togs in the hide had very impressive pro spec levels of gear - made me look like the poor relation, that's for sure. One of them had his camera attached to a gimbal mounted on a tripod and was freely swinging it about with great abandon. That seemed a far better option than a monopod, which I find can be a bit cumbersome especially when the subject is not at a constant level, as I imagine would be the case with planes flying at different heights. Of course, space restrictions might rule out the use of a tripod at an airshow.

[Rose]

I've got used to the weight of the 100-400. Whilst you can use a monopod for some things it won't work for panning aetobatic displays. There's too much movement required. Cone on Paul... if I can manage a whole day hefting it around I'm sure you can ! LOL It is about how you stand and how you hold the lens.

[Mike Farley]

I will confess to looking at the 100-400 a few years ago and one of the reasons for dismissing it was the heft.*

Later this year, Olympus will be releasing a pro spec 40-150 f/2.8 m43 which should be lighter than the Canon lens (albeit with less reach), especially when paired with a m43 body. I remain unconvinced that the continuous AF in the E-M1 is as good as an equivalent DSLR, but I would expect it to cope reasonably well with subjects such as planes which tend to move at a constant speed and direction. Maybe the situation will have improved in a couple of years when Olympus releases its next generation of cameras?

* The trombone zoom action, a propensity to suck dust into its innards and reports that suggested the bearings for the zooming action are prone to failure were the other main factors. As an older design, like many others I also mistakenly thought that Canon would soon have an update and decided to wait.** I eventually ended up with a 70-300 DO bought ex demo at a good price, although optically it is inferior and has a shorter maximum focal length.

** Waiting for Canon to produce the equipment I want, only for it either not to appear or be too late seems to be a constant theme.

[davidc]

I found a very effective, cheap way to reduce arm ache when holding camera + lenses, here

[Mike Farley]

I found a very effective, cheap way to reduce arm ache when holding camera + lenses, here

Did that constitute your luggage allowance on your flight to Singapore?

[davidc]

The camera kit definitely contributed to a LOT of that (my camera bag weighed 9kg on it's own!)

Everything else is on the slow boat that should arrive in Singapore this coming weekend -

http://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/hom ... :lastknown

[Mike Farley]

Everything else is on the slow boat that should arrive in Singapore this coming weekend -

http://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/hom ... :lastknown

Here's hoping that the ship can get out of the Red Sea before the Middle East implodes totally.

[davidb]

A monopod or a tripod is not a viable option when shooting at air shows. At best the planes will fly left to right (or right to left) at a constant speed at a constant height. But that would make for a boring show. So to keep up with the acrobatics you really need to be free to move. On one occasion I was photographing a helicopter directly overhead; a very difficult stance to maintain for long.

I found the 70-300mm lenses sufficient for most of the photographs I took. I will use Lightroom and/or Photoshop to finish off the shots. Although most pictures will need some sort of cropping and/or exposure adjustment (I wasn't as well prepared as Rose) I'm sure you'll see a number of aircraft entries in the coming years monthly competition. Having seen Rose's photo's, I'm sure she has a number as well, I just hope we don't have entries on the same day!

I do use my 1DX and 100-400mm combo (with a 1.4x extender) when I go hunting wildlife and it can be a little heavy at times. Using hides generally allow you to use the window sills as a rest to steady the equipment.