Body and telephoto lens suggestions for airshow photography
Having gone to a few airshows this year and been fairly pleased with my results, I looked at a telephoto converter for my S9600. However, negative reviews and disappointing availability mean I'm ready for the plunge into a proper SLR. I like the look of the 30D and 40D and should have the budget for either (seen great shots with a 1D Mk III, but that IS over budget :)). What is making my choice difficult is I have no idea where to go for a good telephoto lens for either of these cameras. I am looking at a total budget of around £1000 at the moment, but that's flexible for the right kit.
Any suggestions appreciated.
Re: Body and telephoto lens suggestions for airshow photography
I've read that the Canon 100-400 L IS is popular at airshows
Re: Body and telephoto lens suggestions for airshow photography
good grief! At £900 more saving is required :D
Re: Body and telephoto lens suggestions for airshow photography
Sorry, I missread that part of your post :D
Re: Body and telephoto lens suggestions for airshow photography
You can offset the cost (somewhat) by getting a good used 20D instead of a 30D - there's very little difference in actual camera. I've seen a few go at £150-£180 recently, whereas I think the 30D holds value at about £300. Having said that, I love the 30D. :D
Re: Body and telephoto lens suggestions for airshow photography
The 100-400 is very good, but the 70-300IS is, optically, also surprisingly good. It isn't built like the 100-400 (which is a L lens), but it's optically extremely impressive and closer to £400 than £1000. And, if you need the extra reach, you can always try a Kenko 1.4 Pro 300 DG telecon. They can be got for about £100 and, as with any telecon, do introduce some compromises, but not as much as you might expect.
Re: Body and telephoto lens suggestions for airshow photography
I have heard people talk about the sigma 50-500mm telephoto lens for airshows
http://www.warehouseexpress.com/prod...px?sku=1008356
I guess you will be looking at spending more on the lens than the camera for a good telephoto lens.
The sigma is available for all mounts so you can look at the different systems (canon, nikon, sony, pentax, olympus) as well.
Re: Body and telephoto lens suggestions for airshow photography
No matter which system that you go with if you want decent reach with decent IQ you are better spending more on the glass & less on the body.
With a typical APS-C crop body in my experience you probably want at least 400mm (yes, you can get away with less but ultimately I would bet that you will come to find that you would like it) & a zoom gives you a lot of flexibility.
The Canon 100-400mm IS L is probably the nearest thing to a standard for your average aviation enthusiast lens - it isn't perfect but does a lot of things well.
Sony have a 70-400mm G SSM coming out in January that I'm currently saving for (it's going to be ~£1000 too, the 70-300mm version is ~£550), Nikon's 80-400mm VR is ~£800 but doesn't seem to be considered as good but I believe that the Nikon community believe it is due for replacement as it's an older lens.
I'm sure that other manufacturers like Olympus & Pentax will have similar & then you have 3rd party manufacturers like Sigma, Tamron & Tokina.
Re: Body and telephoto lens suggestions for airshow photography
ok budget of 1000 easy
Used 20D/30D for £200/250
Sigma 70-200 f2.8 £500
Kenko 2x Teleplus Pro 300 << this is the same IQ as Canon's 2x tele £130
and you have change ;)
do you need IS for panning an aircraft? not at all, like cars, a smooth panning action is required :)
Re: Body and telephoto lens suggestions for airshow photography
Thanks Bob, some nice things to think about there. I've read very mixed reviews of teleconverters though, what do you know about the IQ of this one? Would I be right in thinking that even by using a 200mm lens and cropping, I'll get better IQ than with my S9600 at 300mm? It's always seemed quite soft at the far end to me.
Re: Body and telephoto lens suggestions for airshow photography
Re: Body and telephoto lens suggestions for airshow photography
Wow, extremely impressive! Had a look at a 450D today, the shop had a £50 casback offer - which finished on the 4th of August!
Re: Body and telephoto lens suggestions for airshow photography
there's a new £50 cashback on the 450D
"EOS 450D (any configuration) = £50 Cashback (EUR 65)
Extended Offer - started 26th June, ends 12th January 2009."
