Another Lakenheath visit 21Sep

[wallyinoz]

Probably my last visit to Lakenheath this year  a selection of pics below more if you go to the flickr photostream

[RidgeRunner]

Nice Wally. My mate Ken was there yesterday too and said it was packed with spotters and photographers! You clearly got a good spot!

 

Martin

[Smudge]

Very nice @wallyinoz.

 

I'm enjoying some of your recent photo's. Can I ask what camera/lens you are using? I just cant get the sharpness in a lot of my pictures. I think I need more megapixels and a bigger (500 mm) better quality lens.

I use a high shutter speed, but have to select a high ISO like 400 or even 800 for a reasonable exposure, and that also compromises the quality.

 

I should probably also look at getting a better editing software, I tend not to do too much editing as it always seems so obvious (the colours look awful).

 

Here's one of mine....

 

 

1/1000 sec f5.6 ISO 400 with a 300 mm lens, just cropped in a bit.

 

I have a Pentax DSLR with 16 megapixels, probably about eight years old now.

 

Thanks.

[wallyinoz]

11 minutes ago, Smudge said:

Very nice @wallyinoz.

 

I'm enjoying some of your recent photo's. Can I ask what camera/lens you are using? I just cant get the sharpness in a lot of my pictures. I think I need more megapixels and a bigger (500 mm) better quality lens.

I use a high shutter speed, but have to select a high ISO like 400 or even 800 for a reasonable exposure, and that also compromises the quality.

 

I should probably also look at getting a better editing software, I tend not to do too much editing as it always seems so obvious (the colours look awful).

 

Here's one of mine....

 

 

1/1000 sec f5.6 ISO 400 with a 300 mm lens, just cropped in a bit.

 

I have a Pentax DSLR with 16 megapixels, probably about eight years old now.

 

Thanks.

Hiya smudge, you got the F16s you lucky sod, I went twice after a 3 hour drive and the buggers didnt get airborne till late evening when I was on my way home!

I have a Canon 5D mkIV, which does 30 megapixels, coupled with a canon EF100 - 400mm f4, 5.6 USM II using 1.4 extender for shots at Lakenheath usually.

I find editing doesnt do anything for picture sharpness. To avoid using high iso (iso set to automatic) I try to use the slowest shutter speed I can.. 1/500 with 400 zoom 1/650  with the 400 with 1.4 extender.. I do get plenty of "not sharp enough" pics but get quite a few good ones too.

I think the lens you use makes the most difference, then technique and luck! What I try to do is set the appropriate zoom for the point at which the aircraft is going to be closest to me and using ai servo focusing track the aircraft until it fills the frame then shoot,  I find that adjusting the zoom whilst firing away results in a bit of slip in the autofocus with consequent loss of sharpness.. if you are using a fixed zoom you shouldn't have that problem though. All these settings are a compromise as you know. I am not familiar with pentax, do you have optional autofocus modes?  If you have something like ai servo  (nikon has another name for it) which is a mode suitable for focusing on moving subjects, hope that helps

Cheers

Wal

[Smudge]

Hi Wal,

Thanks for getting back to me. Sorry to hear you missed the F-16's, military aircraft spotting/photography can be a bit hit and miss sometimes, I've had plenty of those sort of days!

 

Thanks for the camera/lens info. You have pretty much confirmed what I was thinking. I have had some luck with lower shutter speeds down to about 350 500 but I do tend to wobble a bit, so try and go as high as the conditions will allow. I do use the auto focus, but it can be a bit temperamental sometimes, and will suddenly start focusing in and out just at the crucial moment (I've missed a few like that) but it generally does a good job. Interesting point about zooming in and out whilst shooting, I have noticed that this will effect the exposure as well, so unless everything is on Auto it's not always a good idea. However, I do tend to use the Manual setting as the Auto isn't great for shooting objects against the sky. Interesting too that you don't find editing to be much help, I guess it's still important to get the setting's right in the first place.

 

I think I will agree with you that a good lens, technique and luck all play their part!

 

Thanks again for the tips. Keep the pictures coming!

 

Cheers, all the best.

 

 

just a little edit to say no, I don't think I have an Auto focus mode optimised for moving objects, something I'll have to look out for.

 

Edited September 25, 2020 by Smudge
autofocus

[wallyinoz]

Hi smudge, another thing on autofocus, on the canon lens you can change the focusing range to ensure the autofocus does not range from close up to infinity, flick the switch to 3 metres to infinity ( I think it is 3 metres I dont have the lens nearby). If you have that feature on the lens it will do lot to help avoid that hunting.

 

Additionally on the canon you can select your autofocus points, I have experimented a bit and have set the autofocus area to a small square dead centre.. if the aircraft is in my "sights" it should focus ok.

 

I think cameras struggle with grey aircraft at a distance in grey skies, the closer to full frame the aircraft gets, the better the autofocus.

 

Another thing I do that helps with the exposure in difficult lighting is to adjust the exposure.  If you have a harsh glare sky and the image appears like a silhouette  set the exposure compensation a couple of notches on the + side (over exposed) this will make the aircraft look better but the sky can become whiter ..edit software can do this correction but I like the camera to do it, it requires trial and error and tweaking while lighting conditions change over your hours in you favourite  vantage spot!

 

Finally I forgot to add I use a polarising filter, with large areas of blue sky and the sun behind you, glare is reduced and you get lovely blue sky shots.

 

Cheers

Wal

[Terry1954]

Superb pictures Wally. Makes me realise I need an F-15 or two in my stash!

 

Thanks for sharing

 

Terry

[wallyinoz]

19 minutes ago, Terry1954 said:

Superb pictures Wally. Makes me realise I need an F-15 or two in my stash!

 

Thanks for sharing

 

Terry

Hiya Terry, I know what you mean, I have an F-15  kit waiting for me when I get back home, I got some Lakenheath decals from a nice chap on here!

[Smudge]

14 hours ago, wallyinoz said:

Finally I forgot to add I use a polarising filter, with large areas of blue sky and the sun behind you, glare is reduced and you get lovely blue sky shots.

Thanks for all the tips and help.

 

Looks like the weather is changing for the worse here. Hopefully it will soon pass and I'll get back out and try some of these in practice. 

 

Cheers.