Fred, I was happy with the FA70-210/3.5-4.5 zoom on the *ist DS last month. Finding the planes can be a challenge at 200mm. The A300/4 would be tougher.
Here's a shapshot I took on Chicago's lakefront at the air & water show. http://members.aol.com/rfsindg/t-birds.jpg USAF Thunderbirds, with FA70-210/3.5-4.5 zoom (the wobbly one) Crop of original at 100% - camera shake added by photographer. (The formation was a small part of a much bigger picture - 2000x3000) This was taken at the Chicago Air & Water show last Saturday. Look closely at the end of right wing of the last aircraft. Shortly after this pass, the last half of the Thunderbird's show was canceled. Reports were that a missle rail (hanger) had fallen off of one of the aircraft. It's only a snapshot, but I was impressed... Regards, Bob S. On 9/12/05, Fred <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Hi. I'll be attending my first ever air show in a couple of weeks (Sept. > 24), and I've got a couple of questions for air show veterans: > > 1. What's a good shutter speed for showing "blurred but visible prop > blades" in a "fly-by"? I'd like the blades to show a little (not just be a > total blur), but not to "stand still" in the photos either (I've already > got some of those pictures from previous airplane attempts on film, and > 1/250 sec just doesn't do it - <g>.) I'll be using my new DS, so I guess I > should be able to adjust the speed when I view the first shots in the DS's > display window, but "Murphy's Law" would probably have my first botched > attempts be of one of the two planes that I really want the photos of the > most - <g>, so knowing a little ahead of time might be very helpful to me. > > 2. What sort of focal length range would be most useful for a "fly-by"? I > could use a 70-210 zoom, or a 100-300 zoom, as some examples. I also could > use a 500mm mirror, say. Using the DS, of course, means that these would > approximate 100-300, 150-450, and 750mm "effective focal lengths" (35mm > format). (I could probably carry 3 or 4 lenses, I suppose.) > > Thanks for any advice offered. > > Fred > > >
