What camera are you using?

Just thought as a starter for this how about we discuss what we are all using?

Nikon D-70 with Nikor 18 - 55 with Speedlight SB600 (workshop use)

Nikon D-90 with Sigma EX 70 - 200 f2.8

Cheers

Danny

Edited By Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator on 29/06/2012 13:40:45

FujiFilm cardboard disposable with a plastic lens.

BEB

I wish I knew more about 'proper' photography, but as soon as you mention ISO, I glaze over....

For me it's been point n shot pocket camcorders, and dare I say, my phone.. ( Cowers in shame)

For airbourne pics, I use a key-fob cam, as it's all my ickle models will lift...

If you're on about ground shots, then I fly on my own, so even the best camera wont help..

Luv

Chrisie.. xx

Danny that shot is woooo oowww. i have no camera skills at all but man that shot is good! show more please. bbc.

Chrisie thats exactly what this thread should be about, I am sure BEB will relish the opportunity to explain, as only he can, th ins and outs of photography. I am looking forward to him doing a Christmas lecture, I will want a front row ticket!

Sony NEX. Point and squirt.

It has an 'intelligent auto' setting which makes up for the deficiencies of the pointer.........

Little cat photo taken with it. Oh, sorry we're back on cats again.........

Pete

Sony Alpha 300 with either the stock 18-70 lens or an inexpensive Tamron 70-300.
Budget is currently limiting the purchase of an expensive lens.

I like the fold out LCD screen with live view that saves lying on wet grass.

Oh and this was taken at a range of just over a mile, on full zoom, just hand held. OK the quality isn't the best but it shows the in camera anti shake does quite well.

Pentax ist-DL + Pentax 50-200 f4-5.6 Not the super gear but I am happy with it.

By the way - this was at Greenacres 2011. VA

Vecchio, shot number two was that a carrier landing? carrying it home in a bag hahaha. sad to see but but a great shot all the same. bbc.

Hi Chris,

Am I right that this is the body

Sony Alpha 300

With this lens

Tamron 70-300

That doesn't seem too expensive and those pici's of the Sopwith do look very clear and sharp.

Cheers,

Chris.

Those are indeed the items. Although I would think the static Camel shot and possibly the flying shot were taken with the Sony lens that came with my camera.

Canon G9 ......

ken anderson ne..1 speilburg dept...

Very cheapo 4 year old 7.1 mega pixel Fujifilm Fine Pix S5700 point and shoot.

This is where a decent camera with a good focal length lens would be good.

Cheers,

Chris

Edited By Big Bandit on 29/06/2012 14:58:44

I am no expert but I will offer my thoughts, might provoke discussion. IMO The key thing with photography is light, you need lots of it.

There are variables but the main ones to me are ISO or speed of the film. The higher the ISO then the less light needed, however the higher the iso the more grainy the image. Then there is the Aperture, this is the bit in the lens that determines the amount of light that will be allowed onto the film/optical sensor. This is adjustable via the f stop number. so the lower number means the aperture is open wide to allow more light in and the larger means it is smaller. Lens length, usually mm so a 300mm is a good length, this basically means the longer the lens the more magnification. For show modelling photography ideally we want around 400mm. Shutter speed, this dictates the length of time that the shutter is open, and therefore the amount of light that is allowed to fall on the film/sensor. So you see depending on the conditions the end result is that the film needs to be properly exposed, and you can achieve this juggling these settings

Depth of field or the depth of focus, is mainly affected by the aperture. a pinhole camera would have a small (high number >f22) this would make the image sharp from the foreground right to the background. But it would need lots of bright light. we want a nice blurred background, with sufficient depth for the whole subject to be in focus.

Shutter speed has a direct affect on sharpness of the image. the faster the shutter the less chance for the object to move and more likely less chance for you to shake the camera! So sharper.

For aircraft I like the shutter speed to be high enough for sharp pictures, but not so high that the prop is stationary. So photography is a balancing act.

or of course just set it on auto and hit the button

Cheers

Danny

@ Bouncebouncecrunch - The rigging broke in mid air - picture one already shows a unsymmetric plane as half of the wings are gone - and the knive edge landings we find only at photoshop .

There were about 4 seconds between both pictures.

Quality is not the best as I was quite a bit away, but it is also the action that counts....

VA

I use a very old Konica Minolta D7 with a whole range of lenses, mainly artifacts from my film days. The AF is OK with modern lenses but very slow with the famous Leice Beercan lenses. For most of my aeromodelling photography (and wildlife) I use a 75-300 Minolta and a 50mm Minolta Macro. My point and shoot lens is a KM 18-70.

To be honest, the type of camera in use doesn't really matter, technique is far more important - especially trying to capture in flight photography. Learn how to pan with a long focal length lens. Keep pressing the shutter, digital images cost nothing and review them when the action has finished. In fact - turn the image post view off, its a distraction. Last weekend at GreenAcres, I took almost 300 photos, about 150 were usable (framed and exposed correctly) and about half that again were acceptably sharp. A 1 in 4 hit rate...

When taking sky shots add about + 1/2 to + 1 stop exposure compensation - experiment. It makes the sky look a bit bland but at least you will get detail in the shadows. Dont use spot metering, very rarely will the spot be a neutral grey.

Set a manual ISO - as high as you can go before noise becomes a problem and shoot at an F stop value that keeps the object sharp and the background blurred (if possible). the result will be the Shutter speed which should be at least 1/250 sec

You can put the sky back again afterwards in Photoshop Recovering detail from shadows simply makes the image look muddy..

Martyn

Edited By Martyn K on 29/06/2012 15:40:38

Canon EOS20D with Canon 70-200 f4 L series lens. With the smaller sensor, this gives a focal length which equates to about 300mm in 35mm terms.

Pete

ps - just checked and you need to 'right-click' and select 'view image' on the latter pics to get the correct formatting........

Edited By Pete B on 29/06/2012 15:41:42

Hello, I use a Nikon D3000!! When I´m shooting close I use AF-S DX 18-55mm lens, and when I,m shooting far, usually when aircrafts are flying I use AF-S DX 55-200mm lens!!..

Best regards...

@Vecchio i didnt pick that up at first in the first photo probably because the second was so dramatic and that is all i was focused on. i dont take joy in seeing any aircraft crash full size or scaled, but a great shot to show in full size and miniature devastation can occur. cheers and happy snappin.bbc