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Author Topic: old school telephoto techniques  (Read 2355 times)

JJP

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old school telephoto techniques
« on: July 15, 2006, 04:49:24 pm »

Up to now, I've been hand holding with monopod attached telephoto/camera at airshows and using manual focus to save on battery power to capture airplanes or wildlife.  It's been kinda a hit and miss though (I'm guessing somewhere between 5 and 15% success rate) and so, I'd like to increase my percentage of hits.  Fast moving fighter planes that are close are really difficult to capture.
My idea of a successful image is when I can open it up in camera raw at 100% mag. and still have relatively clean/sharp image.
And so the big request:  tell me what you know about handling 500mm telephotos without IS when tracking fast moving subjects.
thanks,
jules

edited twice, JJ
« Last Edit: July 16, 2006, 10:45:22 am by JJP »
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Tim Gray

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old school telephoto techniques
« Reply #1 on: July 15, 2006, 05:15:11 pm »

Well, to start, IS doesn't really shine when shooting  "fast moving objects".   IS helps the camera resist motion, but if the subject is travelling at mach 1 then all the IS in the world isn't going to help.  You need a fast enough shutter speed. Conventional wisdom is 1/fl (or the fl times the "crop" factor).

Having said that if the relative speed isn't excessive, make sure the IS is on mode 2 so that it doesn't try to fight the panning motion.

My suggestion would be a tripod and wimberley.

I shot over 2,000 frames trackside at the Toronto Grand Prix last weekend (Canon 1d2 - with a 300 2.8 IS L and a fair number with either a 1.4 or 2x) - the superb AF made a much more signficant contribution to the decent shots I did get than the IS.

PS, what are the photo ops like in Iqaluit?  Might be an interesting trip.
« Last Edit: July 15, 2006, 05:20:43 pm by Tim Gray »
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JJP

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old school telephoto techniques
« Reply #2 on: July 15, 2006, 07:25:15 pm »

hi Tim,
Ironically, I just got my hands on a sidekick a few days ago, and will put it through its paces in the up and comming weeks.  
When you're using AF, are you also using af servo?  if so, how much of a battery drain is it?
The Swedish air force came by yesterday with two herks and seven fighters and stayed overnight and departed this morning.  I was counting on there being clear skies and sunshine to give me a some extra stops, but not to be.
Lots of photo ops at the mountain range between Pangnirtung and Qikiqtarjuaq and the range between Clyde River and Pond Inlet....if mountains are your cup of tea.  If you like wide open spaces then Baffin Island is the place to be.
When it gets really cold on winter mornings with clear skies, the senery is fantastic.
And after the dark spell of winter when the sun comes out, between january and late march we get lots of that golden/orange sunlight which is fantastic in its own right.
jules
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Tim Gray

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old school telephoto techniques
« Reply #3 on: July 15, 2006, 09:32:18 pm »

servo, with the Custom Functions as per the Sports Illustrated standard configuration - http://www.siphoto.com/  sometimes the low speed and sometimes high - the large buffer really helps.  IS is more of a battery drain than servo.  Last day of the race I shot roughly 1200 frames on one battery - actually surprised myself.

I like the mountains - grew up in Calgary.  Any shots of you local areas?

Here's a link to the race shots - you can tell from the exif what I was using - 420mm = 300 + 1.4 and 600 the 2x.  Shots aren't nearly as sharp was with a remote and mlu with 2 sec delay  

http://www.timgrayphotography.com/gallerie...prix/index.html

Motion blur thanks to PS.
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