Equipment & Techniques > Cameras, Lenses and Shooting gear

low level aerial photography

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mulga bill:
Hello and a quick description of what i do and use at the moment.Lots of aerial photography mostly but have a day job to support it too! and like my new 5D very much,more so every time i get to use it.

My question/s is this; the f4 70-200is is great for most of the shooting i do(1000 ft and focused at objects on the ground,so far so good.I'm an ex sailplane pilot thinking seriously about a gyro so i can snoop around in places outback,as in the western australian desert or at least the edges of it where most of the wildlife is,and with the time that takes i just could not afford to pay a commercial pilot for it all.I need another lens because i'd like to get some nice air to airs with the large wedgetail eagles we have here,and i want depth of field and as much clarity as i can afford to have(about four thousand dollars aus)

My shooting position will be slightly above them mostly and i'll be close and trying to get them against a nice backdrop,say within one to two hundred feet(30-70mtrs)of them maximum.Altitude will be between three hundred and one thousand feet(100-300mtrs) and shutter speed will vary from 125 to 500 and looking forward to your comments,thanking you in advance

Jonathan Wienke:
I'm not sure how large the birds you intend to shoot are, so I hesitate to recommend focal lengths, but for air-to-air stuff IS will be very helpful, aircraft not being the most stable of shooting platforms. If the focal range is right, the 70-200/2.8L IS (perhaps with a 1.4x teleconverter) should be high on your list of choices. If you need something longer, Canon makes, 300, 400, 500 and 600mm L lenses with IS. Choose the lens that will get you the framing you want within your budget, maybe a 400/4 L IS.

macgyver:
This might interest you a bit:

http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/multi_pag...cid=7-6454-6928

cubdrvr:
Bill......
The 70-200 2.8L IS USM is an awesome lens.......my favorite.  It should serve you well for your purpose.  The only recommendation I would make is to possibly up your shutter speed.
Depending on conditions I generally shoot 200 ISO & 4.0-5.6 and let the speed fall where it may.

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