Airshow photography in low light

You could try going into the custom function menu and seeing if the noise reduction is on or off. Select on and see if this helps the muddines. It does have an impact (under certain conditions), on write times (to the CF card), but would affect this more when you shoot RAW.

There are other software products such as Noise Ninja that might also help you (I have not used these myself yet though!).

Noise reduction on or off shouldn’t be making a great deal of difference at 100ISO in (Even poor) daylight.
The other custom functions need checking too. Set them all to default until we solve this problem.

You could try going into the custom function menu and seeing if the noise reduction is on or off. Select on and see if this helps the muddines. It does have an impact (under certain conditions), on write times (to the CF card), but would affect this more when you shoot RAW.

There are other software products such as Noise Ninja that might also help you (I have not used these myself yet though!).

However, one area I still have a problem with is when the light levels drop. When it clouds over, my images tend to get very muddy and noisy. I appreciate there are always going to be more problems the less light there is. However, if anyone can tell me how to mitigate this as much as possible I’d be eternally grateful……use a Canon 350D with a Sigma 120-400mm lens with Optical Stabiliser.

The simplest answer to your question is post a pic that is “noisy and muddy” and from your EXIF data we might be able to help you figure out where you went wrong. These terms really dont mean much unless there is some data to support it.

I believe that Canon DPP did not ship out with the xxxD line up only the xxD (like 10D/20D…etc) got the DPP besides the 1D/Ds guys. But you really arnt missing much. You can use Adobe products or you can simply download Irfanview and you can converted CR2 to JPG or whatever.

Hi

Interestingly your post made me sign up to the forum rather than just read it.

If you have Photoshop Elements you should be able to use it to convert RAW pictures. It may not work without updating the relevant part of the program called Camera Raw. See link http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/detail.jsp?ftpID=2936

Also if you are using Vista you can make looking at RAW pictures in their folders better by getting the Vista Raw plug in http://blogs.msdn.com/pix/archive/2007/03/30/canon-raw-codec-for-vista-release.aspx

Some basic camera theory.

You may have heard of a “stop” in photography, ISO changes in stops, each stop is double (or half) the previous, eg. 50, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600 ISO
In just the same way each shutter speed is a stop and they double (or half in the same way eg. 1/30, 1/60, 1/125, 1/250, 1/500, 1/1000. The same goes for apertures.

If you have a light meter setting of say ISO 100, 1/125 then going up to ISO 200 will give you an extra stop and go up to 1/250 by changing the ISO you have increased the shutter speed and may have been able to get the subject that bit more crisply focused.
There is not that much difference in camera noise at 200 (some Nikons have 200 as its lowest ISO setting) and slightly worse at 400 ISO so it is worth experimenting, you have nothing to loose and everything to learn.

DPP “should” be on there – good luck!

Maybe better to try Old Warden than DX, the aeroplanes are slower AND nearer to the crowdline, just keep practising that panning! Perhaps try some “head-on” stuff, less sideways movement, & have a go at switching off the Optical Stabiliser, “may the force be with you!” 😀

…Actually I tell a lie – just went searching through my camera stuff and found a disk entitled ‘Canon DIGITAL EOS Solution Disk v10.0’

Is this what I need to convert from RAW?

Cheers!

Really looking forward to Duxford and hoping against hope that the Vulcan turns up. Already kicking myself for not going today.

cool i just got back from dux very windy realy hard to get a steady shot , was in media area so hopeing i got a few good shots.

its suposed to be alot better tomoz there was no eurofighter but i did get to see the vulcan finaly

im shure you can convert raw in photshop elements

Thanks for the comments. Glad I’m getting some bits right anyway. Unfortunately the camera was purchased second hand and came without the DPP, although the dealer did throw in Photoshop Elements. So I’m stuck with jpg for the time being.

I’m generally OK with getting a sharp picture, but the problem is that the surfaces (particularly where grey is concerned) seem to go very noisy which ruins many images. Changing the exposure settings on photoshop just makes it worse.

I’ll be at Dx tomorrow and possibly again in October. For the record, have been to Biggin, Farnborough and Clacton this year.

Matt

exsactly what he sais bro ,and good luck im just past your point so know where you are at. keep at it even without airshows just shoot anything you see and get a free photographers course going and you will be pro in no time .
aviation photography isnt easy by any means like ive siad ive only just started pointing the cam in the air im used to wedding photography ect .

what shows you getting to ?

Hi XN923,

Thanks for the info – it helps!

I’ll try to help you as much as I can, but I’m happy to admit that I’m no expert.

Okay Canon 350D: no probs there!

ISO 100: no probs there either (imho)

Shooting in TV: no probs there, however a bit of a balancing act to juggle with. Jets, no probs go for the highest shutter speed you can achieve for the given light. Prop driven aeroplanes, (this is where it gets a little challenging)
There is a “rule of thumb” that says shutter speed should match focal length i.e. 300mm you’d need 1/300th to avoid camera shake (don’t forget the “crop factor” which I believe for a 350D is 1.6 therefore your 120-400mm is the 35mm equiv of 192-640mm!) However anything above 1/250 – 1/300th sec will freeze the prop! So practise your panning!!!

Jpeg Vs RAW
If you bought your 350D new then you have got the software to cope with RAW, it’s on one of the discs, called Canon DPP, (not a bad program imho!) the problem is that jpeg is a compression whereas RAW is actually what your camera saw! Please try it.

Exposure compensation:
If you shoot in RAW then you can do this in the comfort of your own home in front of your pooter using the Canon DPP!

Hope this helps

Cheers!

Hi,
You don’t say whether you’re shooting RAW or jpeg?
What ISO are you using?
What shutter speed?
Auto, AV, TV?

Shooting jets or props?

I beg your pardon. To answer your questions…

Shooting jpg (don’t have any software to deal with RAW I think…)
ISO – usually go for 100 (as have been told that 100 is usually good for anything outdoors during the hours of daylight, but please tell me if this is erroneous)
Usually shoot between 1/125 and 1/400 depending on the speed of the aircraft
Usually shoot TV
The airshows I usually go to mean photographing a mix of jets and props

I’ve tried experimenting with exposure compensation but don’t have the confidence to know what I’m doing with this really

Hi,
You don’t say whether you’re shooting RAW or jpeg?
What ISO are you using?
What shutter speed?
Auto, AV, TV?

Shooting jets or props?