What Lens?

I do remeber gettig some shots of the Sunderland Airshow last year but cantr remember where the photos got to!

I have a Canon EOS 300(film, the old stuff!) and a 75-300USM zoom. Could I get the shots with this lens?

By all means, go out and try for yourself. For some positions/angles 300mm might be too short, but with careful planning you should be able to grab excellent shots. When I started aviation photography more than 40 years ago, I’ve even managed to get nice photo’s with lenses as short as 50mm and 135mm. Some cropping afterwards could be necessary. Therefore select the slowest films (fine grain) which allow you to use the shutterspeeds you require under the circumstances.

Sure! Just go to an airshow next summer and try 🙂
You might find that 300mm on a 35mm camera isn’t always sufficient, but why not try an Old Warden show – there it’s definitely enough!

I have a Canon EOS 300(film, the old stuff!) and a 75-300USM zoom. Could I get the shots with this lens?

Generally 1/500th is still a bit too fast for propeller aircraft. As a general rule I try to stick to a maximum of…
1/400th for two-bladed props
1/320th for multi-bladed props
1/250th for helicopters
The speed relates to the rotation speed of the prop/rotor and going higher than these speeds will make your props/rotors look rather motionless and takes the action out of the image.

all true and i was aware of this.

I was really referring to using the lens at maximum zoom 300mm (450 equivalent) and getting softness, which under scrutiny, revealed itself as slight movement blur. I was having to use higher speeds 1/800+ to eliminate this.

Regards

Michael

Before i was having to go 1/800 to 1/1000 sec to avoid slight movement blur, now i am confidently going down to 1/500.

Generally 1/500th is still a bit too fast for propeller aircraft. As a general rule I try to stick to a maximum of…
1/400th for two-bladed props
1/320th for multi-bladed props
1/250th for helicopters
The speed relates to the rotation speed of the prop/rotor and going higher than these speeds will make your props/rotors look rather motionless and takes the action out of the image.

I know this is drifting off the origonal subject a bit, but…

Further to my earlier post about 300D and 75-300 USM II combo wobbling – i can now report that i have been using the above combo + a Canon BG-E1 battery grip for a few weeks and my photos are noticably sharper, i am not getting half as much wobble as the new battery grip adds bulk and weight so you can get a proper 2 handed grip of camera and lens.

Before i was having to go 1/800 to 1/1000 sec to avoid slight movement blur, now i am confidently going down to 1/500.

Since i bought my 300D when they first came out, i have suspected that the body is just **too** light and compact, Fine with small lenses, but un-weildy with anything that sticks out more than 2 or 3 inches.

Regards

Michael

Sigma also offers a 135-400mm lense. Which I use as a light back-up. Given acceptable light conditions it produces a good quality. Not on one level with my Nikors but reasonable. I shot the whole day at FRA using it.

effectively 450 with the 300D

480mm even, as the zoom factor is 1.6

I too find the 100-300 + EOS 350D a rather clumsy combo (using it at the moment with my 100-400 being deceased) as it simply is too light.
I’ve been tempted by the 50-500mm from Sigma, but the weight is just a bit too much for comfort. Since the season is nearly over I will wait till next spring before buying a new telelens. Until then secretly hoping something new will be released… 😀

I still have (but no longer use) a 75-300 USM. In combination with the 300D at airshows I was getting a high number of out of focus shots. (Probably caused by pilot induced oscillation).

It took season to get to grips with the lens and new cameras but I am very happy with the 20D and 100-400 IS combination.

I have used the 300D & 75-300 USM combo for some time and noticed that it is far more prone to wobble than with my old film EOS.

I suspected that the balance was all wrong – a very light-weight body with a long lens and tried experimenting.

I have lying around a canon table tripod which folds completely flat to the bottom of the camera and ends up looking like a battery grip (if you see what i mean). Being made of metal it adds weight and bulk to the set-up and important depth to allow a proper grip. i now find i get much, much less shake when using the lens at the 300 range ( effectively 450 with the 300D).

I have just ordered a bg-e1 battery grip as i have read reports that this adds stability to the 300D, so i will report on how it works when it arrives.

only compressed to keep download time down—
each original was about 2 to 3 meg!!!

my web album also limits file sizes too to around 250 kb each

You still don’t need to compress them that much! Do a 100% crop at about 800 pixels wide, and then a resized version of that photo, again at 800. Save as quality 10 in Photoshop – Bob’s your uncle.

only compressed to keep download time down—
each original was about 2 to 3 meg!!!

my web album also limits file sizes too to around 250 kb each

believe me quality of orig is ace!

I will never go back to film again after using eos300d

its a first rate body with good lens options as well

(20 years of using contax/yashica bodies)

M Brown, you went a bit too far with the JPG compression, I think. It’s hard to tell the quality of the lens from the photos. Can you show a somewhat less compressed picture – or a crop of one perhaps? Thanks 🙂

I have the same body and use the original lense but also a
Tamron 28-300 xr di and can’t fault it—excellent lens for speed and quality
the body of it is very compact too
just see below

I have used the Canon 100-400IS for almost 2 years before I sold it. After I fell I had serious problems with damaged arms, and I couldn’t use the 300 2.8 (the heavy one) I normally used. So I bought the 100-400 and was very happy with it. So happy that after my problems were over I still continued to use it, keeping my 300 and 70-200 2.8 at home all the time. Then it broke and was with Canon for 2 months (right in the summer season). So I started to use the “retired”ones again, and the quality of these were better than that of the 100-400. So, after it returned, I sold it. Now I use the 1.4 and 2.0 on the 70-200 if needed, otherwise I shoot everything with the 300 or 500. And my dust problem on the sensor is now also almost over, as the 100-400 just blowed the dirt in!. BW Roger

I use a Sigma 100-300 F4 HSM, which is a very nice and extremely sharp lens. If I require extra length then I add the Sigma 1.4x TC which also works very well. Having said that this setup is fairly expensive, and you are paying for the F4 @ 300mm.

Jonathan

I’m struggling with the same problem. The 75-300mm lens can do the job, but more often doesn’t. Focussing often seems to be slightly off with fast moving subjects and optically it ain’t great. The purple artifacts are very troublesome.

I’m leaning towards the Sigma 50-500mm at the moment, as the zoom range is just wonderful – as is the price. But the crispness and -for me- the zoom ring (opposed to push-pull) are two big cons. Haven’t decided yet…

Does Cosina still produce the cheap 100-400mm? It’s a great lens for the price, although focussing is dreadfully slow, it does take some dust and the purple edges are quite bad too. Said that, mine served me for eight years (although after a few years I got a sand grain in the focus ring and it tended to lock up a lot since…).
For the price it’s quite good value for money, but I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it. I prefer it over Canon’s 75-300 though!!

i have the sigma 50-500 and would agree that at the high end things are a bit soft sometimes, but i’m playing around with it and getting used to it and its starting to come together nicely.

I had the 75-300 zoom that came with the film eos300 lense kit and it works well, if I dont want to be too conspicuous with the monster its fine for me!

coanda

I use the 100-400 IS on my 300D and 20D. I have yet to suffer the dust problems experienced by others. I still have (but no longer use) a 75-300 USM. In combination with the 300D at airshows I was getting a high number of out of focus shots. (Probably caused by pilot induced oscillation).

It took season to get to grips with the lens and new cameras but I am very happy with the 20D and 100-400 IS combination.

With lots of advice from our resident Forum experts, my pics are slowly improving.

tc

(Returning to self imposed exile).

Depends which 70-200L you are talking about… 70-200 F4.0L with 2x converter will challenge the AF system on the non-pro bodies, whereas the 70-200 F2.8L-IS + 2x is a somewhat more attractive but more expensive proposition (the base lens even moreso with the 1.4x)

Andy