Thanks for posting the pictures. It was a nice to see the Dak – made my day.

This may be somewhat alleviated in the S5500

Yes the S5500 and soon to be released (but too late for the UK airshow season) S5600 certainly offer improvements for aircraft photography. I got the S5000 mainly for work but it is so handy to use that I have ended up using it most of the time – mainly because the size means I carry it with me a lot.It is even useful to id distant aircraft using the digital zoom feature when viewing pictures. Most of the disadvantages can be got over by using ND filters (but I keep forgetting to take mine!) and technique – as Paul F says – keeping both eyes open is worth getting used to. At the prices the S5500 is being offered at you can’t really go wrong – there is no doubt that a DSLR and good lens will give better quality but that is a big investment for most people and we all want different things from our cameras – I have even met people who prefer their pictures with frozen props! RobAnt’s photo competition a few months ago showed what could be achieved with S5000 type cameras and it would seem that lots of people are enjoying using them. I have certainly seen an increase in people with cameras at airshows – which means that future enthusiasts will have a wealth of photos of the aircraft we see flying today.

Such sad news. My sincere condolences to his family and friends.

I have the earlier model the S5000 which shares many of the same features. It is good for static shots and has a multitude of settings. For ground to air the shutter lag does result in missed shots – perhaps the S5500 is better in this respect. With a 10x zoom you can expect to have to compromise but I have been pleased with the results. From what I can see the improvements made with the S5500 will make it more versatile – the lower iso setting should make it easier to get blurred prop shots. Once you get used to it I think you will find it very good for the price. XD memory cards are now a lot cheaper – I have just bought a 512mb one for around £30. For static shots you may at times want a wider angle lens – you can buy an adapter but these are quite expensive compared to the camera price. The viewfinder is pretty poor – okay for composing a shot but difficult to tell if the subject is in focus – again this may have been improved from the S5000.

So in summary it gives you lots of control but is pretty good on auto – the metering options are good and most times the exposure is spot on. Moving subjects can cause frustration and a decent slr will give better results but if you are prepared to make compromises (worth it in my opinion for the size and price) you will find it a very versatile camera

Superb pictures. Did you get any of the Buchon running? I was there on Saturday (I’m standing in the background of your second (very atmospheric) racing car shot)

Atlantic1,

OMG! I don’t suppose you have any other shots of the Wellington do you?
I had no idea that beauty was able to fly! 😮

Cheers,

Todd

There is a video of one taking off on this site. A shame it is a model but still nice to see that shape in the air!

Nice photos – I like the first one.

I couldn’t get there in the morning (had to do the weekly supermarket trip!) – it started to pour down just as I arrived – typical.

Yes I was there this afternoon. We tried sitting out the rain but it just seemed like there was no end so we headed off. I will post some of my shots either tonight or tomorrow.

I’ll look forward to seeing them. As you can see from the photo – the Hurricane was taking off into the rain – there was a dry spell just before it took off but it didn’t last long. Not the best weather for photos never mind flying!