Michael_Mcr….. This leads me to something that really infuriates me…….use of digital cameras on aircraft; I really enjoy taking photos of the departure and landing, however on my recent trip back fro Washington the flight attendant gave me a right rollocking for producing my little kodak point and shoot whilst taxing out for take off……. Si
I dont think that anyone would regard a camera as an electronic hazzard to flight controls, i suspect you might find that it is more to do with not having any loose objects during transitional flight phases – if the captain had to slam on the brakes at 100+mph and your camera flew out of your hand and smashed someones skull / nose / whatever….
Michael
Michael_McrI dont really want to progress any “anti-mh” thread here, but would just like to say that it reminds me of a joke i heard many years ago that referred to the “Robert Maxwell Syndrome”, which was defined as this:
“if you say it often enough, loud enough and fly every where by helicopter smoking a big cigar – eventually you will start to believe it yourself !!”
Regards
Michael_McrAll the airlines ive been on say something similar to “electronic devices must be switched off for takeoff and landing and mobile phones and transmitting devices must be switched off for the duration of the flight”
I use my pda in “flight mode” all the time without any problem.
I should also add that i have lost count of the number of times i have clearly heard mobile phones ringing from overhead lockers during flights and the cabin crew seem to ignore them !!
Michael_McrNo.
I really mean it, chaps! We’re not going through all that again. No way! 😡
GA
OK, i wont mention the apprentice again.
Back on subject – i suspect the vast majority of aircraft are purchased then leased back – thats the usual financial model when a company has an asset worth millions of pounds.
So i would guess that most are “owned” by finance companies – as others have already suggested
(almost) back on subject – many years ago i was introduced to a chap who’s job was repossesing aircraft for leasing companies. He was an ex-army officer who went along with the necessary pilots, co-pilots and a team of engineers to check over and fly off in planes from airports around the world.
He also had with him a legal eagle equipped with all the legal paperwork, a lot of cash and various corporate credit cards to pay outstanding airport charges and buy fuel etc. He said that much of the time, the aircraft was stuck where it stood because the operating company had gone bust and the airport would not clear the aircraft to leave until landing and parking charges had been settled.
Quite a job – i guess he was very highly paid.
Michael_McrAnybody like to guess the name of the person who owns the most planes?
Martin Halstead ?
Michael_McrAs a follow-up to all this, are people still using the mounds, despite the padlocks ?
I dont get up there very often now and would appreciate any appreciate any feedback (or PM(s)) as to whether the air-side security or others would get annoyed by my presence on the “wrong” side of the gates ??
PS Lance – i never knew you were a Red – i always thought you were a decent chap…. 🙂
Michael_McrA-ha family pics means posing and light (not to mention indoor outdoor, controlling the background and the difference in equipment: I don’t think 100-400L is the right lens to take a pic of your kid, a good prime 50 or 85 would be more like it). Besides you don’t get to pose your a/c or direct the light. From my limited serious amateur POV its a whole different ballgame.
Now if there are great portrait photographers who also happen to be great aviation photographers then my apologies. But there are other more accomplished resources where you can learn from the experience and insight of others who are more attuned to this.
I use a 300d for both and got a Canon 50mm 1.8 USM for £65 new – its soooo sharp and clear you could shave with it !!!
Regards
Michael_McrUnfortunately I have managed to put 3 Compact flash cards through the washing machine. Amazingly, having dried them out, they still work.
I am wondering if this will have shortened there life at all and consequently if I would be taking a risk to continue to use them.
Any advice or opinions welcomed.
Phil
Should get some clean shots with them……
…sorry – i had to.
Michael_Mcri would agree with all the points made so far and would just add that any sharpening / usm should be done last AFTER any resizing as it is affected by the pixel count and you will always get the very best level of sharpness by first sizing the image then sharpening.
If you sharpen both before and after sizing, you will get muddling of the edge pixilation to some degree.
Personally, my order is always :
1) rotate if neccesary
2) crop if neccesary
3) adjust mono levels
4) adjust colour if neccesary
I then save a working copy which i can use as a master for future resize and sharpening as needed.
I tend to set the usm at about 130%, 0.5 and upto 1 pixel threshold as i find i get better results with in-camera sharpening turned off ( Canon 300D ) and using more agressive photoshop sharpening.
Michael_McrI bought some Olympus 8-16 x 50 zoom from Dixons and they are very good indeed. They were on offer early this year for £65, down from £100+
The zoom range is just right for airfield work and the optics are sharp and clear – i couldnt say whether they would be powerfull enough for spotting livery at 20,000 feet tho.
Michael_McrApparently not Paul,
However, since my first post i have had the time to go back over some of my old spotting places and note that Ostlers lane (far end of R2) has got a new gate across its width which blocks vehicular access and which is locked by the same type of padlock as the southside mounds and now allows only pedestrian access – nearby are new CCC / Bollin Valley footpath signs.
So i suspect this is a plan by CCC / Bollin Valley Partnership to stop the massed hoardes from getting too close to the runway, as the last time i went there the lane was blocked with idiots who just parked their cars in the middle of the lane and then went wandering….
Apropos of the Southside mounds, i also noted some new galvanised metal gates at the top of the hill, which were of a similar design to the ones on Ostlers lane, so i guess they are linked.
I would like to know the legal position re climbing over said gates to access the southside “viewing” mounds – i guess the padlocks are an official “KEEP OUT” ???
Regards – Michael
Michael_Mcr…..I have tens of thousands of Kodachromes…..
Andy
Ahhhh, the punchy vibrant colours, the subtle shades…ooohh…i’m going all gooey at the memory of how lovely Kodachrome 64 was……mmmmmm
Michael 🙂
PS Try telling kids of today about the joys of projecting a properley exposed transparency through a Leica projector onto a proper screen. Digital IS fantastic (i have a 300D) but there was something lovely about Trans film.
Michael_McrNot bad at all – keep it up !!
Michael_McrJust to make some slightly different points..
I think that photography is not really different to any other art form – its the WOW factor that counts first and foremost – the technical quality is secondary to that. L series lenses etc are fantastic – get em if you can for sure – but i do believe that photos are made or lost before you even raise the camera to your eyes.
Look at the subject if its static to consider how to show it to its best – before you pick up the camera, think about how that subject makes you feel and what feeling you want the image to convey
do you get right in close with a wide angle lens to make it look menacing or dramatic ? do you stand back a bit to take in its size and splendour ? do you crop in tight to one part to emphasise it ( like cabins / pilots) ? do you want to use shallow depth-of-fied to loose a hanger in the background ? do you want to use great depth-of-field to show the rest of the squadron lined up behind it?
Cliffair – as you have a digital, try this exercise – find one static subject and take as many DIFFERENT pictures as you can of it- use different zoom setting on the lenses and try several different f-stops from the same viewpoint.
Go on – really fill up a memory card and try it – it is a very usefull exercise and you may surprise yourself in the amount you discover.
Regards
Michael
Michael_McrThanks all.
They were scanned by my local Fuji lab. I have a scanner at home but rarely get good results on it.
Is there a film I can switch to that will improve the situation with regard to the graining?
I will try those settings. Thanks again.
the amount of Grain (on film) or noise, (on digital images) is directly proportional to the ISO rating of the film / ISO setting of the digital camera.
Up to ISO 200, there is barely noticable speckling on the image – ISO 400 produces noticable speckling – ISO 800 produces very noticable speckling – ISO 1600 produces speckling which noticably degrades the image quality.
Appologies if you already know this, but a doubling of the ISO speed = a doubling of the film / sensors sensitivity to light = a reduction of 1 stop in exposure duration / aperature setting for any given setting.
What this means in practical terms is that on a sunny day, ISO 100 is plenty sensitive enough to give excellent results, but on a dull day would require
a much longer exposure time or an opening up of the aperature. On that same dull day, ISO 400 rated film would be able to go 2 f-stops more closed in aperature OR could use a shutter speed 2 stops faster to get the same image as that ISO 100, in the same level of available light.
Personally, when i used film at the Airport / at Airshows, i generally loaded ISO 200 as a good all round mix of speed and quality, but would have a roll of ISO 400 ready as a back-up. Now that i have gone digital, i can switch ISO settings between shots, but still find that i only have to use ISO 100 or 200 settings most often.
A usefull tip i can give is to really, really work on holding and panning that camera / lens combination to give you the confidence to bring shutter speeds down if neccesary – it can pull you out of a mess if you have “slow” film loaded
I hope this made sense / is of some help
Michael
PS the best solution is to re-mortgage the house / rob a bank and buy some lenses with seriously BIG bits of glass on the front like the press use…. 🙂
Sign In
