Airshow camera advice

slantzero

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Just wondering what advice I can get regarding a new camera to take airshow photos. I think that I went to my last airshow with my D80 as the main camera. It's about time and here is what I'm thinking, let me know if I'm missing something.

1. Crop factor do I want it or need it.
2. Image size, the more the better for cropping purposes. But not excessive.
3. Frames per second, something better than the 3 or so I'm getting now.
4. Buffer size needed for trying to get the vapor compression on high speed jets.
5. Auto focus speed.

Right now I'm thinking about the D7200 as the replacement. My main lens is the 70-3004.5-5.6 VR.

Yes I would like to get better and if I receive my vacation pay from my last employer I may be able to purchase a new lens. Any ideas there would be welcome as well. Thanks for the advice.


One last thing, I'm not discounting a different manufacturer.
 
Even before you said D7200 I already thought this will be an excellent camera for your need.
6FPS or 7FPS in crop mode.
I believe 14 shots in RAW till the buffer fills up.
Got amazing sensor on it, some say the best crop sensor on the market, tons of dynamic range.
 
Sorry that I haven't responded was busy at work and home. Goodguy thanks for the advice I'm leaning that way, the D7200, right now.
 
I use both my D3100 and my D7000 for airshow work. The last airshow I did back in May of this year I used my Tamron 70-300 VC and my Tokina 300 f/4 with a 1.4x Teleconverter attached to get 420mm. Unless you're going for a very tight shot on the cockpit or a particular spot on the aircraft anything longer than 400mm or so is a waste in my opinion.

Here's a few shots from the above mentioned airshow. You can see the camera/lens used in the information to the right.

Great New England Air Show 2015.
 
A choice could be the Panasonic FZ1000, a high end bridge.
Very fast AF, up to 12 fps burst. Excellent Leica zoomlens (25-400mm, F2.8-F4).
Has 4K photo mode, where each frame can be extracted as an 8mp photo. It's like having a 24 fps burst, without having to worry about a full buffer.
Here are some airplane pics with this camera:
My FZ1000 at an Air Show.
This spotting movie has also been made with a FZ1000:

Rudi
 
Last edited:
A choice could be the Panasonic FZ1000, a high end bridge.
Very fast AF, up to 12 fps burst. Excellent Leica zoomlens (25-400mm, F2.8-F4).
Has 4K photo mode, where each frame can be extracted as an 8mp photo. It's like having a 24 fps burst, without having to worry about a full buffer.
Here are some airplane pics with this camera:
My FZ1000 at an Air Show.
This spotting movie has also been made with a FZ1000:

Rudi

Agree, though I personally think the Canon G3X might be a little better thanks to the greater reach. Michael Reichmann seems fond of it.
 
The Canon G3X has a longer reach, but is slower than the FZ1000.
The burst is also lower (6 fps vs 12 fps) and has no 4K.
It also costs $200 more than the FZ1000.
Rudi
 
Thank you for all of the suggestions. I have to admit that I never thought about anything than a Nikon or a Cannon. But those are great photos taken by the Panasonic FZ1000, I'll have to look into that camera. I do like the ability to take those nice tight shots of a cockpit. Here is one that I took last month.

Thunder Over Michigan 2015 (251).JPG
 

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