Help!

[seahawk]

Why are using Manual exposure control. Not a setting I would use for flying aircraft. And the circumstances were also not favourable. Seems like low light, considering at. 5.6, Shutter at 1/400 and ISO400.

I would start with setting the camera to P or P* as needed and on a nice sunny afternoon or morning with plenty of light. then work from there.

[NickN]

A couple of tips I always follow:


1. Never allow the camera to do any of the editing including sharpness, brightness, etc etc etc. On my camera this mode is called "Natural" (Pentax)

2. Spot metering will help protect against burnt highlights in most instances, try using spot metering to help get your exposures right so when you adjust the levels in PP you don't lose detail.

3. Learn to hold the camera REALLY still.

4. Don't use the standard auto focus mode, choose centre point focusing.

5. Learn to become proficient with Photoshop, the JID workflow suggested is fabulous.

6. NEVER use VR (Shake reduction, Image Stabilisation etc etc) on moving aircraft as it actually makes the shots worse as the camera/lens tries to compensate for your panning motion.

7. Don't be scared to shoot in JPEG in the highest quality setting. I shoot in Premium JPEG (Pentax) at the maximum of 14.6MP and never have any issues with quality.

8. Don't just shoot one frame and then stop, taking a series of 3-6 frames at a time will ensure one of the shots is in-focus.

9. Only shoot in Tv (Shutter Priority) or Av (Aperture Priority). I almost exclusively shoot in Av.

Here are some of my recent ones to let you know how JPEG shooting can work just fine:

http://www.jetphotos.net/viewqueued_b.php?id=2053715
http://www.jetphotos.net/viewqueued_b.php?id=2053721
http://www.jetphotos.net/viewqueued_b.php?id=2055388
http://www.jetphotos.net/viewqueued_b.php?id=2055397
http://www.jetphotos.net/viewqueued_b.php?id=2053712

Keep trying and you'll crack the code!

Nick

[03SVTCobra]

In my opinion every shot except the SWA looks blurry/soft

On the 55-200mm it can be a result of long zoom up to 200, or an switched on VR. When you use shutter speed above 1/320 sec, switch of the VR, it won't will help you. I made the experience, that the VR "helped" in making the pics blurry. Especially whilst trying to catch a fast take off or landing. Try ISO200, its better in worst light conditions such as the alaska 737. I personally would recommend a light correctin of +0,3 whenever and especially in bad light +0,7 or +1,0.

By the end of the night I think I was using ISO400 and Exp correction of 2.0 to be able and keep a high shutter speed. I figured the faster the shutter the less blurry it would be.

Also do I need to stop down to F8 or greater next time? I was trying to shoot at F5.6 the entire time because of the lighting situation.

[Steffen Koschlig]

in worst light, F5.6 or anythink else shouldn't cause in much problems. But i personally recommend, that you don't use blends below F9 when sun is shining, or you want to take "good" photos.

shortly compare:

http://www.jetphotos.net/viewphoto.p...60131&nseq=339 taken with F5.6 ->soft, black shadows in the corners

http://www.jetphotos.net/viewphoto.p...290231&nseq=44 taken with F10 ->sharp, no shadows in the corners and in still great quality