Thinking About Getting A Longer Lens. I need Help.

[Adambadger88]

Does anyone have any advice on what I should get? Any advice that you give me is much appreciated. I don't think my Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS US lens for my Canon EOS 60D is as long as I would like for ground to air photos. I'm seeking and learning more about types of lenses, possibly expanding to a 150-600mm or something similar. Which I think is perfect and even in post editing. I am a complete novice/amateur. I attend air shows for fun and enjoyment.

My current setup:

Adam Santic's Gear Setup.jpg (45.09 KiB) Viewed 770 times

[RyanS]

It mostly depends on your budget, there are 100-400s and 150-600s and some others that are in that range, all at different prices. In general you get what you pay for, but lenses last longer than bodies so they are more worth investing in. Lens reviews can tell you a lot so just find what you're willing to pay and see what can be had for that.

Stay away from teleconverters unless you are going to pair them with a very high quality lens also

[wfooshee]

My own lens for my Nikon D7200 is Nikon's 70-300 IF-ED lens has been satisfactory for all but the most distant shots. Its reach can cut off parts of an aircraft while the aircraft is directly ahead if I'm lazy on the zoom ring, but getting the top of a diamond loop is pretty far away and requires some cropping to get good framing. My fear has always been that the short end of anything bigger than my 70-300 would be "not short enough," if you see what I mean; I have shots that were done in the 120-140mm range of focal length, so those would not have been feasible with a lens whose short end is 150mm. Maybe they would, maybe not; the 150 might not give me the free space around the subject to allow good framing by cropping, which I do all the time. I'm going to rent a 150-500 or 150-600 one of these days and see if I hit these self-imposed limits on the short end, because like you, I wouldn't mind a bit more reach at all for the most part.

[msleddogtom]

While getting a long lens is sure an advantage and since you had said your at a novice /beginning level,take a little time and explore more options. Thats a heavy lens for a fast event that requires maneuverbility to swing that lens around and stay focused . Think speed depending on what you want to catch at an air show ,most aircraft you should be able to catch good and sharp with a 300mm except those speeding bullets jets that create vapor< For that we need focus, the abitlity to catch in focus at high speeds the speeding air craft !! Alot of the twist and turns can be caught up close as they come to the crowd and make their elusive sharp G's and the 600 will miss most as its hard to pull back ,zooming back out as they come closer and all you have left is 150mm and boom its gone again, ///. So think fast focus which could come from a lens or body and speed up where ever you can with focus , a smaller faster lens a 400mm zoom or a faster motor in the body of the camera will give you better control and faster focus cause its not working as hard on the body or lens and lighter gives you better controll to swing ,zoom ,twist, and manuever

As a beginner you will be constantly at the very longest end of a 600mm zoom before you catch up again on most fighter jets and thats a lot of weight to look straight up in the air holding focus..wHile im not against the 600mm zoom its a lot at a beginner lever> Maybe rent one 1st , there is national rental outfits that you can try one out first to get a feel.. Some other improvements might help also is in what choice do you use for focus mode as in single focus , continous focus ,field of view your camera has set for focusing , single point focus, 11 point focus , Choice of AF points for creative framing... continous focus is most helpful for sports , action the ability to focus on movement. How fast it focuses, once again you might need an upgrade in a camera to focus faster so it might be a 2 part solution a faster lens, and body might help even better than just a long lens... Think used also, used equipment to get you upgrades . Some people talk of fast lens as the amount of light that reaxches your camera from the lens, having a fast aperture but this is not what im talking about . All air shows are outside and having a fast aperture will give you a better iso so you can increase the speed of your shutter to stop action and reduce blur but to me fast focus is even more important. Theres usually enough light at airshows without having a fast aperture , so also look at frame counts per second in the body , how fast and and many you get in a burst this is where the upgrades come in the camera gear ... you need burst speed and fast focus

But before all that explore the important triangle of exposure, correct exposure . Shutter speed, shutter speed, shutter speed is vastly important at air shows of all the exposure modes shutter speed at an air show has the most importance... on blur , on sharpness each shutter speed plays a different role for the type of aircraft that you photogragh from stopping propellers to stopping the action of a speeding bullet.,every shutter speed plays a role. then make adjustments with your aperture from f2 to f32 and always remember never trust your in camera meter at an air show except full in frame slow moving planes< Know how to expose beyond Auto cause the sun will say overexposed mostly when a fast moving plane becomes less than quarter in your cameras field

[ClickJ]

I can't recommend renting enough to try out some different lenses to see what works best for you. I rent them all the time - to see what I might want to buy, because I've found one I like but don't want to pony up the cash for it for how often I'll use it, or just as a treat because I want to try something different or use a really nice lens for a weekend. I've used both BorrowLenses.com and Lensrentals.com and have had great experience with both of them.

I use a Nikon APS-C body - I started with a 70-300 as well but after that first show I really wanted to be able to get closer. Here are a few thoughts on the focal lengths I've tried (I don't find the speed/aperture too important, and image quality has always been just fine for me as a hobbyist so I don't have any specific comments on those) -

200-500mm - this is the first one I tried and I wasn't even thinking about the wide end - 200mm was much too long especially on a crop body...many facepalm moments trying to capture the Snowbirds.

80-400mm - I found this was still a bit too long at 80mm for me, for things like the Blue Angels or Thunderbirds - trying to capture both the plane and the pyro in the good ol' "Walls of Fire" - and taxiing aircraft when close to the taxiway...but your mileage may vary depending on the show setup, how close you are, etc.

60-600mm - this has become my go-to and I rent it for every show, the extra 20mm of breathing room on the wide end is great (I do end up taking quite a few photos between 60-80mm) and I really like the 600mm reach.

A couple other thoughts -

A big reason I would suggest renting - in addition to seeing what works best as far as focal range - is ergonomics. Weight and size of course - but also consider how much you need to rotate the zoom ring to go through the whole focal range. This is something I hadn't even thought about until I tried that 200-500, I felt like I had to crank on the zoom ring for days just to get through 300mm of range - and I certainly couldn't do it quickly enough to be very dynamic with it following a plane as it approached and passed. That left my wrist and arm really fatigued very early in the show.

As I started using longer lenses I always had the urge to zoom all the way in and start hammering the shutter as soon as I could see the aircraft in the frame. This led to much disappointment - that gives you a lot of atmosphere and potentially heat to shoot through so a lot of those photos were unusable. When I had a camera with a small buffer it also led to the buffer being full by the time the aircraft was close enough to actually get decent pictures. Just something to think if you take a longer lens for a spin. Even now I have to remind myself that if I need to use all 600mm just to get the plane in the frame it's probably still too far away .

If you're going to a show for the full weekend - try to rent a couple and give one a try each day to give yourself some more real-time thoughts on your preferences.

Good luck!

[Adambadger88]

Thank you all for your help and advice. I just purchased a Sigma 150-600MM F5-6.3 DG OS HSM | C. https://www.sigmaphoto.com/150-600mm-f5-6-3-dg-os-hsm-c

[OliverTop]

It's great that you're looking to enhance your gear for air show photography! Considering your interest in ground-to-air shots, a 150-600mm lens is a fantastic choice. It provides substantial reach, allowing you to capture detailed shots even from a distance. Brands like Sigma and Tamron offer excellent options in this range.

Since you're a novice, it might be helpful to explore lenses with image stabilization for smoother shots, especially at longer focal lengths. Additionally, renting a lens before making a purchase could be beneficial to ensure it meets your specific needs and preferences.

Happy shooting at the air shows, and may your new lens capture amazing moments in the sky!

PS It's a shorter answer compared to the others but still useful I think and hope