I'm back at it again

[I_Fly]

Been shooting airplanes again, finally.

I had surgery on a finger about a month ago to repair a tendon damaged when I broke the finger last fall. It's made holding and shooting any camera, much less my 1D difficult. Well, it's healed enough that getting back out there is proving to be good therapy. It gets my mind off the pain, and discomfort and is also helping strengthen the hand and finger. Anyone that has held a 1D knows it's not a petite camera!

I've been wanting to get out and test my 75-300 USM IS lens again with panning shots. Right before the surgery I had taken about 30 shots (hey it's a 1D!) of a guy flying by in his homebuilt airplane. Beautiful day, good light, set up my stance, fired away. All but one picture...out of focus. I was stumped. I was shooting shutter priority, 1/125, same lens I shot on my A2, same stance/technique but results were horrible. Anyway, I read, somewhere online, that someone else had a similar problem that went away when they took their CP filter off the lens. So I wanted to try it.

Finally had the opportunity the other day. We had someone doing low, high speed passes down the runway at the airport I work at so I went out and shot 50+shots of several passes. Same settings, no CP filter. Probably 90% of the shots were in focus or very nearly in focus. Weird. Don't know why it makes such a huge difference but it did. I was just VERY relieved that it wasn't the camera!

Anyway, here are a couple of photos from those passes. Let's see if I remember how to post photos here!

[I_Fly]

Here's another airplane that was on the ramp that morning. Can anyone guess what it is?

[Speed]

Been shooting airplanes again, finally.

I had surgery on a finger about a month ago to repair a tendon damaged when I broke the finger last fall. It's made holding and shooting any camera, much less my 1D difficult. Well, it's healed enough that getting back out there is proving to be good therapy. It gets my mind off the pain, and discomfort and is also helping strengthen the hand and finger. Anyone that has held a 1D knows it's not a petite camera!

I've been wanting to get out and test my 75-300 USM IS lens again with panning shots. Right before the surgery I had taken about 30 shots (hey it's a 1D!) of a guy flying by in his homebuilt airplane. Beautiful day, good light, set up my stance, fired away. All but one picture...out of focus. I was stumped. I was shooting shutter priority, 1/125, same lens I shot on my A2, same stance/technique but results were horrible. Anyway, I read, somewhere online, that someone else had a similar problem that went away when they took their CP filter off the lens. So I wanted to try it.

Finally had the opportunity the other day. We had someone doing low, high speed passes down the runway at the airport I work at so I went out and shot 50+shots of several passes. Same settings, no CP filter. Probably 90% of the shots were in focus or very nearly in focus. Weird. Don't know why it makes such a huge difference but it did. I was just VERY relieved that it wasn't the camera!

Anyway, here are a couple of photos from those passes. Let's see if I remember how to post photos here!

Beautiful shots my friend! Apparently your injuries have not taken away your ability to take great panning shots!

CP? Circular Polarizer? I'm used to seeing it listed CPL. And I'm curious why that would make a difference? In low light, maybe, but on a clear, sunny day? Weird!

Great to see you back my friend! Keep them coming!

[Speed]

Here's another airplane that was on the ramp that morning. Can anyone guess what it is?

I hate it when you post Navy birds! I'm an (old) Air Force guy!

Big radial engine, tandem seating, I'm guessing it's a bomber (or topedo dive bomber) of some sort. Maybe a Dauntless?

[I_Fly]

Thanks for the ego boost.

I'm not sure why the CPL (I got lazy earlier) makes a difference. I'm going to try it in several different lighting conditions to verify that's what was causing the problems but that's what it appears to be at the moment.

I'll have more soon, I was out shooting again today. Only shot about 50 shots. Gotta love digital!

[I_Fly]

Hehe, wrong service buddy. Think Army Air Corps. Fixed gear. Trainer. I'm going to keep torturing you for a bit.

[Speed]

Hehe, wrong service buddy. Think Army Air Corps. Fixed gear. Trainer. I'm going to keep torturing you for a bit.

Would that be the famous T-6 Texan?

[Speed]

Thanks for the ego boost.

I'm not sure why the CPL (I got lazy earlier) makes a difference. I'm going to try it in several different lighting conditions to verify that's what was causing the problems but that's what it appears to be at the moment.

I'll have more soon, I was out shooting again today. Only shot about 50 shots. Gotta love digital!

Yes, digital does have it's advantages, he admitted reluctantly....

;-)

As for the CPL, I noticed something when shooting slide film with one. It tends to give things a blue cast. On a sunny day, the cast is practically non-existent, but on an overcast/cloudy day, watch out! Your slides get real dark, and real blue. Using Sensia didn't help, since Fuji films are usually saturated in the blue/green end of the spectrum. It still struck me as odd, since I've never had a problem with using a CPL with print film. Live and learn!

Of course, this calls for more experiments on my part. Rats, I'm going to have to go out and shoot more film! :-D

Try your CPL in brighter conditions and see if you still get the focusing problems. If so, it's simple, don't use it! If your 1D focuses fine in sunlight, then you'll just have to limit yourself to using you CPL in the brighter times of day. Enjoy yourself.

[Norman]

Here's another airplane that was on the ramp that morning. Can anyone guess what it is?

Also flown by the British & Canadians. I live near a float plane refuelling lake & get to see some interesting float planes. They also serve a hell of a breakfast at the weekends, so you see all the comings & goings, quite the entertainment!

[Sebastian]

Troy,

That 75-300 has a rather small aperture, add to that two stops of light loss through a CPL and you've nearly crippled AF on ANY camera. The 1D does not officially AF with some sensors if the total aperture is smaller than 5.6. Get yourself a 300 2.8 or a 200 2.8 with a 1.4 extender and you should see your focus speed level out at a constant MAXIMUM speed.

[another view]

I agree with Seb on the CPL. When a polarizer is at maximum effect, you'll lose about two stops of light. I'm not up on Canon gear (but I see Seb is picking it up!), but if that lens has a maximum aperture of even as wide as f4 you'll probably have problems (f4 less two stops = f8) - most AF systems work best with f5.6 or faster lenses.

[I_Fly]

Hehe, I'm loving this. It's got a similar look but it's not a T-6. Got you stumped? Ready to cry uncle?

[I_Fly]

but wrong manufacturer.

Nice shot. Looks like a Cessna 180 or 185 on floats. I'm hoping to get my seaplane rating later this year when I work on my Commercial pilot's license. Looks like a lot of fun, even though I'll probably never use it after I get it.

Got any more cool pics?

Also flown by the British & Canadians. I live near a float plane refuelling lake & get to see some interesting float planes. They also serve a hell of a breakfast at the weekends, so you see all the comings & goings, quite the entertainment!

[I_Fly]

I can see why that might be a problem. I'm still confused why it worked so well on my A2 body. Although it probably explains a lot of my missed shots from it, I still had a pretty good percentage of in-focus shots with the A2. A near 0 percentage with the 1D.

Oh well, another GOOD reason to get a good lens! I've been leaning towards a 70-200 L lens but I keep checking the exif data from my shots (another awesome advantage of digital, imo) and see that I shoot most of my panning shots at 300mm. I'm really going to have to seriously consider getting a good prime lens.

This is one of the reasons I love this site! You all make me think!

Troy,

That 75-300 has a rather small aperture, add to that two stops of light loss through a CPL and you've nearly crippled AF on ANY camera. The 1D does not officially AF with some sensors if the total aperture is smaller than 5.6. Get yourself a 300 2.8 or a 200 2.8 with a 1.4 extender and you should see your focus speed level out at a constant MAXIMUM speed.

[I_Fly]

You and Seb have me taking some hard looks at prime lenses. And just wondering why the A2 worked so well with the combo that the 1D doesn't like. It's not a big issue now that I've got an understanding but I'm curious what else I'll notice as I use the 1D more.

[I_Fly]

are there, but each individual has to decide whether they are enough to make a partial, or total, swith from film. For me, it was definitely worth it. As I mentioned in my reply to Seb, the exif data is an amazing resource. Being able to check the f/stop, shutter speed and how I was metering is wonderful!

I'm not going to discriminate! Film/digital, Canon/Nikon/Pentax, Auto/manual. Who cares? Let's just go shoot whatever we prefer and share what we've captured!!

Yes, digital does have it's advantages, he admitted reluctantly....

;-)

As for the CPL, I noticed something when shooting slide film with one. It tends to give things a blue cast. On a sunny day, the cast is practically non-existent, but on an overcast/cloudy day, watch out! Your slides get real dark, and real blue. Using Sensia didn't help, since Fuji films are usually saturated in the blue/green end of the spectrum. It still struck me as odd, since I've never had a problem with using a CPL with print film. Live and learn!

Of course, this calls for more experiments on my part. Rats, I'm going to have to go out and shoot more film! :-D

Try your CPL in brighter conditions and see if you still get the focusing problems. If so, it's simple, don't use it! If your 1D focuses fine in sunlight, then you'll just have to limit yourself to using you CPL in the brighter times of day. Enjoy yourself.

[Norman]

but wrong manufacturer.

Nice shot. Looks like a Cessna 180 or 185 on floats. I'm hoping to get my seaplane rating later this year when I work on my Commercial pilot's license. Looks like a lot of fun, even though I'll probably never use it after I get it.

Got any more cool pics?

Your mystrey plane, my first thought was Fairey or Grumman. Growing up our family had a piper tripacer in the 60's which was a lot of fun. I also got my licence in gliders first. My Dad flew for a living, so we were brought up in aviation. Hope you like the latest pic.

[I_Fly]

I like it very much. Looks like a Piper Cub on floats.

Do you still fly? One of my goals is to eventually get a Glider Rating also. It looks like it would be so peaceful, not to mention the skills that could be transferred to all aspects of flying.

I've got a friend that has an award winning Pacer that I've flown in and another friend that had a Piper Colt (2 place version of the Tri-pacer) that I've logged a bunch of hours in. They're neat airplanes.

I'm always glad to find another aviation enthusiast here!