RIAT gear recommendations please
Discussion
If you're after this sort of shot, then I was very grateful for my 200-500.
D61_7563 by eltawater, on Flickr
Once the fast stuff is up in the air, there's a bit of a diminishing return depending on the atmospheric conditions at the time. Yes, having the extra reach of the 200-500 over my 70-300 was great when keeping track of the fast jets climbing upwards quickly, but the smoke and the haze at higher altitudes / longer distances meant that although I didn't have to crop as much, the image quality wasn't as great as I'd like.
D61_7992 by eltawater, on Flickr
Still, it's nice to have the option to hand rather than regretting it later
D61_6954 by eltawater, on Flickr
D61_7563 by eltawater, on Flickr
Once the fast stuff is up in the air, there's a bit of a diminishing return depending on the atmospheric conditions at the time. Yes, having the extra reach of the 200-500 over my 70-300 was great when keeping track of the fast jets climbing upwards quickly, but the smoke and the haze at higher altitudes / longer distances meant that although I didn't have to crop as much, the image quality wasn't as great as I'd like.
D61_7992 by eltawater, on Flickr
Still, it's nice to have the option to hand rather than regretting it later
D61_6954 by eltawater, on Flickr
I use a 500 f4 prime. - I would advise avoiding teleconverters with any zoom. or non-prime lens, as you will lose image quality!
A 300 f2.8 prime with a 1.4 converter would be great, as you would have the option of different focal lengths and a worse case scenario, of f4. - especially, if its a dull day!
A 300 f2.8 prime with a 1.4 converter would be great, as you would have the option of different focal lengths and a worse case scenario, of f4. - especially, if its a dull day!
Vintage Racer said:
D500 is a perfect body for RIAT. - As already mentioned, renting a new lightweight 'prime' lens would be a good idea as hand holding for long periods gets very tiring!
I've never been to RIAT (but would like to), so this may be a dumb question, but is using a tripod there a possibility?I found this very useful at a previous Farnborough airshow, using a solid tripod with a gimball head.
Camera was Canon 5D3, and heavy Sigma 120-300 f2.8, both with and without the 1.4xTC.
It would have been a nightmare to hand hold for long periods, but the (Wimberley) gimball head made it very easy to quickly track moving planes whilst providing solid support.
Edit - to correct spelling of Wimberley)
Edited by C n C on Wednesday 4th January 09:39
C n C said:
I've never been to RIAT (but would like to), so this may be a dumb question, but is using a tripod there a possibility?
I found this very useful at a previous Farnborough airshow, using a solid tripod with a gimball head.
Camera was Canon 5D3, and heavy Sigma 120-300 f2.8, both with and without the 1.4xTC.
It would have been a nightmare to hand hold for long periods, but the (Waverley) gimball head made it very easy to quickly track moving planes whilst providing solid support.
Not possible if you have a grandstand seat as there's no room for it. On the ground is more of a possibility but it's quite restrictive due to the height and some of the angles the faster jets come in at. The monopod was ok but I found the best combination to be properly shoulder harnessed if dual wielding as you could drop a body to the side easily. It's also good to rest the cameras on the floor on top of a blanket etc regularly to give your shoulders and arms a rest.I found this very useful at a previous Farnborough airshow, using a solid tripod with a gimball head.
Camera was Canon 5D3, and heavy Sigma 120-300 f2.8, both with and without the 1.4xTC.
It would have been a nightmare to hand hold for long periods, but the (Waverley) gimball head made it very easy to quickly track moving planes whilst providing solid support.
I did see someone turn up with the Bigma 200-500 2.8 hand held at the last RIAT show though!
Vintage Racer said:
Not everyone can cope with it, but I use a monopod with gimbal, where a tripod is not feasible!.
A gimbal might help me cope with a day at a circuit, by lunchtime my arms ache a bit and by the end of the afternoon can be quite painful. I already have a monopod though rarely use it. Any particular gimbal you recommend?Riley Blue said:
Vintage Racer said:
Not everyone can cope with it, but I use a monopod with gimbal, where a tripod is not feasible!.
A gimbal might help me cope with a day at a circuit, by lunchtime my arms ache a bit and by the end of the afternoon can be quite painful. I already have a monopod though rarely use it. Any particular gimbal you recommend?I know at the time, they were the de-facto standard, but I've just looked them up, and they are now £565 new, which was a bit of a shock.
Benro are a well respected brand (£350), or if looking for something significantly cheaper, Neewer seem to get ok reviews on Amazon, but several people say that they are not as smooth as a "proper" pro version.
I only have personal experience of the Wimberley one, and it is truly excellent.
Hopefully Vintage Racer will come back with more info...
Riley Blue said:
A gimbal might help me cope with a day at a circuit, by lunchtime my arms ache a bit and by the end of the afternoon can be quite painful. I already have a monopod though rarely use it. Any particular gimbal you recommend?
I do lots of motorsport photography, and unless you have a very heavy lens (5Kg+) like a 400mm f2.8, you can get away with a much simpler monopod head that allows vertical movement.For years I used a cheap manfrotto monopod head (234RC) which worked perfectly fine, until I started using a 400 f2.8 lens for a while. With the 400 mounted on the monopod head, the balance wasn't correct and it always wanted to tilt down when I released the vertical lock, so invested in a monopod gimbal head from Lensmaster (cheaper than a full gimbal). This balanced the lens and camera whilst mounted on the monopod much better, and gave better results. However, it did take a bit longer to get everything set-up each session. The weight of the 400 got to me and I sold it a year later, complete with monopod and gimbal, and returned to the simpler 234RC set-up.
This was fine for a year until I got another lens I needed to use a monopod for and I found the quick release mechanism a bit fiddly at times, especially in the wet, so upgraded to an RRS one with a built in arca swiss mount (model MH-01 with the large screw knob clamp - https://www.reallyrightstuff.com/mh-01?quantity=1&... It's expensive for what it is, but it's very well built, allows lenses to be swapped over quickly and is a joy to use even in the cold and wet whilst wearing gloves. You would need to get an arca swiss plate or foot for each of the lenses you wanted to use it with, which is an extra cost. There are cheaper copies available on Ebay etc. from other manufacturers.
Thanks for your gimbal thoughts. I'm not looking to speed more than £100-120 as it would only be used four or five times a year so second hand would be fine. Camera and lens together weigh 3.10kg, not massively heavy but after an hour or two it puts a strain on my arthritic elbows and wrists and eventually on my knees.
I imagine success with a gimbal depends on balancing it. For those who use one, do you find it's thrown out when zooming - my lens is a Sigma 50 - 500mm though mostly used at 350+.
I imagine success with a gimbal depends on balancing it. For those who use one, do you find it's thrown out when zooming - my lens is a Sigma 50 - 500mm though mostly used at 350+.
If it's only being used a few times per year with a max weight of just over 3Kg, then I'd honestly go with the 234RC monopod head and see how you get on. It's currently just £26 at WEX. It will gives you the freedom of movement needed to tracking moving cars/aircraft whilst supporting the bulk of the weight. A gimbal head is at least an extra 1Kg to lug around with you all day, whereas the Manfrotto monopod head is about 300g
JohnS said:
If it's only being used a few times per year with a max weight of just over 3Kg, then I'd honestly go with the 234RC monopod head and see how you get on. It's currently just £26 at WEX. It will gives you the freedom of movement needed to tracking moving cars/aircraft whilst supporting the bulk of the weight. A gimbal head is at least an extra 1Kg to lug around with you all day, whereas the Manfrotto monopod head is about 300g
I'll give that a close look, seems it could be the best all-round solution - thanks.I have used Wimberly and Gitzo gimbals, which are great, but ridiculously expensive......nowadays, I use the 'Lensmaster' RH2 Gimbal, which are all hand made in the UK with proper bearings and retail around £180.00.....incredible value for money!
Check out ebay, as they tend to go for around £120 second-hand, if you can find one!
Check out ebay, as they tend to go for around £120 second-hand, if you can find one!
Vintage Racer said:
I have used Wimberly and Gitzo gimbals, which are great, but ridiculously expensive......nowadays, I use the 'Lensmaster' RH2 Gimbal, which are all hand made in the UK with proper bearings and retail around £180.00.....incredible value for money!
Check out ebay, as they tend to go for around £120 second-hand, if you can find one!
I just bought one on Ebay for £100 - it had better be as good as you say!Check out ebay, as they tend to go for around £120 second-hand, if you can find one!
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