Taking photo of planes in flight

jenny smith

Question for non member friend who likes photography

How high do commercial* planes, like in the photo, fly at in Ireland? Is it possible to get a camera that would get decent photos of them at anyway reasonable price. Or would you need to be near airport for that.? Friend lives in country nor near airport

*I assume it is a commercial plane

gctest50

Lenses can be a bit expensive if you only want it to try out :

( don't go off and buy this one without asking someone who knows first !!! )

http://bit.ly/2j7sObr

connect a scope to a camera


http://www.telescopesandbinoculars.co.uk/acatalog/Binoculars_and_scopes_for_aviation.html

jenny smith

gctest50 wrote: »

Lenses can be a bit expensive if you only want it to try out :

( don't go off and buy this one without asking someone who knows first !!! )




connect a scope to a camera


http://www.telescopesandbinoculars.co.uk/acatalog/Binoculars_and_scopes_for_aviation.html

Thanks. Do they fly 5 or 6 miles up in Ireland?

billie1b

jenny smith wrote: »

Thanks. Do they fly 5 or 6 miles up in Ireland?

On average anything up to 41,000ft which is around 7.7 miles or 12.4 kilometres.

martinsvi

Generally your big jets fly anywhere between 32000ft to 39000ft, some smaller ones go higher, but the ones your friend will be chasing purely due to their size will probably be just around 32-38k ft area.

I'm very skeptical about the prospects for anyone in Ireland getting a nice, crisp shot of a plane flying that high. Even if the sky seems clear, there's a lot of humidity in the air and that causes chromatic aberrations and distortion for that amount of distance. That means you need a very very high end kit and very decent photoshop skills to get results worth looking at

jenny smith

Thanks for feedback guys. At that height it's no wonder his photo is blurry :eek:

billie1b

Here's one of my own

Pat Dunne

jenny smith wrote: »

Thanks for feedback guys. At that height it's no wonder his photo is blurry :eek:

If your friend uses a single focus point (most cameras have this setting), it will improve the sharpness of the focus and improve the quality of the photo.

What type of camera did your friend use to take the photo?

jenny smith

Pat Dunne wrote: »

If your friend uses a single focus point (most cameras have this setting), it will improve the sharpness of the focus and improve the quality of the photo.

What type of camera did your friend use to take the photo?

it is a panasonic with a 30x optical zoom

jenny smith

billie1b wrote: »

Here's one of my own

very good what camera?

Elemonator

billie1b wrote: »

On average anything up to 41,000ft which is around 7.7 miles or 12.4 kilometres.

Confirmed. Transatlantic flights average about 39,000ft-41,000ft. Short/medium haul seem to hover around 36,000ft.

Gaoth Laidir

Elemonator wrote: »

Confirmed. Transatlantic flights average about 39,000ft-41,000ft. Short/medium haul seem to hover around 36,000ft.

Most of the westbound transatlantic heavies are down in the low 30s over Ireland, especially those heading to the US west coast. They step-climb to higher as they burn off fuel. Of course the eastbounds are up at FL400 or 410 on the way back.

Many short/medium hauls also go higher than FL360.

billie1b

jenny smith wrote: »

very good what camera?

Nikon D3300 with a 55-300mm lens

arubex

martinsvi wrote: »

I'm very skeptical about the prospects for anyone in Ireland getting a nice, crisp shot of a plane flying that high.

Generally it's difficult, but there are 'bonus periods' just after dawn in the Winter and late evening just before Sunset in the Spring and Autumn when the air is beautifully still and clear. Good enough to be able to read the registrations at FL400 and sometimes even good enough to read small lettering.

Mornings and afternoons seem to have a persistent light haze, such as in this Swiss shot. A lot of it seems to derive from previous contrails, dissipating as thin cirrus.

Summer is generally useless.

Storm 10

Here are two pictures I took using a handheld Panasonic TZ60 camera with a 30x optical zoom, first one is a British Airways A380 and the 2nd one is an Aer Lingus A330 all passing over Galway City.

jenny smith

arubex wrote: »

Generally it's difficult, but there are 'bonus periods' just after dawn in the Winter and late evening just before Sunset in the Spring and Autumn when the air is beautifully still and clear. Good enough to be able to read the registrations at FL400 and sometimes even good enough to read small lettering.

Mornings and afternoons seem to have a persistent light haze, such as in this Swiss shot. A lot of it seems to derive from previous contrails, dissipating as thin cirrus.

Summer is generally useless.

What is FL400 and what camera did you use for that.?

Shannon757

jenny smith wrote: »

What is FL400 and what camera did you use for that.?

40,000 feet

jenny smith

Storm 10 wrote: »

Here are two pictures I took using a handheld Panasonic TZ60 camera with a 30x optical zoom, first one is a British Airways A380 and the 2nd one is an Aer Lingus A330 all passing over Galway City.

Just checked. it is same camera he has. Did you photoshop?

No trails on the second one?

jenny smith

Shannon757 wrote: »

40,000 feet

Thanks. What equipment would be best for such shots? Would digiscoping work?

Shannon757

jenny smith wrote: »

No trails on the second one?

Down to weather conditions

Storm 10

jenny smith wrote: »

Just checked. it is same camera he has. Did you photoshop?

No trails on the second one?

No photoshop I used a tripod , the Aer Lingus one had a trail before I took the picture I guess he hit some warm air that stopped the contrail. It was a crystal clear sky with no haze. I found it hard to get it right with the tripod I had to have it really free to follow the jet and press the button and hope for the best, I have got some great shots just leaning hard against a wall or the car.

billie1b

All my pictures are hand held, no tripod, I dont like using the tripod

Emirates Cargo B777


Air New Zealand B777

Shannon757

Billie what length were they taken at? Was it near the 300 mm?

jenny smith

billie1b wrote: »

All my pictures are hand held, no tripod, I dont like using the tripod

Emirates Cargo B777


Air New Zealand B777

Nikon D3300 with a 55-300mm lens again? Would that camera and lens be a good buy for one who want s to take these shots? Could it be cropped closer or has it been cropped?

billie1b

jenny smith wrote: »

Nikon D3300 with a 55-300mm lens again? Would that camera and lens be a good buy for one who want s to take these shots? Could it be cropped closer or has it been cropped?

Thats what I began with and I love it, I still have it now and doubt I'd change it to be honest, I'd upgrade my lens but not the camera. Both of these pictures are cropped but not by much.

billie1b

Shannon757 wrote: »

Billie what length were they taken at? Was it near the 300 mm?

Both were direct overhead, so 7 miles up and the full 300mm.

Shannon757

billie1b wrote: »

Both were direct overhead, so 7 miles up and the full 300mm.

Ah cool. I have the D3300 with a 55-200 mm lens. Would the 300 mm be enough or should I go for more?

billie1b

Shannon757 wrote: »

Ah cool. I have the D3300 with a 55-200 mm lens. Would the 300 mm be enough or should I go for more?

I personally want to get a 500-600mm lens for those sort of shots but the money aspect is a problem. If you can afford one i'd say a 600mm if not a nice 300 or 400mm

jenny smith

billie1b wrote: »

I personally want to get a 500-600mm lens for those sort of shots but the money aspect is a problem. If you can afford one i'd say a 600mm if not a nice 300 or 400mm

Have you any shots of something a couple miles away on land at full 300mm that you could post? And 300 mm is 450 mm on that camera isn't it?

franer1970

Taken 26/12/2016 with a Nikon P900, a bridge camera with a lens equivalent to 2000mm in 35mm terms.
No tripod required - it has an amazing anti-shake function.



According to Flightradar24.com it was Air Canada Flight 825 Amsterdam to Toronto (Airbus A330) at 32,000 ft.

One of the few shots I took before breaking the thing. Sent back to Nikon now for repair.

A Dub in Glasgo

I have tried a few different camera lens / camera combos. It always feels as if you need that extra oomph!

A Dub in Glasgo

Danbo!

A Dub in Glasgo wrote: »

What's your setup? Amazing pics