Flying Legends 2015, 12 July 2015, Duxford

I remember Duxford, having driven by it a lot, almost 50 yrs ago. It was disused back then, some sort storage place, IIRC.

I used to do airshows in early 80's England with a Praktica MTL3, 200mm tele, oft. with 2X converter, 400 ASA film (strictly amateur snaps) and never got anywhere near the quality in the OP. Excellent!

[pedant alert] re: #29, it's "Griffon", not Griffin. [/alert]. Sorry.

Hi Phil, one thing I forgot to ask was did you shoot these handheld? as I have noticed a lot of reviews on this lens saying how heavy it is?

My bad, Richard - it is a P36. P38's to be processed and coming up tonight

Quote:

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Originally Posted by deetheturk

Hi Phil, one thing I forgot to ask was did you shoot these handheld? as I have noticed a lot of reviews on this lens saying how heavy it is?

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It was quite heavy! Hand held and panning constantly for 3 hours - my shoulder has just recovered!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dave Humphries

Great images Phil,

My personal favourite (as things stand with 30), is probably the Bristol Blenheim (#3) because of the revealing lighting.
Of course the B&W Corsair (#25) is something special - and we don't often see the Ju-52 (#7).

I like that you haven't blown the skies - a rookie mistake I often make in this type of weather to get detail in the shadows/undersides.

I have added this thread to our list of excellent examples of the genre, not just for the pictures, but the time you took to explain the whys and wherefores - and add the EXIF data on the first 10.

The question; 'what shutter speed to shoot an air show' is perennial, so now I have a thread to refer people to with great examples.

Thanks, Dave

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Thanks, Dave. I didn't discuss metering modes. I went with centre weighted as well as +2/3 EV, which generally gets you in the right ball park. After using only manual focus lenses for the past 18 months, I was a little unsure as to how the Sigma would perform but it did well. Occasionally it hunted but it generally locked on and maintained focus well. I used the AF-on button, AF-C and 51 point area focusing.

Phil wrote: "It was quite heavy! Hand held and panning constantly for 3 hours - my shoulder has just recovered!"

I can relate to hand holding a heavy camera/lens all day long. I often used 16mm motion picture cameras hand held and it was a bugger to work all day. However, I was a lot younger at that time.

I don't own a really heavy lens. The heaviest that I have is the 400mm f/5.6L which is relatively easy to hand-hold at 2.75 lb (about 1.25 kg.). But, on a crop camera, this gives me a 640mm equivalent...

I built this rig (linked below) when I expected to get a heavier lens (which I never did). It distributes the weight across my shoulders and also stabilizes the hold quite a bit. The rig weighs only a little over a kilogram without camera and lens attached; so it is relatively light in weight even with a 400L and a Canon 7D attached...

http://backup.cambridgeincolour.com/...Pod%2002-L.jpg

http://rpcrowe.smugmug.com/Photograp...For-Long-Lens/

However, I seldom use the rig since I like shooting with my 400mm f/5.6L but, because that is a prime lens, I often need another focal length. I like to carry a pair of cameras; one with the 400L and the other with either my 300mm f/4L IS or my 70-200mm f/4L IS lenses.

I am thinking that I could mount a pair of cameras on this rig. I may try it one day! I could attach a cable release for each camera to the two handles.

Something along this line might make a day of shooting with the Sigma zoom a bit easier.

Another rig which might work is this:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Video-Camcor...item58bd9d6774

Mainly for Greg's benefit (!) here's a video I've found which has just gone up, showing the Spitfire opening to Flying Legends 2015 - just to give a taste of what the show was like.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unSVWXZJvsY

And then, to continue, here are a few more stills from the show:


31. - 35. Some American metal:


31.

http://philpage.zenfolio.com/img/s3/...30160636-5.jpg


32.

http://philpage.zenfolio.com/img/s12...30160309-5.jpg


33.

http://philpage.zenfolio.com/img/s9/...30151849-6.jpg


34.

http://philpage.zenfolio.com/img/s9/...30153421-5.jpg


35.

http://philpage.zenfolio.com/img/s5/...30159246-5.jpg

And a few more:

36. Taxiing Spitfire

http://philpage.zenfolio.com/img/s3/...30153822-5.jpg


37. Bristol Blenheim

http://philpage.zenfolio.com/img/s12...30151867-5.jpg


38. Hurricane and ground crew

http://philpage.zenfolio.com/img/s6/...30156275-5.jpg


39. Spitfire take off (around effectively 1200mm, cropped heavily from 600mm image)

http://philpage.zenfolio.com/img/s4/...30161392-5.jpg


40. DeHavilland Rapide (one of two which were operating pleasure flights before the air show)

http://philpage.zenfolio.com/img/s2/...30160972-5.jpg

Thanks Phil, what a great start to a Saturday morning, they sounded awesome :D
Cheers, Greg