The Cleveland Photo Society buys box seats in the front row of the Cleveland Air Show every year, and I go with my Sister-in-law Jackie to try my hand at air show photography. I'm getting better at it, and here is what I've learned. I hope it helps you at your next air show.
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Air Show Camera Gear
I was trying out my new toy, a Fujifilm GFX 100s ii with a 500/5.6 lens - which is a 400/4 equivalent for a full frame camera. It is not the "best of the best" tool for this - the continuous shutter only shoots 7 frames a second - but the 100 MP files are gorgeous.
If you don't have a ridiculous amount of money, you can still get great shots at the air show. You just need some basic gear - a long lens, decent (but not amazing) camera body, and lots of memory cards and batteries.
Lens with some reach - 300 to 500mm
The most important equipment is your lens. My favorites would be a lightweight zoom in the 200mm to 400mm range - a 70-300, 100-400 or (my favorite) 150-600 lens is best.
Or, a 300mm to 600mm fixed lens - as I said, I was shooting a 400mm equivalent - which was great, except when the planes were directly in front of me. They were too big for the frame, and I have lots of great shots where I cut off a tail, a wing, or a nose cone.
That's why I recommend a zoom - you can zoom out to find the plane, then zoom in to get it big in the frame. And, as it gets closer, you can zoom out again to make sure it still fits. Now, the zooming in and out takes some practice. At my first air show, I kept getting caught up in the excitement. "Plane! In focus! Shoot, shoot, shoot!" And…I would forget to zoom in. I got lots of shots with a tiny plane in the middle of the frame. Or, I would forget to zoom out between passes, and struggle to find the frame with the lens zoomed all the way out to 600mm. But, eventually, I got used to the dance. Find the plane, zoom in, shoot…zoom out to get ready for the next one. Repeat.
If you're in the Fujifilm system, the 150-600mm lens is the best one for air show photography, with a 225-900mm full frame equivalent. The 100-400 and 70-300 are also great, and that 70-300 is a great deal if you're just starting out with Fujifilm.
For my GFX, I used the brand-new 500mm/5.6 lens, which was amazing - light, compact, and easy to hand-hold. The only problem was 500mm is a little too zoomed in when the planes were directly in front of me at show center. I'm thinking about getting the 250mm/4 for next year, and a second GFX body for it. To paraphrase Top Gun, my Gear Acquisition Syndrome is writing checks my savings account can't cash. (Sorry, couldn't help myself. I've had the Top Gun Anthem running in my head the whole time I've been writing this. Yes, I was a teenager in the 80's, how can you tell?)
Wide lens for the ground show
The air show also has a ground show. I can see everything from small, homemade racing planes up to walking through massive C-130 transports. A wide lens is what you need for these planes; my favorite is something in the range of a 16-35mm zoom lens. The wide (16mm) end lets me fit in the massive transports and airliners. The 35mm is the wide end of a natural frame, and is great for smaller planes, or to get your friends and family in the shot.
In the Fujifilm system, the 10-24/4 is my favorite, and the clear choice. You can get by with any of the mid-range zooms, like the 16-55/2.8 or 16-80/4, but the 16mm end (24mm on a full frame) is not quite wide enough for my tastes.
For the GFX system, the 20-35/4 zoom is great, if a little wide at the 35mm end (28mm on a full frame). Still, I enjoyed having it for the ground show.
Skip the tripod/monopod if you can
I shoot entirely hand-held. I brought a tripod to my first show, and never unstrapped it from my camera bag. The planes are moving too fast, and are too high up, for a tripod or a monopod to work for me.
That said, I won't hold it against you if you bring a tripod. If you're shooting a huge lens (think 600/f4.0) or you just can't hold your lens all day, then bring one.
Camera - decent autofocus and high frame rate
Modern cameras with airplane-detect autofocus are a big help, but for most shots, a plane against a blue sky is pretty easy for any autofocus to lock on. (The hard part is actually following the planes as they zoom past - I'm still working on my panning skills.)
What does help is a camera with a high frame rate, to give you lots of chances to get the shot as the plane zips past. Modern cameras that shoot 8, 10, 15, or 30 frames per second make for great photos. Just make sure, if you have to use electronic shutter to get the highest frame rate, that the sensor is fast enough to read out without "rolling shutter". Rolling shutter causes weird warping in photos if the target is faster than the sensor readout - and jets are very, very fast. Stick to mechanical shutter and you'll be fine.
A high frame rate is good to have, but I got some great shots this year with a 7 frames per second camera.
In the Fujifilm system, almost any of the modern bodies will work. The X-H2S, with its high-speed sensor is the best choice, with up to 40fps with its super-fast electronic shutter. I got great shots with a X-T5 and X-H2 last year, and an X-T4 before that, with their 15fps mechanical shutters. The X-S10 and X-S20 are good, with an 8fps mechanical shutter that is just on the edge of what I like to shoot air shows with.
Speaking of "on the edge", shooting an air show with my GFX 100s ii worked better than I hoped. The autofocus is good - I was hoping for even "OK" - but when the planes hurtled past it struggled a bit to keep up. And, if I just held down the shutter button, the 7fps would fill up the buffer in the camera - only SD cards, no CFExpress for quick unloading - and the frame rate would drop to a few shots a second. But, I went in worrying it wouldn't work at all; instead, it felt like I was shooting with equipment that was considered "good" about ten years ago. What I wouldn't get ten years ago was 100MP files, which were AMAZING. Also, the GFX 100ii is obviously designed for higher speed photography - 8fps, larger buffer, CFExpress cards to unload the buffer quickly, and a battery grip so you don't have to swap batteries during the day. Maybe next year?
Other stuff to bring
- Extra memory cards: This year, I shot 5000 pictures in a day at the air show. (Shooting with continuous high shutter speed on will fill up cards quickly.) Make sure you have lots of memory cards, or big cards. I use 512MB and 1TB cards nowadays, so I don't have to swap. Yes, they're expensive. But, I can shoot a 5000 picture day on that 1TB card and never have to worry about space.
- Extra batteries: All those pictures will also chew through your batteries. Make sure you have spares, and make sure those spares are recently charged.
I started with a full battery in my camera, but all my backup batteries had been sitting around for a while, and were only had 3 out of 5 bars of juice. I made it through the day, but I was making myself more nervous than I needed to be.
Also, if you have a newer camera, check if it can be charged by a USB-C battery. I have a large battery from Anker that will keep my camera running for hours, which I bring as an emergency backup. (Don't forget the USB-C cord.) Shooting while tethered to a battery is not fun, but it's better than no power at all. - Suntan lotion (and cover up): You're going to be out in the sun all day - make sure to use sunscreen, and make sure to reapply every few hours. I wear a wide brimmed hat, a sun shirt, and pants to keep myself covered.
- Rain cover: The alternative to "in the sun all day" isn't fun - a few years ago it was drizzling on and off during the air show. I was able to stay and get some shots because I had a poncho, a rain cover for my camera bag, and a camera raincoat made out of a gallon zip-lock bag with a hole cut in it. (I have since bought rain sleeves and I keep a pack in my camera bag just in case.)
Air Show Camera Settings
Quick version of the instructions: Set your camera for Shutter Priority mode - "S" on a PSAM dial, or Tv on a Canon dial - with the shutter set to 1/3200 sec. Turn on High Speed Burst mode (continuous high shooting), and Continuous Autofocus with a Wide/Tracking autofocus zone. And, use Airplane subject detection if your camera has it.
High Speed Burst, Continuous Autofocus, Airplane Detection
- Drive settings: High speed burst mode (aka continuous shooting) with the highest frames per second your camera can handle. (That is, can handle with its mechanical shutter, unless you know your camera sensor has a high speed readout. If your camera has a "stacked sensor", you can use the electronic shutter - and you probably already know that.)
- Autofocus Settings: AF-C (continuous autofocus), with Wide/Tracking Autofocus mode and "Airplane" subject detection turned on. I changed the "AF-C Custom Settings" to "Set 2 - Ignore Obstacles and Continue to Track Subject", so the autofocus would stick with the plane once it found it.
Fast shutter for jets
Jets are fast. Yes, I know this is obvious, but I still had to learn the hard way. I shot all the jet photos (and most of the aerial stunt photos) at 1/2000 sec…until I realized, checking my shots for sharpness by zooming all the way in, that it wasn't fast enough.
When the jets were crossing right in front of me, they shots weren't sharp. I bumped my shutter up to 1/3200 sec, and that seemed to (finally) freeze the motion of the planes.
I shot with my aperture wide open (f/5.6), and Auto ISO. It was a sunny day that turned dark and stormy at the end, so my ISOs ranged from 320 to 1000. On worse days I've had very high ISOs - but I'd rather use denoise software (like DXO Pure Raw or Topaz AI) than get blurry shots.
Slow shutter for propellor motion - but practice following the planes
Prop planes and helicopters look better if there is some motion blur in the propellor. When a prop plane is moving at a steady rate of speed, I try to shoot with a shutter of 1/125 sec to 1/250 sec, while I follow the plane with my camera. (Wide open aperture - f5.6 on my lens - and Auto ISO to let it fall where it may.)
I'm not great at panning smoothly with the plane. I need to practice more; most of my shots had motion blur, either from me or the plane. But, I occasionally get the panning motion right, and the plane comes in sharp with nice blur in the propellors.
Drag the shutter to blur out crowds on the ground
In-body image stabilization (IBIS) on modern cameras is amazing. I can hand-hold wide angle lenses down to ¼ of a second and still get reasonably sharp shots. I use this trick when I'm dealing with crowds at a popular location. If the people are moving, shooting at a really slow shutter speed turns the people into blurs.
I can usually make this work by turning my ISO down as low as my camera allows, and closing down the aperture as much as I can. On my cameras, this means an ISO of 40 or 80, and an aperture of f/22. I have to use a Neutral Density filter on bright, sunny days. In the shot above, even with an ISO of 40 and an aperture of f/22, I needed a 6-stop ND to get the shutter down to ¼ of a second.
If you have someone you actually want in the shot, tell them to hold as still as they can. They'll be sharp, and everyone around them will be blurred. (This is one downside to this approach. Most people will be moving around, at least a little…except for the other photographers. They hold still to get the shot, so they show up sharp in the photos.
Air Show Photos
Check out my Air Show photos here: Cleveland Air Show 2024
Thanks for reading!
I hope this helps, and if you have any questions, leave them in the comments and I'll try to help if I can. ("How do I set this up on my camera" is going to be hard unless it is a Fujifilm camera, which is the brand I'm most familiar with.)
Or, if you're an air show photo expert, and I'm missing something, let me know in the comments.
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