Camera Settings - Airshow
Posted: Fri Nov 11, 2011 3:13 pm
Thought I'd share this for all.
OK, I'm something of a photographer and Panther had asked me a question regarding settings with her rig for airshow work with overcast skies. I had previously advised her to use "TV" mode (Canon. "S" for Nikon) for airshows so that she could slow down the shutter (1/125 - 1/400) for prop & rotor aircraft, and crank up to 1/800 - 1/1000 or more for jets.
The latest question was what to do about ISO on an overcast day. The short answer is - bump it up to ISO 200 and maybe 400 if it's a strong overcast.
Let's start with the "Sunny f16 rule" which states that at high-noon CAVU conditions, you will be very close to a "proper" exposure if you set your aperture to 16 and your shutter & ISO are reciprocals (i.e. 100 ISO, 1/100 shutter). If you keep the same ISO in those conditions and speed up the shutter, your fstop will drop in relation. If you went to 1/200, your fstop would be more like f11... and 1/400 = f8, 1/800 = f5.6.
An overcast day is probably taking out 2-3 stops of light depending on exactly how overcast - very light haze in the air where you can still see the sun takes a stop...which would mean at ISO 200 and 1/400 shutter, under heavy cloud cover, you'd still be shooting f4. If you need faster, go to 400 ISO.
The more likely change you'd need is to throw in ~ 1/2 stop or more of + exposure compensation since you're shooting a "dark" object (airplane) on a "bright" background (clouds). This will fool the camera's metering and result in underexposed airplanes.
I'd say start with ISO 200 and + 1/2 stop exposure compensation. If it tells you it's too dark for the shot, bump up the ISO to 400. If that's still not enough light for jets (1/800 or so shutter) with an f5.6 or f8...you're probably about to ride out a thunder/hail storm.
Bumping up the ISO will not counter for the overcast skies by itself.
OK, I'm something of a photographer and Panther had asked me a question regarding settings with her rig for airshow work with overcast skies. I had previously advised her to use "TV" mode (Canon. "S" for Nikon) for airshows so that she could slow down the shutter (1/125 - 1/400) for prop & rotor aircraft, and crank up to 1/800 - 1/1000 or more for jets.
The latest question was what to do about ISO on an overcast day. The short answer is - bump it up to ISO 200 and maybe 400 if it's a strong overcast.
Let's start with the "Sunny f16 rule" which states that at high-noon CAVU conditions, you will be very close to a "proper" exposure if you set your aperture to 16 and your shutter & ISO are reciprocals (i.e. 100 ISO, 1/100 shutter). If you keep the same ISO in those conditions and speed up the shutter, your fstop will drop in relation. If you went to 1/200, your fstop would be more like f11... and 1/400 = f8, 1/800 = f5.6.
An overcast day is probably taking out 2-3 stops of light depending on exactly how overcast - very light haze in the air where you can still see the sun takes a stop...which would mean at ISO 200 and 1/400 shutter, under heavy cloud cover, you'd still be shooting f4. If you need faster, go to 400 ISO.
The more likely change you'd need is to throw in ~ 1/2 stop or more of + exposure compensation since you're shooting a "dark" object (airplane) on a "bright" background (clouds). This will fool the camera's metering and result in underexposed airplanes.
I'd say start with ISO 200 and + 1/2 stop exposure compensation. If it tells you it's too dark for the shot, bump up the ISO to 400. If that's still not enough light for jets (1/800 or so shutter) with an f5.6 or f8...you're probably about to ride out a thunder/hail storm.
Bumping up the ISO will not counter for the overcast skies by itself.