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CL aerial photo settings


Rusty

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I hope to be taking some shots from a helicopter while on holiday in a couple of weeks. In an ideal world I would set the focus distance to infinity and snap away.

Any suggestions as to how to best achieve this on the CL. I'm concerned about knocking the lens focus while in MF and not noticing. I would tend to use the rear screen for framing in this situation rather than the EVF.  18mm f2.8 pancake would be attached.

 

cheers

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12 hours ago, Rusty said:

I hope to be taking some shots from a helicopter while on holiday in a couple of weeks. In an ideal world I would set the focus distance to infinity and snap away.

Any suggestions as to how to best achieve this on the CL. I'm concerned about knocking the lens focus while in MF and not noticing. I would tend to use the rear screen for framing in this situation rather than the EVF.  18mm f2.8 pancake would be attached.

 

cheers

Hey Rusty,

I took my CL with the 23mm TL lens on a two-seater Spitfire flight experience last year and got some good results shooting through the canopy, not using the viewfinder as it was very cramped in the cockpit but trusting the camera’s automatic systems to get the shot, and mostly it did very well.

Settings were: priority shutter mode at 1/1000, auto ISO, multi-field AF.

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On 1/11/2022 at 1:35 AM, ruskkyle said:

Hey Rusty,

I took my CL with the 23mm TL lens on a two-seater Spitfire flight experience last year and got some good results shooting through the canopy, not using the viewfinder as it was very cramped in the cockpit but trusting the camera’s automatic systems to get the shot, and mostly it did very well.

Settings were: priority shutter mode at 1/1000, auto ISO, multi-field AF.

Ruskkyle 

where did you do your Spitfire flight? South east of London? How was it? 
 I have done a lot of photography from a Cessna 172 and my suggestions are:

- try to shoot thru an open door or window 

- use a fast shutter speed - at least 1/1000

-use the histogram to correct for overly bright or dark lighting conditions 

-set focus at infinity and keep it there - especially if shooting thru a closed window  

- never allow the camera to contact the airframe because the vibration will affect photos 

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14 hours ago, lawman said:

Ruskkyle 

where did you do your Spitfire flight? South east of London? How was it? 
 I have done a lot of photography from a Cessna 172 and my suggestions are:

- try to shoot thru an open door or window 

- use a fast shutter speed - at least 1/1000

-use the histogram to correct for overly bright or dark lighting conditions 

-set focus at infinity and keep it there - especially if shooting thru a closed window  

- never allow the camera to contact the airframe because the vibration will affect photos 

The flight experience was with the Aerial Collective at Duxford. It was honestly the stuff of dreams, I had such a great time.

I was shooting through the canopy, which definitely needed to stay shut as we went pretty high and did some barrel rolls etc. But yes, the perspex does reduce contrast and clarity somewhat, so the files took a bit of work.

Otherwise the settings you mention are pretty much exactly how the camera was set.

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Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

Edited by ruskkyle
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19 hours ago, lawman said:

Ruskkyle 

where did you do your Spitfire flight? South east of London? How was it? 
 I have done a lot of photography from a Cessna 172 and my suggestions are:

- try to shoot thru an open door or window 

- use a fast shutter speed - at least 1/1000

-use the histogram to correct for overly bright or dark lighting conditions 

-set focus at infinity and keep it there - especially if shooting thru a closed window  

- never allow the camera to contact the airframe because the vibration will affect photos 

Thanks yes that’s pretty much what I thought but how do I set the CL to focus at infinity and keep it there?

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11 hours ago, ruskkyle said:

The flight experience was with the Aerial Collective at Duxford. It was honestly the stuff of dreams, I had such a great time.

I was shooting through the canopy, which definitely needed to stay shut as we went pretty high and did some barrel rolls etc. But yes, the perspex does reduce contrast and clarity somewhat, so the files took a bit of work.

Otherwise the settings you mention are pretty much exactly how the camera was set.

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

Any close ups of Messerschmitts

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12 hours ago, ruskkyle said:

The flight experience was with the Aerial Collective at Duxford. It was honestly the stuff of dreams, I had such a great time.

I was shooting through the canopy, which definitely needed to stay shut as we went pretty high and did some barrel rolls etc. But yes, the perspex does reduce contrast and clarity somewhat, so the files took a bit of work.

Otherwise the settings you mention are pretty much exactly how the camera was set.

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

Yes, that does sound fantastic - definitely at the top of my bucket list! I see the 20mm canon on the starboard wing - was this a Mk IX model converted to tandem seating?  Do they let you take the front seat? If you are in the rear, do you have a full set of controls and will they let you take control to do some basic manouvering?  Looks like the 23mm lens worked out OK but I'm thinking that the 18-56 zoom would've come in useful - what do you think?

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2 hours ago, lawman said:

Set the camera to manual focus and then set your lens to infinity.

Thanks, yes I understand that but is there a distance scale anywhere I can bring up? I can’t see one so other than focussing on a distant object how do I know?

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9 hours ago, Foxtwo said:

Any close ups of Messerschmitts

No, but they do offer full dogfight flight experiences if you have the wedge..

8 hours ago, lawman said:

Yes, that does sound fantastic - definitely at the top of my bucket list! I see the 20mm canon on the starboard wing - was this a Mk IX model converted to tandem seating?  Do they let you take the front seat? If you are in the rear, do you have a full set of controls and will they let you take control to do some basic manouvering?  Looks like the 23mm lens worked out OK but I'm thinking that the 18-56 zoom would've come in useful - what do you think?

Exactly, a Mk IX. I made a thread about the day here.

I was in the back seat, and yes with full flight controls so the aircraft can be flown form either seat. And I was allowed to take them for a while.

I would have liked a wider lens, and nearly rented a Q2 for the day, but the 23mm was alright.

Edited by ruskkyle
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As an ex Navy fighter puke, with authority I can say that lenses notwithstanding, the only critical image you needed to get is one of yourself sitting in the cockpit, ready to go. You have an excellent shot of yourself in that situation, so you “done good” mate.

No kills is always a little disappointing, but you got the money shot, and I’m glad that you enjoyed your hop. 😎

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18 hours ago, Rusty said:

Thanks, yes I understand that but is there a distance scale anywhere I can bring up? I can’t see one so other than focussing on a distant object how do I know?

Yes, that's a problem with these autofocus lenses as there's no distance scale engraved on them. I solve this problem by using my M lenses on the CL which works very well and gives me the full focusing scale.  As you say, all you can do is focus manually on the most distant object and leave the camera's auto focus switched off so you don't get an inadvertent focus change from part of the aircraft etc.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 1/11/2022 at 10:18 AM, Rusty said:

I hope to be taking some shots from a helicopter while on holiday in a couple of weeks. In an ideal world I would set the focus distance to infinity and snap away.

Any suggestions as to how to best achieve this on the CL. I'm concerned about knocking the lens focus while in MF and not noticing. I would tend to use the rear screen for framing in this situation rather than the EVF.  18mm f2.8 pancake would be attached.

 

cheers

Well did a helicopter flight and all went well. For half the flight I used a setup with spot focussing and bracketed shots with 1 stop difference. I used manual exposure and set the shutter speed and aperture letting auto ISO sort out the right exposure.

We had a couple of landings so after one of them I changed to a normal setup with Aperture priority and normal multi focussing.

Auto focus worked fine on both settings even through the windows, and I found whatever exposure the camera picked was close enough.

A couple of samples are attached.The shots are from a flight from Glenorchy in NZ up to Mt Earnslaw and the Jura Glacier. Spectacular flight. 

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

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