A viation
T he A vi ati o n p ho to gra p he r issue Nr. 2
p h o t o g r a p h e r
E-Magazine
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T h e A v iathe io n p hotog r apher
saab 32 lansen S A A B ' S f i r s t a l l w e at h e r fighter
swedi s h ai r fo r c e
b a c k o n t h e r oa d a g a i n
os trava nato days
t h e a i r s h o w t h at i s n ' t an airshow
Tutori a l w h at l e n s s h o u l d i b u y ?
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Top S ho t s
from around the world
2018
T h e A v iat io n p hotog r apher
in THIS ISSUE E D i t o r i a l : d o i h av e t o s p e n d a f o r t u n e ?
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T U T O R I A L : w h at l e n s s h o u l d i g e t ?
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s a a b 3 2 l a n s e n - S A A B ' S f i r s t a l l w e at h e r f i g h t e r
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To p s h o t s
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s w e d i s h a i r fo r c e - b a c k o n t h e r oa d a g a i n
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top shots
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r e v i e w - o s t r ava n at o d ay s
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Tutorial: camera bags and camera straps
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EDITORIAL
d o i h av e t o s p e n d a f o r t u n e ? In this issue of The Aviation Photographer we continue to look at what equipment you should buy to get the most out of your aviation photography. After writing the tutorial about lenses in this number and the tutorial about cameras in the last number, a thing that struck us was that it may sound like you need to spend a fortune on camera equipment to be able to take good aviation pictures. You don’t! To avoid scaring anyone off, due to high equipment cost, we felt it was important to try and clarify what we base our tutorials on and how we have reached the level of aviation photography we are at. We have both been beginners at one point in time and we have both started with affordable equipment, just like most of you have. We have taken the same journey as you are taking or are about to take and we have made pretty much all the mistakes you can make along the road. Mistakes we have learnt from and it this experience we base our tutorials on. Making mistakes is part of evolving and improving and we don’t want to prevent you from making all these mistakes, but we hope we can share our experience to prevent you from making those really expensive mistakes. Since those first aviation pictures we took, we have gradually upgraded our equipment when we have felt that it’s the equipment that set the limitations and not our own ability. It’s taken many years to get the equipment we have today and we will continue to upgrade if we have the need and the money. In many cases we have bought second hand equipment to keep cost down and we have tried to be “creative” in ways and places to make our purchases as “cost efficient” as possible. You don’t need to get the ”latest and greatest” equipment and it doesn’t have to be very expensive. As Peter is the one of the two of us, who have been taking aviation pictures the longest, he’s been very helpful assisting and guiding me when it comes to equipment, techniques and processes and without that help, I would not be where I am today. So, finding others who share your passion and learn from them will improve the quality of your pictures more than getting new (and expensive) equipment and help and advise from friends are (usually) free.
Peter Eliasson www.e-pic.se
Jörgen Nilsson www.jn-photo.se 3
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tutorial
what lens should i buy? Next on the equpment list: Lenses So, we meet for the first time, at a small air show in Sweden and the first thing that struck me was the size of the camera equipment that he was carrying. I thought I had large and heavy camera equipment, with my 150-500mm lens but boy was I wrong. Peter was using a high-end camera with a 500 mm F4 lens and 1.4x extender giving him a total focal length of 700mm. In short, Peter was carrying professional level equipment.
In the latest issue of The Aviation Photographer, we talked about what camera to buy and what features to look for when trying to sort out the jungle of different cameras. In this issue, we’ll continue down the equipment list and we are going to talk about lenses. If you think this will be an easier choice than the camera, then you are in for a big slap in the face. Previously, we have stated that it’s better to spend more money on a good quality lens than a high-end camera, as the quality of the lens has a bigger impact on the quality of your pictures.
As I am both blonde and blue eyed, I thought to my self “Ok, so the guy has some expensive stuff, but I’m sure my lens and camera will take just as good pictures as his, for a fifth of the cost.” Again, how hard can it be?
How can we be so sure of this?
We stood pretty much at the same spot all day long, taking pretty much the same pictures and we were having a truly great time. Peter was kind enough to share his experience and gave me a lot of useful hints and information and by the time we were done for the day, I was 100% sure that my pictures would be just as good as his pictures, no doubt about it all.
We speak from experience because we have already gone through the same agony, anxiety and decision making as you are about to go through. And we know how tough it is. Let us tell you a little story, to explain what we are talking about.
Man was I in for a chock….
Let’s go back a few years in time, back to September 2013, when me and my co-conspirator Peter Eliasson met for the first time. I had, truly, admired his pictures on-line and I figured that “if he can take pictures that great, so can I! How hard can it be?” Oh, what a fool I was…
There’s a jungle out there, with different lenses at different prices and quality. The FRIAT stand at RIAT 2017.
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tutorial I get home and I start looking at my pictures from the air show and I’m feeling pretty good about most of them as I start to edit them. I post them on Facebook as I process them and I’m very happy with myself and my pictures. Then Peter starts to post his pictures from the same air show…
Buying a used, high end lense for a little more money than you pay for the new “price efficient” lens will make you a very happy and very satisfied customer instead of a barely satisfied one. Fact: A high end lens does not depreciate in price as fast as a camera house and most of the quality lies in the lens. So this is a win win, but most of us are looking at the new fancy camera houses. Why is that?
My first reaction, when I looked at his pictures (and this is the honest truth) was; “were we at the same air show?!”. I had stood 10 meters away from this guy, taking pictures of the same airplanes but still, the quality of our pictures were a world apart. The focus, the sharpness, the composition and the general quality of the pictures that Peter posted were so much better that I hardly could believe it.
When buying a high-end camera with a very high-resolution sensor and pairing it with a soft lens, then you are not using your investment properly. Compare it to having a Formula 1 car with bicycle tires…
About 6 months later I had the same equipment as Peter and a rather big hole in my wallet.
Planning, testing and gathering of information before buying any camera equipment will save you both money and frustration in the long run (https://www.dpreview. com/reviews is one of several good sites for this reserach.). If possible loan or rent lenses before you buy, then test them in your preferred photography niche. One great test is shooting birds in flight. This usually brings out the differences quite fast and it’s very similar to trying to shoot ”pointy” aircraft or small warbirds such as spitfires, mustangs and similar objects.
I still haven’t gotten to Peter’s level of picture quality, but at least I know it’s not due to the equipment anymore. Ok, this is an amusing story, but what did I learn from it? Simply this; a camera lens that cost €1000.00 – €1500.00 simply isn’t as good as a lens that cost €9000.00. Now, don’t get us wrong, there’s nothing wrong with a lens that cost €1500.00!
It’s also important that you are aware, that buying the ”best and most expensive” lenses you can find, won’t automatically make your pictures great.
But you should be aware that you get what you pay for and that you simply won’t get the same extraordinary picture sharpness with those less expensive lenses as you get with the expensive ones.
I will probably never reach the same picture quality as Peter, but having the same level of equipment as him, in other words the same tools, gives me the same possibilities as Peter to gather the same light data, that gives me a datafile to work with when I edit my picture.
With the less expensive lenses you need to be closer to the object to be able to get approximatiely the same sharpness, and then you have to downsample the image to recover the lost sharpness. When shooting airliners this is not a big problem, as you can get “close enough” with almost all lenses. But when shooting the more “pointy” planes that are small, fast and more then 300 meters away you will start seeing the difference.
And this is what a camera and lens is; a light gathering device that gives you a data file to work with, when editing. Then there are a number of other factors that makes the differense between my pictures and Peter’s pictures, but those are not hardware related.
We have, on several occasions, given the following advice to people who ask us what lens to get: “Save money for a little while longer and go for the higher quality/price lens.”
Another thing that I found, when upgrading my own lens, is that the high end lenses require a lot of training to get the hang of it. It may sound a bit odd, because all you need to do is to point that lens towards the object and press the camera trigger and you got a great picture, right?!
Otherwise you’ll just end up doing what I did; Buying the less expensive lens, getting disappointed and then ending up buying the more expensive lens with an even bigger hole in your wallet.
I wish it was that simple...
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tutorial Such a simple thing as how to hold your camera when using a big 500mm F4 lens compared to when using a smaller lens takes a while getting used to. The lens is 3.9 kg, then add about 1.3 kg for the camera and batteries, this gives you approx. 5.2 kg (10 lbs.) and the length of the thing, including the lens hood, is close to one meter. This brings the center of gravity about 30-40 cm from your chest. Which gives a quite high momentum to counter. Try hanging 5 liters of water on a one meter stick, hold one end close to you face and the other end straight out AND hold it steady and you will see what I mean! Remember, upgrade your camera equipment when you feel that the equipment is setting limits to your photography, not because you think upgrading your equipment will make you a better photographer. When I started using my 500mm F4 it took me about two years to master it. Don’t get me wrong, I immediately saw a leap in quality of my pictures but to really squeeze the most out of it, took time. The things that took a while to get the hang of, was things like these: • what shutter times are the most efficient for jet aircraft in high speed passes • what are the lowest shutter speeds I can use for helicopters and propellers and still know that I have some keepers. • When does IS help image quality and when does IS actually decrease the image quality? • When can I use the 1.4x and 2x extenders and what does the added focal length and lost light do to my images
Handling larger lenses require practice and more practice to be able to take full advantage of them. There are two basic types of lenses: Fixed focus length and zoom lenses. The benefit with fixed focus length lenses is that they handle light better than a zoom thus creating pictures with less “noise” in them (lower ISO number) and in general they are ”super sharp”. The benefit of a zoom lens is that is more versatile and can be used for both static display planes as well as planes flying over your head. But they are also a compromise and as we all know, compromises are rarely perfect. There are good quality zoom lenses with a focus length of between 150-600mm f5-6.3 that will set you back around €1000.00 - €1500.00 and they are good value for money. But you should be aware that many of these lenses usually are “soft” in the range between 400mm-600mm, compared to the more expensive lenses. 6
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tutorial
Zoom lenses
A professional quality zoom lens with equal focal width range will set you back around €2000.00 - €2500.00 but there is a reason why these lenses cost as much as they do. Almost all zoom lenses are very ”soft” at their largest aperture and you should ”step them down” 1-2 aperture steps to get the best sharpness out of them. One example is the old Canon ”go-to” zoom lens for aviation photography, the EF 100 400mm f/4.5 5.6L IS USM. This one is really soft at F4.5-5.6 but stepped down to F8 it was quite sharp. But usually, at an airshow shooting the fast action, we want really short shutter times and this will force the camera to use the fully open aperture, which brings down sharpness. When I used this lens I used it at Aperture mode set to F8 and then the camera chose the shuttertimes and possibly raised the ISO. Below is a comparison between a zoom lens and a prime lens. The purpose is to show you how the sharpness changes with aperture values.
The Y-axis describing Quality of focus, in the diagrams below, cannot be used to compare sharpness between lenses, it is only describing the change within the same lens in relation to F-stops. If you want to find which lenses are the sharpest, head over to www.dxomark.com where you can compare all technical specs as tested by them.
Sharpness Canon EF 100-400 F4.5-5.6L IS. Note the poor sharpness at F5.6 which is almost half of what it is from F8-11
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tutorial Another thing to be aware of is that the DOF (Depth Of Field) is largest with the small appertures. But diffraction will reduce sharpness from about f/11. Clearly visible in the diagrams.
Sharpness for Canon EF 500 F4L IS. Note that this lens is at its sharpest from F4 to F8 where the sharpness starts to fall off All tests are made by Peter using Reikan FoCal software. This software is used to finetune maximum sharpness of a lens together with a specific camera house of yours. All lenses and cameras are made in certain tolerances and if you get a camera and lens that is not spot on the center of the tolerances they need micro adjustments to give you the sharpest images. So what type of lens should you get? In a perfect world, where money isn’t an issue, you should get both a fixed focal length lens and a zoom lens. But we aren’t living in a perfect world, are we?! Our recommendation will have to be that you should get a zoom lens to start with. This gives you the most versatility and flexibility, it’s not too heavy and it will not cost you both arms and legs, just one of each. As you evolve into this hobby you may expand or upgrade your ”kit” with more lenses and houses. When I go to an airshow I usually carry two cameras and three lenses. But I have spent more then 10 years building this kit by upgrading via used lenses and some houses. The lenses I use are depending on where I am at the show and what I’m taking pictures of. Static: Canon 5d mk IV + 1.4x extender + Canon EF 100-400 F4.5-5.6L IS IICanon 5d mk III + Canon EF 24-105 F4L IS. (Sometimes I also use the Canon EF 16-35 F2.8L) Flying display: I change the lenses to Canon 5d mk IV + 1.4x extender + Canon EF 600 F4 IS II (used for fighters or small aircraft) and Canon 5d mk III + 1.4x extender + Canon EF 100-400 F4.5-5.6L IS II (Used for large aircraft and formations) If you attach a 150mm – 600mm zoom to a 1.6x crop sensor camera (like a Canon 7D MkII), you will get the equality of 240mm – 960mm on a full frame sensor camera and that will actually take you quite far as aviation pictures goes. Some of you may now be calling ”bullshit” on the statement above, that you get a 240mm - 960mm zoom and yes, you are right. It’s kind of bullshit...
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tutorial I’m not going to get technical here, because I don’t like nor understand most of the technical stuff of lenses and crop sensors (you can Google it), but in short, a crop sensor crops (duh) a full frame size picture by using only the center part of the available area, this zooms in or crops the image in such a way that it seems to be a close-up picture. It’s the same as if you take a full frame picture and crop it in an editing program to make it look like a close-up shot. So it is in fact still a 150mm - 600mm zoom lens, but it will crop your pictures to appear to be a 240mm - 960 mm lens. But in most cases, a high quality lens on a full frame camera will enable you to crop the full frame picture in an editing program with a higher picture quality than if you crop an already cropped image. Confusing, I know... Fixed focus length lenses
Looking at lenses with fixed focus length, we are talking about (a lot) more money but at the same time we are talking about lenses that give really sharp pictures. Most commonly we are talking about lenses with a fixed focus length from 300mm to 600mm and f/2,8 – f/4.0. These lenses are of course best for taking pictures of planes flying above you and not so good for taking pictures of static planes up close. And you can expect to pay around €8.000.00 - €11.000.00 for a new one of these babies. And we want to state it again, there is a reason why these lenses are this expensive, as they are super sharp.
Find a used lens of the previous generation. Example: a new Canon EF 500 F4L IS II runs at about €9600 today, a used EF 500 F4L IS can be found from €4000-5000. This is true for all high end lenses, such as Canons L lenses , then there are probably room for bargaining another 10-15% off the used price. So, to sum this up:
Those of you who will get hooked on Aviation Photography will eventually end up owning one of these lenses and when you do, you’ll also get that second camera and all of a sudden you are stuck with a very heavy camera bag.
• Start by getting a zoom lens. It gives you the most flexibility. • Choose a lens of at least 300-400mm. Don’t go for the 70-200 versions. They only work under the approach to a major airport with BIG airplanes. When you bring a 70-200 to an airshow you will get disappointed. • You get what you pay for. If possible, go for the better quality (more expensive) lens. • If possible, test different lenses before you buy. • Buy a lens that works with full frame cameras. It will save you money in the long run. • Look at buying a second-hand lens. Good value for money. • Don’t worry about the anxiety before paying a large chunk of your hard-earned money, when buying a camera lens. We promise you will forget all about that when you start using the lens.
Don’t worry, the way we see it, you don’t need to get a gym membership card, all you need to do is to go to an air show and you’ll get all the workout you need. But as always, build your equipment slowly as you evolve in your hobby. Upgrade when you think the equipment is limiting your photography. If you buy the ”heavy artillery” stuff first, you may not be able to use it properly anyway. A good advice is to look for second hand examples of these expensive lenses as they are usually well taken care of and really excellent value. 9
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tutorial
Just your ”average” collection of camera equipment at an airshow... Now that you have red through this tutorial about lenses, you are probably thinking ”ok, but how big a difference is it REALLY, between these lenses”? Keep in mind that in aviation photography you will rarely be able to use a full frame composition. Usually you need to crop, and crop hard to get a good composition. If you are cropping you want as much sharpness as possible down to pixel level. This is why we are going on and on about the sharpness of the lenses. We’ve done a comparison test between a 150mm-600mm zoom and a 600 mm fixed focal length and a 100mm-400mm zoom lens. These pictures were taken at the same occasion, using the same camera house and edited exactly the same. As the images was shot with +1/3 exposure compensation, I have decreased the exposure in LR by 1/3 stops. No other settings are changed. Sharpening was done at 25% and 1pixels radius for all images which is low. The distance between the tower and the photographer is approx. 2000 meters and the camera house used was a Canon 5D MkIV. The target for this comparison is the gray/white stripes below the tower. At higher magnifications you will be able to see text within the darg gray stripes. This is a good target for comparisons as there are defined lines that are contrasting and there are letters to show the sharpness. Note that the small image in the lower left hand corners is full frame image. The larger image is a 100% magnification of the image. The comparisons below should be made at 100% magnification in the PDF reader you are using. Otherwise you may not see much difference. 10
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tutorial
Sigma 150-600mm Contemporary f/5-6.3 @150mm, f/8, 1/200 sec, ISO 640
Canon EF 100-400 F4.5-5.6L IS II + 1.4x III @140mm, f/8, 1/200 sec, ISO 640 This image should be compared with the previous one of the Sigma at 150mm. Also note that the 1.4x extender is mounted on the Canon to be able to approximate the Sigma zoom range. This makes the Canon less sharp then used without the extender. In my oppinion the images are similar but with a slight advance to the Sigma. 11
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tutorial
Sigma 150-600mm Contemporary f/5-6.3 @403mm, f/8, 1/200 sec, ISO 640
Canon EF 100-400 F4.5-5.6L IS II @400mm, f/8, 1/200 sec, ISO 640
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tutorial
Sigma 150-600mm Contemporary f/5-6.3 @600mm, f/8, 1/200 sec, ISO 800
Canon EF 600 F4L IS II @600mm, f/8, 1/400 sec, ISO 1250 This image should be compared to the previous one with the Sigma @600mm. It is probably obvius that the fixed focal lengt 600 is a lot sharper then the Sigma zoom. I think there is more contrast in the Canon image as well, this is probably due to the lens treatment by Canon. Contrast increases the perceived sharpness.If you look at the small insert for both lenses you it is possible to see that the Sigma is vignetting more. 13
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tutorial Comparing a zoom lens and a fixed focal lenght lens is not quite fair as there’s a difference in the aperture between the two lenses (f5,6 - f6,5 compared with f4,0) but it gives you an idea of what difference it makes to take the step from a zoom to a fixed focal lenght lens. We also want to point out that the reason why we have used the specific lens brands in this article, is that these are the brands we use and had access to when we did the test. We do not advise you to buy any particular brand of lenses. The test was conducted in available daylight in January, in Sweden, where it is daaark. We managed to find a sunny day and this is shot at around 1PM, about two hours before sunset. To be able to find common ground we chose F8 which is at the best sharpness for a zoom lens but not for a prime so the difference in low light is a lot larger when using maximum aperture. As the light is changing the ISO varied some which also impacts the sharpness. High ISO decreases sharpness due to noise.
And then there are extenders. It is just what the name indicates, en extension to the focal length on your lens, meaning that by adding an extender between your camera house and your lens, you increase the focal length of your lens with a factor of 1.4 - 2.0 depending on what extender you get. One strong factor for moving to a fixed focal lenght lens with a large aperture is that it allows you to use extenders to a higher extent and still have good sharpness at 1.4x or 2x the focal length. Usually, a zoom is to soft and the F-stop goes beyond what the auto focus of the camera allows when using extenders. These extenders are a ”cost efficient” way to give your lenses a bit more reach, so that you get that little bit closer. Just imagine, if you have a 500 mm lens and add a 2.0 extender you get a whopping 1000 mm focal length lens. But an extender is of limited use below 200-300mm as all lenses within that range will be less sharp then a lens with that focal range. Sounds great, doesn’t it?! Unfortunately, it isn’t that simple... Extenders are a bit of a minefield and they do have some drawbacks that you need to be aware of. Lets start with the really bad news: Extenders don’t work on all lenses and camera houses. If you plan on getting an Extender, make sure you do your homework and find out if your lens and camera REALLY works with an Extender. If you then find out that an extender actually DO work with your camera and lens, make sure you find out HOW it works with your equipment. Some Extender/Lens/camera combinations has the effect that your Auto Focus only have one working focus point and that can be really difficult when you try to take a picture of a fast moving airplane. Next drawback is what an extender does to the aperture of your lens. The explanation to the above is that the extenders steel light from your lens combo. A 1.4x extender removes one stop of available light and the 2x removes two stops of available light. The autofocus of your camera can only work with good light and is usually limited to F5.6 or F8. Older cameras worked down to about F5.6, newer high end cameras work up to F8.
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tutorial Let’s compare two lenses. A Canon Ef 100 F4.5-5.6 with a 1.4x extender will get approx F6-8 wich is just within the limits of some cameras. Such as the Canon 5d mk III and mk IV. The mk III does only have the center focus point working at F8 but the mk IV can use all focus points at F8. If you add the 2x extender to the Canon Ef 100 F4.5-5.6 even the F4.5 will end up above F8 wich will make your autofocus erratic or not working at all.This is the reason why all aviation photo nerds are hunting for the maximum aperture tele lenses such as the F4 and F2.8. If we take the EF 500 F4L IS as an example the 1.4x gives it an F stop of 5.6 and the 2x gives it an F stop of F8, just on the limit. But the focal length increased from 500mm to 700mm (1.4x) and 1000mm (2x) and we are still able to use autofocus. Then comes the next thing to consider, when using the extender the focal length increases, which will force you to use shorter shutter times to avoid blurred images. When you use shorter shutter-speeds you will allow less light to reach the sensor and the extender also removed 1-2 stops. This will sometimes force the ISO to ridiculous numbers which will have an impact on the image quality. Do NOT buy cheap extenders from any other company than the one making your lens or camera. The extenders are paired to the lenses by the manufacturers. When you buy extenders from other companys the extender will always be less sharp then the original. Unfortunately the camera manufacturers now this as well and are charging quite a lot of money for the original extenders. Nothing is for free, first you pay a lot for the extender, then you need more light to use them, you need to use shorter shutter times and you loose some sharpness when using them.
Extenders
So, when looking at getting an extender for your camera and lens, remember to check the following: • Make sure that your camera and lens work with an extender • Make sure you know what effect(s) an extender has on the functionality of your camera. • Only buy original extenders For a more detailed look at these photos, visit this gallery, where they are available for download in full frame and full size: - https://ln.sync.com/dl/e47eba410/psbdd8rf-fakykghp-ydvs6wuh-d4dg7s88 In the pictures on the next page, a 1.4x and 2.0x extender has been used on a 600mm fixed focal length lens. 15
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tutorial
Canon EF 600 F4L IS II + 1.4 III @840mm, f/8, 1/400 sec, ISO 1000 At the 1.4x magnification and 840mm there is no perceivable degradation of image quality compared to 600mm. But at 2000 meters turbulence in the air are starting to be noticeable in straight lines.
Canon EF 600 F4L IS II + 2x III @1200mm, f/8, 1/400 sec, ISO 1250 At 2x magnification and 1200mm there is a slight loss of sharpness and the air turbulence is clearly visible as it smears parts of the image. Remember that this is shot at a distance of more than 2000 meters. 16
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saab 32 lansen
saab' s fir s t a ll w eather fig hter .
SAAB J 32B Lansen at Norrbottens flygflottilj, F 21, luleå, sweden. Photographer: jörgen nilsson - jn-photo.se (Canon EOS 5D Mark III - Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS + 1.4x - 700.0 mm - ISO 1250 - f/5,6 - 1/800)
With the increasing tension in the region over and around the Baltic Sea at the start of the cold War, between the Warsaw pact and NATO and the continuous development of military jetfighters and bombers and their capabilities, It soon became obvious that the recently developed SAAB J 29 Tunnan needed to be replaced with a more modern airplane that could fly in all weather conditions.
During it’s 25 years of service in the Swedish Air Force, a third of the delivered airplanes were lost in accidents, killing a total of 100 crewmembers. These accidents were due to technical problems and the inadequate training of pilots, flying in darkness and bad weather. The aircraft was in active service in the Swedish Air Force until 1978. It is noticeable that after the Nuclear accident in Chernobyl 1986, SAAB 32 Lansen aircrafts were used to perform radiation surveys over the Baltic sea, and later it was used to measure the level of volcanic ash in the atmosphere after the eruptions on Iceland. These flights were carried out by a group of volunteers that kept a number of Lansen plane flying and the monitoring equipment they used had been kept, without order or approval from the military, but came in handy when these measurements needed to be made.
With this in mind, SAAB started the development of a new military jet that got the designation SAAB 32 Lansen (Lance) in 1948 and it made it’s maiden flight in 1952. The plane was a two seater aircraft with all-weather capabilities and it was a platform that would be developed to become a Fighter-, Attack- and reconnaissance aircraft. A total of 447 planes, in three different main versions, were delivered to the Swedish Air Force between 1955 – 1960.
(Source: Wikipedia)
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(Cano n E OS 5D Mark I II - Cano n EF 500mm f/4 L I S + 1.4x - 700.0 mm - ISO 400 - f/6,3 - 1/320)
SA AB J 3 2d Lansen with a saab sk 35c drak en in t he backg round at skavsta airport, sweden. Photogra phe r: j รถrge n n ilsson - j n -photo.se
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saab 32 lansen
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saab 32 lansen
SAAB J 32d Lansen at örebro airport, sweden. Photographer: jörgen nilsson - jn-photo.se (Canon EOS 5D Mark III - Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS + 1.4x - 700.0 mm - ISO 100 - f/8 - 1/320)
Technical data SAAB J 32 lansen Width: Length: Height: Wing area: Weight, empty: Max. take off weight: Max speed: Thrust: Engine:
13,0 m 14,9 m 4,65 m 37,4 m² 8077 Kgs 13 500 Kgs 1125 Km/h 47,8 kn RM 6A
More Lansen pictures can be found here: • http://www.jn-photo.se/Browse-my-images/By-Type/SAAB/J-32-Lansen/ • http://www.e-pic.se/Aircraft/Aircraft-sorted-by-type/SAAB/SAAB-32-Lansen/ 19
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(Cano n E OS 5 D Mar k I II - Cano n E F 5 00m m f/4L I S + 1.4x - 700.0 m m - ISO 1000 - f/5,6 - 1/800)
SA AB J 3 2B Lansen at Norrbott ens flyg flo ttilj, F 21 , lul eรฅ, sw eden. Photographer: jรถrgen nilsson - jn-photo.se
T h e A v iat io n p hotog r apher
saab 32 lansen
T h e A v iat io n p hotog r apher
top shot
S wedish Air Force Historic flight's Saab AJS 37 Viggen - Photographer: peter eliasson - e-pic.se (Canon EOS 5D Mark III - Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS + 2x - 1000.0 mm - ISO 250 - f/9 - 1/1250)
russian air force Sukhoi Su-35S Super Flank er - - Photographer: peter eliasson - e-pic.se (Canon EOS 5D Mark III - Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS + 1.4x - 700.0 mm - ISO 200 - f/6,3 - 1/1250) 21
T h e A v iat io n p hotog r apher
To p s h o t
Fouga CM-170R-1 Magister - Photographer: peter eliasson - e-pic.se (Canon EOS 5D Mark III - Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM - 200.0 mm - ISO 100 - f/3,5 - 1/500)
swedish air force hi storic flight's saab sk 35C drak en - Photographer: jรถrgen nilsson - jn-photo.se (Canon EOS 5D Mark III - Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM - 300.0 mm - ISO 100 - f/7.1 - 1/320) 22
T h e A v iat io n p hotog r apher
top shots
Eurocopter TH98 Cougar (AS-532UL) Photographer: Peter eliasson - e-pic.se.
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-29M-2 Fulcrum Photographer: Peter eliasson - e-pic.se.
(Canon EOS 5D Mark III - Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS + 2x 1000.0 mm - ISO 100 - f/9 - 1/200)
(Canon EOS 5D Mark III - Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS + 1.4x 700.0 mm - ISO 125 - f/5.6 - 1/500)
SZD-59 Acro flown by Johan Gustafsson - Photographer: Jรถrgen Nilsson - jn-photo.se (Canon EOS 5D Mark III - Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS + 1.4x - 700.0 mm - ISO 125 - f/5.6 - 1/1000) 23
T h e A v iat io n p hotog r apher
top shots
Norwegian AIRLINES Boeing 737-800 - Photographer: Jรถrgen Nilsson - jn-photo.se (Canon EOS 5D Mark III - Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS + 1.4x - 700.0 mm - ISO 160 - f/5.6 - 1/1000)
Sukhoi Su-27 Flank er - Team Russian Knights - Photographer: PETER ELIASSON - E-PIC.se (Canon EOS 5D Mark III - Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS + 1.4x - 700.0 mm - ISO 1000 - f/5.6 - 1/1250) 24
T h e A v iat io n p hotog r apher
s w e d i s h a i r fo r c e
bac k o n t h e r oa d a g ain
swedish air force saab 39c Gripen landing on a road base - Photographer: jĂśrgen nilsson - jn-photo.se (Canon EOS 5D Mark III - Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS - ISO 500 - f/4 - 1/1000)
In order to reduce the vulnerability of the Swedish Air Force in case of war, where the regular air bases would be attacked, the Government decided to start building road bases in the late 1950’s. These were stretches of roads, located around the regular air bases, that in peace time would serve as regular roads and highways but in times of war, they would be transformed in to runways for military aircrafts, where necessary infrastructure as taxi roads and parking areas were located around these runways/roads. From the beginning, a typical road base would be a straight stretch of road about 1500 meters/0,93 miles or so long, widened to allow an airplane to turn around on it. Mobile units of ground crews carrying fuel, ammo and spare parts would then show up shortly before landing, re-fuel, re-arm and repair the planes and then disperse to the next road base where the next group of planes would land. This was a highly mobile and flexible system that made it difficult for an aggressor to knock out our air force on the ground. Wing commander Col. L Helmrich briefs representatives from media about the road base landings about to take place. 25
T h e A v iat io n p hotog r apher
s w e d i s h a i r fo r c e
with only 800 m of runway to land on, the pilots needed to hit the mark and start breaking hard. Photographer: jörg en nilsson - jn-photo.se (Canon EOS 5D Mark III - Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS - ISO 400 - f/4 - 1/1000)
As the road base system developed over the years, so did the airplanes of the Swedish Air Force and one of the key properties of Swedish fighter planes developed in the 1960’s and forward was the ability to land on and take off from short runways. The most significant aircraft developed for this purpose was SAAB 37 Viggen, who, with its ability reverse the jet blast on landings and actually reverse on the ground, enabled the road bases to be shortened to only 800 meters / 0,49 miles. The last road base constructed in Sweden was finished in 1984. With the end of the Cold War, the need for these road bases was reduced and the Swedish Air Force stopped using them in the end of the 1990’s. The bases in the base 90 system could cover an area of 5x5 kms, or more. This area contained three runways, one longer and two shorter ones. Parkings were dispersed all over the area and there were 2-3 times as much parkings then acutal aircraft planned for the base. The aircraft would not use the same parking as it left when returning from a mission. This would have made it very difficult for an aggressor to completely stop the Swedish air force from using a base. It is hard to destroy three runways at the same time and as the aircraft were dispersed over a very large area it would have been hard to find and destroy them as well With the increasing tension in the Baltic Sea region, The Swedish Air Force is now starting to develop its ability to once again land on these short road bases, now with the SAAB 39 Gripen jetfighter, a plane that was developed with landings and take-offs from short road bases in mind. First out, to again land on a short road base, was a SAAB 39C Gripen from the Swedish Air Force Tactical Development sqn (TU JAS) followed a week later by SAAB 39C Gripen from the 72 Fighter sqn from the F 7 Såtenäs Wing. The 72 Fighter sqn did a total of eight landings and starts from a refurbished road base near their base of operations and we were invited, along with other Swedish media, to observe the operations. 26
T h e A v iat io n p hotog r apher
s w e d i s h a i r fo r c e
once on the ground, the pilots applied all the breaks they had, to stop in time. Photographer: jรถrgen nilsson - jn-photo.se (Canon EOS 5D Mark III - Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS - ISO 500 - f/4,5 - 1/1000)
focused pilot shortly before taking off from the 800 m road base. Photographer: jรถrgen nilsson - jn-photo.se (Canon EOS 5D Mark III - Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS - ISO 500 - f/4,5 - 1/1000) 27
T h e A v iat io n p hotog r apher
s w e d i s h a i r fo r c e
full afterburner when taking off. Photographer: jรถrgen nilsson - jn-photo.se (Canon EOS 5D Mark III - Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS - ISO 640 - f/4,5 - 1/1250)
fire- and resque service on standby, if something should go wrong. Photographer: jรถrg en nilsson - jn-photo.se (Canon EOS 5D Mark III - Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM 28 - 300mm - ISO 640 - f/6,3 - 1/640)
T h e A v iat io n p hotog r apher
To p s h o t
Junk ers Ju-52/3mg8e - Photographer: PETER ELIASSON - E-PIC.se (Canon EOS 5D Mark III - Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS - 500.0 mm - ISO 100 - f/8 - 1/200)
Sukhoi Su-35S Super Flank er - Photographer: PETER ELIASSON - E-PIC.se (Canon EOS 5D Mark III - Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS + 2x - 1000.0 mm - ISO 1000 - f/9 - 1/1000) 29
T h e A v iat io n p hotog r apher
To p s h o t
Mil Mi-24 Hind Polish Airforce - Photographer: PETER ELIASSON - E-PIC.se (Canon EOS 5D Mark III - Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS + 1.4x - 700,0 MM - ISO 100 - f/6,3 - 1/125)
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T h e A v iat io n p hotog r apher
o s t r ava n at o d ay s
t h e ai r s h o w t h at is n 't an air s how
RAF Eurofighter Typhoon FGR.4, ostrava nato days 2016 - Photographer: peter eliasson - e-pic.se (Canon EOS 5D Mark IV - Canon EF 600mm f/4.0L IS II USM + 1.4x - 840 mm - ISO 200 - f/5,6 - 1/1250)
Ostrava NATO days, or “dny NATO v ostravě” as it’s called in Czech, is an annually reoccurring two day “security show” held at Leoš Janáček Airport located south west of the city of Ostrava in the Czech Republic. The event includes both air- and static displays of military aircrafts, a big variety of military and law enforcement equipment and forces from around the world. The air display program at this event is not very extensive but there are three factors that makes the Ostrava NATO days a very interesting event for us aviation photographers: • The quality of the displays • The participating aircrafts • The photo spot, one of the best in Europe The Ostrava NATO days are usually held the second weekend of September and the official days the event is open is Saturday and Sunday but arrivals and rehearsals start as early as the Monday before the event, with most rehearsals being done on Thursday and Friday, so if you are living close enough to drive to the event, you could easily spend the best part of a week there. Depending on where you live, there are different ways of getting to Ostrava and the Leoš Janáček Airport. Driving there is of course an option if you don’t live too far away but keep in mind that driving in the Czech Republic can be a bit of an adventure due to road constructions and rush hour traffic. Driving will, in most cases, take longer than you expect and don’t be surprised if you find yourself stuck in a que on the highway from time to time.
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T h e A v iat io n p hotog r apher
o s t r ava n at o d ay s
If you are flying in to the event, there are three main options you can choose between: • Flying in to Prague and then drive to Ostrava (the drive takes about 4-4½ hours depending on traffic) • Flying in to Leoš Janáček Airport either on a domestic flight from Prague or direct from places like London (Stansted) and Milan. • Flying in to Poland (Warsaw or Katowice) and driving from there. It’s recommended that you book your accommodation in the area quite early, as there are a lot of people attending this event and rooms tend to get booked quickly. We mentioned earlier that Ostrava NATO days has one of the best photo spots in Europe but, of course, there are some issues and problems related to accessing this spot. As you can see on the map above, the photo spot is not located inside the show ground and to access it you will have to get to the village of Albrechticky and walk on to the filed from there and getting to Albrechticky can be tricky. This is due to the fact that the residents of Albrechticky don’t like us aviation photographers very much, for a number of reasons, including littering, parking in places we shouldn’t park and pretty much shutting down the village for the weekend. So come Saturday morning, the Czech Police will actually prevent you from driving from road 464 at Nova Horka to Albrechticky the whole weekend. The roadblock is usually set up at 05:30 in the morning so if you get there before that time, you might be able to get past it, but don’t count on it. If you don’t want to get up that early, another option is to drive to the village of Vagonka Studénka and take a bus that runs between the railroad station and the village of Albrechticky. From the bus stop at Albrechticky you walk to the photo spot. The third option is to park at the big parking on the show ground side of the air field (costs money) and then walk around the air field (through the show ground) over to the photo spot. A word of warning though: They close the entrance to the show ground about 30 minutes before the event closes and if you are not inside the gates by then, you will have to take a very long walk to get to the parking area again. Might also be worth mentioning that last year, 2017, the organizers blocked off a big chunk of the photo area closest to the fence/air port so chances are that access to this site will be limited in the future. 32
T h e A v iat io n p hotog r apher
o s t r ava n at o d ay s
luftwaffe Eurofighter Typhoon FGR.4, ostrava nato days 2016 - Photographer: peter eliasson - e-pic.se (Canon EOS 5D Mark IV - Canon EF 600mm f/4.0L IS II USM + 1.4x - -840mm - ISO 800 - f/5,6 - 1/1000)
So, what can you expect from the photo spot at Ostrava NATO days? As the display-line at this event is at a 90-degree angle from the runway, you can expect to see fast moving jets turning around and over your head 360 degrees. Especially take-offs from runway 04 will often pass right above you as they turn left. You will also get the planes diving right towards you and climbing away from you allowing for some cool “head-on” and after burner shots. And they do use flares! A good advice is to dress for the occasion! Especially if it’s raining. As the photo spot is located on a farm field, it will get muddy if/when it rains so wellingtons or a pair of Gore-Tex boots is a good thing to bring. Something to drink, something to eat and something to sit on is also advisable to bring as there will be times when there’s nothing flying for an hour or two during the days. If the weather is good, there are a lot of spectators at this event, so don’t be surprised if you get stuck in trafic driving to and from the airport. So a recommendation is to get to the air field early to avoid the worst traffic. Facts, Ostrava NATO Days When: Second weekend in September Where: Leoš Janáček Airport, outside Ostrava Web: www.natodays.cz
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o s t r ava n at o d ay s
swedish air force historic flight's SAAB AJS 37 Viggen - Photographer: jรถrgen nilsson - jn-photo.se (Canon EOS 5D Mark III - Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS + 1.4x - 700mm - ISO 250 - f/6.3 - 1/1600)
Swiss air force f-18 hornet - Photographer: peter eliasson - e-pic.se (Canon EOS 5D Mark IV - Canon EF 600mm f/4.0L IS II USM + 1.4x - 840mm - ISO 200 - f/5.6 - 1/1250) 34
T h e A v iat io n p hotog r apher
tutorial
Camera bags and camera straps
Now that we have had a look at what camera and lens you should get, you need something to carry it all in and if you think this will be any easier than getting the camera and/ or lens… Well … There’s no easy way to tell you this, but it won’t. Are you starting to see a pattern here? Nothing seems to be easy when it comes to taking pictures, but as the old saying goes, “if it was easy, everybody would do it.” So, what are the challenges we face when we are talking about camera bags and camera straps? Doesn’t seem to be rocket science…? If we start with the bags, the biggest challenge is that there are a lot of different types and sizes of bags and if you look at the advertisements, they all seem to do everything you need, and then some. So, lets start by killing that idea, because they don’t do everything you need a camera bag to do. I bet you didn’t even know that there is stuff you want (and need) a camera bag to do for you? Well, there is! To begin with, you want it to swallow all your camera equipment. Kind of obvious, right?! So, what is your camera equipment? It’s your camera house and your lens, right? Nope, think again. Your camera equipment is not just your camera and lens, it’s also a flash, rain protection for your camera, a rain jacket for yourself, a bottle (or two) of something to drink, some food, spare batteries, memory card holders, suntan lotion, paper tissue, a tripod, a towel etc. etc. And it’s all of this that you need to be able to place in your camera bag. Starting to see the problem?
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T h e A v iat io n p hotog r apher
tutorial Also keep in mind that you won’t have everything in the bag at the same time. On photo location, you will not have your camera(s) and lens(es) in the bag, so you have space for that extra stuff like food, water and rain gear. You don’t want to cancel or abort a photo-shoot because you weren’t properly dressed or equipped! So, here’s the first rule of thumb: If you are looking at a camera bag and you think it’s large enough to fit all your camera equipment, it’s not. When you have bought three camera bags in a year, because the last one you got wasn’t big enough, that’s when you wish you had known about this first rule of thumb. But if my camera bag becomes too small, I just get a second bag for all the stuff that won’t fit in the first one, right?! A couple of “issues” with that idea… • You only have two arms and hands. Carrying two bags (or more) and being ready to take pictures at the same time, is a bad idea. • You want to be carrying as little as possible, as you will be spending the entire day on your feet. • It’s tough enough to keep track of one bag, two is almost impossible. Here’s our second rule of thumb: You will always be getting more camera equipment! Plan for this. When you are looking at buying a (new) camera bag, there are some questions you need to ask yourself: • What equipment is it that I will need to bring with me and how much space does it take. • How much does the equipment weigh? • How do I want to carry the bag? • Back-pack • Over the shoulder • In my hand • On a carriage with wheels (remember, these usually don’t have good off-road performance) • Where will I be carrying the bag? • On airplanes (will it fit in the overhead compartment?) • On or around water or humid places? (might need it to be water protected) • In places where it will get muddy and dirty? • How often will I be carrying it? (Daily, weekly, monthly?) As stated previously, this is not an easy decision and there are a lot of different camera bag manufacturers, models, sizes and prices to choose between. As always, the better your research is before buying a bag, the happier you will be with your purchase. Start by asking other aviation photographers about their bags, what they think about them, what’s good with it, what’s bad with it etc. and you will eventually zoom in on what bag is best for you. It’s better to buy one camera bag that is a little more expensive, that does what you need it to do, than buying three “cheaper” ones that doesn’t do it for you and will end up costing you more money in the long run. 36
T h e A v iat io n p hotog r apher
tutorial But wait, we are not done yet! You also need a strap to carry your camera with, when it’s not in the bag. You’ve got to be kidding me, right!? I mean, I got a perfectly good strap with the camera, I’ll just use that! You could … But your neck and back will thank you for not using it and instead get some proper straps that allows you to carry your camera(s) without looking like Quasimodo. A proper strap, will save your neck and back and reduce the risk of dropping your camera(s) or worse, make you miss a good photo opportunity.
The straps we recommend are the ones you use as a harness, that allows you to carry one or two cameras. Some of these can be easily modified to work as a single camera strap or a dual camera strap and the camera is securely attached to the harness and the harness don’t risk sliding of your shoulder and on to the ground. Again, asking other photographers who uses these types of harnesses will help you find the right strap for your needs. For both the camera bag and camera strap, we don’t endorse any specific brand or model, as we want you to do the research and form your own opinion on what’s best for you and your needs.
Quasimodo
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swedish air force saab 39C gripen - photographer: jörgen nilsson - jn-photo.se Canon EOS 5D Mark III - Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS + 1.4x (700.0 mm) - f/6.3 - 1/1600 - ISO 200
Fa s t & Lo w A c t i o n P h o t o g r a py S w e d e n H B Publishers:
Jörgen Nilsson Peter Eliasson
E-mail: 38E - m a i l :
jnproduction@bredband.net peter.eliasson@e-pic.se
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