Toronto Photography Meetup Group

The traditional end of summer ritual, the CNE airshow.

XSi body, Sigma 300mm f4 Apo Tele-Macro












Home Sweet Home
XSi body, Takumar 55mm f1.8 S-M-C

Some here

they are all very nice shots but the 1st and 2nd ones make me just sit back in awe...

very impressive

Did you touch up that 2nd one at all?

very nice, I missed it yet again, but then again... I wouldn't trade the tranquility of Haliburton Forest for the air show.

What lens is this? I think I have the same one for Minolta mount. I think the Henry's outlet store has one too, but won't work on digital Canon bodies.

I'm trying to figure out what the heck it's worth.

Great show this year...

[img]<a%20href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/urban_jungle/3891474629/"%20title="Horse%20Power%20by%20Megan%20Lorenz,%20on%20Flickr"><img%20src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2517/3891474629_5edeac0945.jpg"%20width="500"%20height="333"%20alt="Horse%20Power"></a>[/img]

No touchup, those lovely vapour trails are caused by the air being very humid above the lake, something you don't see in airshow pics in dryer conditions.

Yes the Canon mount ones all have incompatible electronics with current EOS bodies, that's why mine in a Nikon mount that I'm using as a manual focus lens with my XSi body.

It's a deadly sharp lens. You can find my review at the manual focus forum as well as a image of what the lens looks like:
http://forum.manualfocus.org/viewtopic.php?id=2075

It's close focusing as well as tele capabilities are excellent and it's bokeh is superb.

(closest focusing distance, uncropped) EOS 20D body


lady liberty, EOS 20D body

I can see some shadow/highlights work, possible use of the "Clarity" slider in Lightroom... Might've even done a bit of work to even out the sky's tone judging from the pixelation on the leading edge of the upper wing...

You use a manual focus lens to shoot an air show! Congrats on some great captures.

Nope, dead wrong.
From Camera RAW into Photoshop CS3, adjust levels, done.

100% crop, without level adjustment


with levels adjusted, final image - no touch up work on vapour trails or sky or plane

Hey paolo, try a simple levels adjustment, it can make a world of difference to your excellent compositions.

Yup, that's the lens I have in Minolta mount. I'm looking at selling it actually (my 300/2.8 kinda trumps it), but don't have a clue what to list it at.

It's predecessor, the Apo one with the wide front section and skinny body is junk and typically goes for about $125. I would say the Apo Tele-Macro should go for $250 to $350 range (US).

I figure those amounts are dependent on the mount. I'm assuming you're talking about the Nikon variant. The Canon is probably worth less due to the incompatibilities with Canon digital bodies, and the Minolta is probably worth a bit more on account of rarity, and the fact it will work with AF.

There was discussions a few months ago on the minolta forum dyxum.com about someone who managed to DIY rechip a Sigma lens that Sigma itself said could not be rechipped. Unfortunately, the process for Canon is a lot more complex as the AF and and Aperture control also come from the chip, and so is probably impossible in that case.

http://www.dyxum.com/dforum/topic36591&OB=DESC.html

Sandeep like this?

you're my hero for being all manual on those

Great job!

Those vapour trails are definitely something else

Kudos!

What can I say, I'm a manual focus freak and I like pain.

Much better paolo, you could probably do a bit more if you wanted to get the greyishness out of the sky. Also since both the planes and sky are blue, applying a slight blue filter may help as well. Just experiment.

i agree with you on the manual as well... yet I still have an AF confirm on my adapter

something about focusing it feels more real to me.. but it all depends on the style I guess

I have no idea as to the situation of non-Pentax mount. Your camera should still be snapping whether the focus is confirmed or not. What you see is what you get in the case of manual focus. And if I get OOF image, I try to upgrade my skill ( not my gear) resulting in a lot less aggravation.

Daniel



Pain / gain ratio?

It was an awesome show this year ... and being in the right location made it even better

Nice shots Itsaphoto, love those afterburners.

Where is the best location in your view?

I was at Ontario Place at the lake by the helicopter rides.

I think it depends on what you want.

If you want to see the maneuvers, ideal spot would be where the fireboat is probably in front of you since the fireboat is used as a marker for the pilots to indicate where the centre of their airspace is for the show.

Though this year I decided to try something different and near the Humber Bay Park by the water, one or two of the Snowbird of Blue Angels would fly over your head really close, closer than anything that flew over the roof of Atlantis. But don't count on seeing anything else up close from this spot.

Thanks Sandeep, I love them too ... I just don't always get to see them till I view them in the images.

As far as best location, for me in previous years ... I've been just west of Sunnyside park in past years. I was content with the jets requiring all that room to maneuver but was nohwere near the action. This year, I decided to get my butt outta bed early and head down the location noted on this site, which is at the lake by Aquatic Drive. For all non-jet aircraft, its the best location. I did sit with 2 cameras, and 70-200mm on full frame was my shortest lens. I did miss out on a couple of shots because it wasn't wide enough, but I'd choose that location again next year.

wow, these are amazing close ups!

Rather than facing the lake and having lousy lighting with the sun being behind the planes, what is the best location in the opposite direction (facing the city) where the planes would be close as they make their turns to head back to the lake. This would allow shots where the sun would be shining on the planes, so you would get lots of details and colours on the planes themselves.

Humber bay park, or throughout the lakefront bike trail - beach areas, that is West of Toronto, close to High Park. At Humber bay there is also an island which offers an amazing view of city skyline, the planes usually fly over it too. Take 501 streetcar on Queen, get off at Humber loop or next stop on lakeshore and walk towards the lake

the sun will either be on your right or behind you, depending on location and time of day

On a boat.... assuming you don't get motion sickness.

I shot from the deck of a sailboat in Humber Bay.
Lots of fun trying to pan with a 600mm while
bobbing up and down. Wore my life jacket
in case I got dizzy

Tim