Hi everyone, I think it time for another post!
With budget very much in mind I settled on a Sigma 150-500mm. I found it very useful for motorsport though maybe a bit big in overall size but excellent for aircraft.
For the next few years I was as happy as could be! The new lens got me as near to the action as I needed to be weather it was cars, bikes or planes and all was well...... or so I thought! The problem is with photography we always want to be doing that bit better than we were. So I had a chat with the man in my local camera shop, this is always a wise move especially as in my case I found out he learnt his craft as a photographer in the RAF!!! On his advice I purchased a Canon 70-200 f2.8 and a 2x teleconverter. Now at this point I must say I never found the Sigma lens lacking in any way but the image quality from the Canon lens was amazing!! The 70-200 works very well with motorsport with the teleconverter as a handy backup when needed. But put the two together and very good airshow images are possible as well.
The following year (2016) I finally got round to trying something I had been considering for a long time..... hiring a lens! I desperately still wanted to get closer to the planes at airshows so I took the plunge and hired a Canon 500mm lens from my local Calumet. What an experience! It certainly gets you closer to the action! It is a beast of a lens for sure and takes the most amazing pictures but it is big and after eight hours of shooting at an airshow gets to be heavy as well! The other thing is you can't help but think of how much it is worth! I won't deny a sigh of relief as I handed it back! But I was hooked now and since then I have hired it twice more and will continue to do so.
While I was in the store one day a chance comment led to me making a very serious investment, I had longed to make the next big step and go full frame but there was no way I had that kind of budget. The lower priced full frame Canons couldn't match the frames per second I wanted and a 1DX was seriously beyond my budget and wildest dreams...........or was it? In simple terms the store manager said she could get me a 1DX that had been recently traded in through the London store with a gaurantee at a price that I could just afford. One big deep breath later and the deal was done. Was it a good investment? Answer yes without any doubt whatsoever. It is a big camera and has a fair weight to it but the results are seriously good. If you want a camera you can blend into the background with this isn't what you are looking for but for anything else it is the tool for the job.
I think thats enough for now. Next time I will stop wittering on and post some pictures.
Thank you for taking the time to read my post.
So at the end of my last post I had moved up to A3 printing, started getting serious with Photoshop elements and was the proud owner of two mk1 EOS7's. Where to from here? As I mentioned in a previous post my aviation photography was becoming bigger than my motorsport but I was still shooting race events where possible. With two excellent camera bodies to work with my thoughts turned to lenses, but which to go with?
My main motorsport interest is hillclimbing and sprinting, one car at a time against the clock. As an ex competitor myself I have an insight into how an event works and the best places to be to get a decent picture. For the majority of images something between 35-300mm is ideal however for an airshow or in the valleys of Wales being able to go out to 500 or even 600mm is much better.With budget very much in mind I settled on a Sigma 150-500mm. I found it very useful for motorsport though maybe a bit big in overall size but excellent for aircraft.
For the next few years I was as happy as could be! The new lens got me as near to the action as I needed to be weather it was cars, bikes or planes and all was well...... or so I thought! The problem is with photography we always want to be doing that bit better than we were. So I had a chat with the man in my local camera shop, this is always a wise move especially as in my case I found out he learnt his craft as a photographer in the RAF!!! On his advice I purchased a Canon 70-200 f2.8 and a 2x teleconverter. Now at this point I must say I never found the Sigma lens lacking in any way but the image quality from the Canon lens was amazing!! The 70-200 works very well with motorsport with the teleconverter as a handy backup when needed. But put the two together and very good airshow images are possible as well.
The following year (2016) I finally got round to trying something I had been considering for a long time..... hiring a lens! I desperately still wanted to get closer to the planes at airshows so I took the plunge and hired a Canon 500mm lens from my local Calumet. What an experience! It certainly gets you closer to the action! It is a beast of a lens for sure and takes the most amazing pictures but it is big and after eight hours of shooting at an airshow gets to be heavy as well! The other thing is you can't help but think of how much it is worth! I won't deny a sigh of relief as I handed it back! But I was hooked now and since then I have hired it twice more and will continue to do so.
While I was in the store one day a chance comment led to me making a very serious investment, I had longed to make the next big step and go full frame but there was no way I had that kind of budget. The lower priced full frame Canons couldn't match the frames per second I wanted and a 1DX was seriously beyond my budget and wildest dreams...........or was it? In simple terms the store manager said she could get me a 1DX that had been recently traded in through the London store with a gaurantee at a price that I could just afford. One big deep breath later and the deal was done. Was it a good investment? Answer yes without any doubt whatsoever. It is a big camera and has a fair weight to it but the results are seriously good. If you want a camera you can blend into the background with this isn't what you are looking for but for anything else it is the tool for the job.
I think thats enough for now. Next time I will stop wittering on and post some pictures.
Thank you for taking the time to read my post.
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