How fast of a shutter speed do you need for jets? (Canon, DSLR)

[Brill]

When photography jets(BLue Angels, Thunderbirds, etc) How fast of a shutter speed do you really need? I cam across a blog post from another photographer where he did: " I shoot with an ISO high enough to get a really fast shutter speed. I think I was ISO 640, 1/3200 @ f/5.6 today."

I typically go 1/1000, will go faster if the light allows it, but I wouldn't turn my ISO up to go faster. Is there a noticeable difference between 1/1000 or 1/3200?

[EscapeCalifornia]

1/3200' ??? Exactly how close and how fast are these jets?

[PA2UK]

Are you sure you (or the photographer) aren't reversing those numbers? I know on my camera, ISO 640 is not an option but it is a shutter speed option. Sounds more like it's ISO 3200 and a shutter speed of 1/640. Besides, an ISO around 640 wouldn't be that bad anyway... unless you or the photographer meant ISO 6400, which I think would be unnecessary and not very pretty.

[Poncho_NM]

Depends. If you can pan real well you could get by with 1/100th shutter speed. Yes....


Rich

[EscapeCalifornia]

Originally Posted by PA2UK

Are you sure you (or the photographer) aren't reversing those numbers? I know on my camera, ISO 640 is not an option but it is a shutter speed option. Sounds more like it's ISO 3200 and a shutter speed of 1/640. Besides, an ISO around 640 wouldn't be that bad anyway... unless you or the photographer meant ISO 6400, which I think would be unnecessary and not very pretty.

ISO640 is 1/3 stop slower than ISO800 on my Canon.

It does seem odd to me that he'd use fractional ISO and shutter speed at the same time. I like to keep things simple and use whole stop whenever possible when shooting manual but maybe that's just me.

[Brill]

Originally Posted by PA2UK

Are you sure you (or the photographer) aren't reversing those numbers? I know on my camera, ISO 640 is not an option but it is a shutter speed option. Sounds more like it's ISO 3200 and a shutter speed of 1/640. Besides, an ISO around 640 wouldn't be that bad anyway... unless you or the photographer meant ISO 6400, which I think would be unnecessary and not very pretty.

I don't think he got them mixed up. My camera(canon 40d) does have an ISO 640 option. The shots he took were in the middle of a bright sunny day. ISO 3200 was not needed. I was really just wondering if there is a noticeable difference once you go faster than 1/1000 on the shutter speed.

[PA2UK]

It may depend how fast the jet is going and how close it is to you and what style you're going for. As mentioned, if you're panning, you could go much slower than 1/1000. Best way to find out is do some real world tests.

[Wayneb]

I always used ISO 100 if it was sunny and around 1/1000th of a second should be fine, for prop engine planes I used about 1/250th so the prop would show blur. If you shoot up into the sky where you can't see anything else you will not notice any difference between 1/1000th and 1/3200th. If you do panning shots where the jets are flying low and you can see mountains or something in the background the higher shutter speed will freeze everything, in this case I would try slowing the shutter speed to get a good background blur and a sense of speed.

The nice thing about digital is you don't have to wait to see what works well for you, I used to bring a laptop to view photos on, some of the newer DSLRs have pretty good displays on them now.

[RayinAK]

Originally Posted by PA2UK

Are you sure you (or the photographer) aren't reversing those numbers? I know on my camera, ISO 640 is not an option but it is a shutter speed option. Sounds more like it's ISO 3200 and a shutter speed of 1/640. Besides, an ISO around 640 wouldn't be that bad anyway... unless you or the photographer meant ISO 6400, which I think would be unnecessary and not very pretty.

ISO numbers depend on the camera. For example, I can use 640 on mine.

[RayinAK]

Originally Posted by Brill

I don't think he got them mixed up. My camera(canon 40d) does have an ISO 640 option. The shots he took were in the middle of a bright sunny day. ISO 3200 was not needed. I was really just wondering if there is a noticeable difference once you go faster than 1/1000 on the shutter speed.

Just set your 40D to:
Av
Servo
Center focus (the middle square in the frame)
Burst
Auto ISO

Also, change the WB to the correct setting (daylight, shade, etc.), and then save the settings to C1, or C2, or C3.

Control the lens aperture as you want by pressing the shutter button half-way, and then turning the dial next to the shooter button. You will see the lens aperture changing in the viewfinder.

Point the camera at the subject you want in focus, press and hold the shutter button half-way, and the camera will lock and maintain focus if the subject is moving toward or away from you. Press the shutter button all the way for a burst of photos.

Several subjects: With all the focus points activated, the center one has priority, but all depends on the subject that has the most contrast. In this case, the subject that has the most contrast will be the point the camera will focus on. But if you want a specific subject (one from the group) to be in focus, you can use the center focus point.

If you want all the subjects in focus, you still can use all the points, but depending on how far from the subjects you are, you may have to change the lens aperture to deepen or narrow depth-of-field. It takes practice, so don't expect a lot of photos in focus right away. That comes with practice.

Which lens are you using?