Canon 10-22mm

[Chris102]

Hey guys,

I want to get a shot like this of Air Force One when it's in town next week, and I was hoping someone could help me figure out if the Canon 10-22mm would be wide enough on my Canon XT.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ltcdan/413103217/

Thanks!

[steve1840]

Chris,

Any lens will be wide enough if you give yourself enough room. How much space do you have? How close will you actually be to Airforce One?

[moose135]

How close to you plan to get to the airplane, Chris? I shot this from about 350 feet away, at 28mm on a 40D (same crop factor as your XT)

http://www.moose135photography.com/Airplanes/Airliners-and-Airport-Spotting/Kennedy-Airport/JM20090425JA8918JALB747002/522881043_cpG6m-L.jpg

[steve1840]

Not to get off topic, but where was that shot at Moose? LAX?

[moose135]

That was JFK, Steve.

[Chris102]

Thanks for the replies--I'm going to estimate I'll be about 200-250ft. back. Here's the perspective from a point and shoot:

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g117/Chris102/af1.jpg

Moose--They usually park on the taxiway at AVP in between the old terminal and the fire station and set the roped off area up about halfway back in the tarmac. It is relatively close but not too close.

I have the 70-200 2.8 (non-IS) and the 18-55 kit lens to use, and I'm trying to decide whether to get the stabilized 70-200 or 300 or the 10-22 for the day--I can only afford to rent/buy one. I want sharp closeups but I also want to get a shot like that one I found on Flickr, and I'm afraid that with my kit lens I'd be at 18mm with the aircraft not fully in frame and with a load of barrel distortion. And I know if I go with an unstabilized lens I'll end up with shaky pictures.

[gonzalu]

Your 10-22mm can get you VERY close and VERY wide shots... While I never had a 10mm for my crop sensor, the 14-24mm on Full Frame covers about the same field of view from a longer distance but it gives you an idea of what you can achieve...

For reference, the wingtip was anywhere from 3 feet to 5 feet away from my position. I basically stood where the wingtip would be if it was touching the ground and I simply pointed up a bit.

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here is 24-70mm on full frame.

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One more 14-24mm ... standing directly below the open nose

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[Cary]

This is a tool I like to use when figuring out this stuff:
Dimensional Field of View Calculator
http://www.tawbaware.com/maxlyons/calc.htm

It looks like the 10-22mm would be a good choice, given that distance. You can borrow mine if you take me with you :tongue:

[gonzalu]

Speaking of, I like this one because you can actually see and measure where you need to be for a given focal length and sensor type etc.

http://zknives.com/dp/dofcalc.shtml

needs Java

[Mateo]

You can probably math this one out. You know how big a 747-200 is and you know how far away you'll be. Some geometry will tell you how many degrees it will cover in your field of vision, and then you can go and match that with Canon's lens specs to determine exactly what you'll need.

[threeholerglory]

get the 300 and make a gigapan...or take Cary's advice...and to make it more workable, take me too and we can share my 10-22 :smile:

[Zee71]

You can always take a few photos as well and then stitch them.

[Chris102]

Thanks for all the comments!

I ended up renting both the 10-22 and 100-400, and I'm pretty excited about using both.

One more question--would I be better off using the shutter priority or aperture priority mode on my camera? I've always used the Program mode and just recently started venturing into other modes, so I'm still not completely comfortable with Tv and Av.

[NIKV69]

No reason to every Shutter Priority. If you're shooting normal stuff in good light use Aperture Priority. Once you get your feet wet and learn a bit and want to experiment with different shutter speeds just use Manual and pick what you want.

[moose135]

There are a lot of good reasons to use Shutter Priority, but yes, for a static aircraft, in good light, I'd use Aperture Priority, probably f/7.1, and make sure your shutter speed is reasonable.

[Chris102]

Thanks Moose! But for takeoff and landing, should I use Tv then? And what about focusing mode--one shot or AI Servo?

[moose135]

No, if you have decent light, Av mode should be fine. Watch your shutter speed, and bump up the ISO if needed. Don't forget the rule for zoom vs. shutter speed - you want your shutter speed to be at least the inverse of your zoom length. For example, at 300mm, you want 1/320 or faster. I always use AI Servo, that will let the focus track as the aircraft moves.