Mini Photo Survey ... if I May ...

[shamrock838]

Greetings,

Would any of you spotting pros out there be agreeable to divulging: (a) what brand and model camera ... and (b) what brand and model tele lenses ... you use for aircraft spotting?

Any other ancilliary equipment as well ... or is this generally what you take afield? Thanks.

Mike (shamrock838)

[Jonesbeach]

I use a Canon Rebel XT (350D) and my spotting lens is a Canon 70-200mm F4 L. There are times I wish I had more reach, but for most uses it works well enough.

Steve

[T-Bird76]

I have the following

Bodies
Canon 30D
Canon 300D

Lenses
Canon L 100-400
Canon 17-85 EFS
Canon 50mm prime
Sigma 18-125mm

[mirrodie]

I use a:

Canon 20 D with the attached battery grip (recommended by my good friends here and I love it)

Canon 100-400 IS for spotting
Canon 17-85 IS for spotting and general use.
Tamrac Backpack
my tools, so I have them. ;)

[MarkLawrence]

Nikon D50 body

Nikon 35mm-75mm
Quantarray 100mm-300mm zoom

[pgengler]

Camera:
Canon 30D
(formerly)Canon Digital Rebel

Lenses:
Canon 100-300mm f/4-5.6
Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 (w/ Sigma 2x teleconverter)


If I'm going to be shooting planes on the ground where I can get up close, I bring out the Canon 24-70mm f/2.8 or my brand-new Canon 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5. For a month I had rented the Canon 100-400 and used that; I definitely need to pick one of those up as I think the IQ is better than the 70-200+2xTC, and I was surprised at how often I would end up shooting at 100 (where the 70-200/2x combo would have left me with 140mm at the wide end).

Other (photography) equipment that comes is pretty minimal; spare batteries and CF cards, mainly.

[lijk604]

Camera:
Canon Digital Rebel XTi (400D)

Lenses:
Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8
Canon 50mm f/1.8
Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 (w/Canon 1.4x teleconverter)
Sigma 170-500mm f/5-6.3

[jakbar]

Nikon D200
Nikon D100

Nikon 80-400mm VR
Nikon 24-85mm
Nikon 50mm f/1.8
Sigma 12-24mm

3 1GB CF cards
20GB ImageTank (portable hard drive to which you can transfer the pictures on your CF cards)

Lowepro Compu-Trekker All-Weather camera bag

Josh

[RDU-JFK]

My eyes...I do not own a camera... :P

[hiss srq]

S6ny 100K DSLR with the 18-70 soon to be with larger lenses though.

[mirrodie]

My eyes...I do not own a camera... :P

They are the best cameras you'll ever own! Lots of times I stop looking through the viewfinder and take it all in.

[cancidas]

Nikon D70s

Nikkor 18-70mm
Nikkor 24-120mm VR
Nikkor 80-400mm VR

[Tom_Turner]

My eyes...I do not own a camera... :P

They are the best cameras you'll ever own! Lots of times I stop looking through the viewfinder and take it all in.

You said it Mario! I agree with that 100% Sometimes you just have to put the camera down and watch for awhile. :)

Tom

[nwafan20]

Canon Digital Rebel XTi (400D)
Canon 70-300 4-5.6 IS
Canon 28-105 3.5-4.5
Canon Battery Grip

That's about it for my equipment, serves me well....

But yes, your eyes are your best camera.

[nikon50bigma]

Nikon D50 + 2 batteries

Nikkor
18-55
18-200 vr
70-300 Alaskan Backup

Sigma
50-500 (BIGMA!)

[moose135]

Camera:
Canon 30D
Canon 300D

Lenses:
Canon 100-400mm L IS
Canon 70-200mm L f/2.8
Canon 28-200mm
Canon 18-55mm (kit lens)
Canon 50mm f/1.8

Other:
Canon 430EX flash
Tripod (Vanguard? nothing special)

[SoPictureThis]

Camera:

Canon 10D (...CLASSIC!)



Lens:

Canon 100-400mm IS L
Canon 75-300mm IS (hope to sell soon)
Canon 28-135mm IS
Canon 17-40mm L
Canon 15mm fisheye



Lens I hope to buy next:

1) Canon 28-70mm L
2) Canon 70-200mm L

[Winglets747]

Camera:
Nikon D80

Lenses:
Nikkor 70-200mm VR 2.8
Nikon 10.5mm fisheye
Nikon 18-55mm
I'll also likely have the TC-20E teleconverter soon

Ancillary:
Crumpler shoulder bag, soon to be replaced by a Lowepro shoulder bag (for spotting)
Crumpler laptop/camera backpack (for trips)
Standard tripod

[Mateo]

Canon Digital Rebel XTi (400D)
Canon 75-300mm 4-5.6 USM II
Canon 28-105mm 3.5-4.5 USM
Canon 20mm 2.8 USM

Lowepro Nova 2 bag (starting to fall apart)
Canon RC-1 remote
Bogen/Manfrotto 3265 tripod head on the 3021 legs

Also kicking around are my Canon Elan IIe body and a Minolta SRT-201 body that takes a Minolta 50mm/1.4, Vivitar 80-200mm, and Vivitar 500mm/8.3.