Our annual Air Show is this weekend, and the Thunderbirds are flying about this afternoon practicing. Seemed like a perfect opportunity to try out some manual shooting with an old 2X TC that came along with the wife <mumble> years ago...

K100D, Zykkor 2X TC, Promaster 70-300. Everything in manual given the age of the TC (all I know is it's before 1983...), SR on, handheld shots. This was, unfortunately, the only one that turned out reasonably in-focus :-(

More practice coming - our house is right under the flight paths!

Jim

[iced]

Great shot for a handheld. Look forward to seeing some shots after the air show.

[cupic]

Would this shot above be clearer with a mono pod or tripod

cheers

[ftpaddict]

Would this shot above be clearer with a mono pod or tripod

cheers

I doubt it since the teleconverter degrades a lot of the picture quality.

[RoxnDox]

Would this shot above be clearer with a mono pod or tripod

cheers

Possibly, but the speeds they were moving at would have made it even more challenging to track...

Besides, given the glassware I had attached, I'd be surprised to get any better quality than this. The lens is my Promaster 70-300, and it gets a bit soft at max length. Stack it atop an old 2X TC from a manufacturer so obscure that even Google knows nothing about it, and I am pleased just to get this good.

Anybody ever hear of a "Zykkor" TC? It came with the wife, and dates back to sometime earlier than 1983, and that is all I know about it. I have tried numerous combinations of terms in searching for information about this thing, but my Google-fu has yet to succeed...

Jim

[ChrisA]

You might compare the lens with and without the TC. All my experience of teleconverters has been very disappointing - even with the extra enlargement, I've had better results without it.

I bought a DA 55-300 for a recent airshow. For a consumer zoom, it's excellent - much better than the FAJ 75-300 or the FA 80-320.

Here are a few examples:

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t244/chris5gd/Aviation/Farnborough%202008/IMGP0146.jpg

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t244/chris5gd/Aviation/Farnborough%202008/IMGP1211.jpg

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t244/chris5gd/Aviation/Farnborough%202008/IMGP0188.jpg

This one is a 100% crop, so as you can see, it doesn't lack for sharpness:

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t244/chris5gd/Aviation/Farnborough%202008/IMGP0652-cr1.jpg

AF-C, and auto-AF-point selection.

HTH.

[RoxnDox]

You might compare the lens with and without the TC. All my experience of teleconverters has been very disappointing - even with the extra enlargement, I've had better results without it.

I bought a DA 55-300 for a recent airshow. For a consumer zoom, it's excellent - much better than the FAJ 75-300 or the FA 80-320.

Here are a few examples:

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t244/chris5gd/Aviation/Farnborough%202008/IMGP0146.jpg

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t244/chris5gd/Aviation/Farnborough%202008/IMGP1211.jpg

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t244/chris5gd/Aviation/Farnborough%202008/IMGP0188.jpg

This one is a 100% crop, so as you can see, it doesn't lack for sharpness:

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t244/chris5gd/Aviation/Farnborough%202008/IMGP0652-cr1.jpg

AF-C, and auto-AF-point selection.

HTH.

Nice shots. I don't normally use the TC, was just playing around with it really. For the actual airshow I try to find a good hillside vantage point near the base and just use the zoom alone. This was just to see what I could get, plus I didn't have the time to go drive to a better location. The flight path was at least a mile away at closest from the house.

I'd like to spend my money on a good TC and be able to retain AF/AE capability, but the budget just doesn't allow that

Jim

[Nowhere Matt]

ChrisA the shot of the Navy F-18 is a great one. The passenger airliner is nice and sharp and the vantage point seems really high. Where were you standing when you got that shot? The clouds look so low yet contrast is there.
We will have our annual air show in two weeks which will feature the Thunderbirds this time as well and I look forward to taking my son and getting some shots as well. The last time I saw an airshow was I think 2002. We were fortunate to get on the roof of a ten or twelve story building with the Blue Angels screaming over us. And I do mean barely. Maybe a little too close; the movement was so quick and I was so excited.
That was the ZX-50 then. Now it will be the K10, patience and hopefully experience. I will not be standing on a rooftop this time however but my son will be with me.

[ChrisA]

ChrisA the shot of the Navy F-18 is a great one. The passenger airliner is nice and sharp and the vantage point seems really high. Where were you standing when you got that shot? The clouds look so low yet contrast is there.

Thanks. I took all these photos, and these too, from the front of the crowd line (which meant getting there five hours before the start of the display ). Almost all of them were with the 55-300 on the K10D. A couple were with a Sigma A-400 F5.6.

Providing there are no ground features included in the shot, the illusion of a high vantage point is not difficult to achieve.