Manual-focus lenses for in-flight work

How successfully can one expect to be at shooting in-flight shots with manual focus lenses?? My two main subjects will be birds and aircraft. I presently have a Tamron 400/4 with the 1.4x and 2x converters and it's a beautiful lens, but I'm finding that my reaction time for focusing is still not what I'd like it to be. My results from the last air show were about 50:50 sharp to soft. At the time, I was shooting without glasses (20:30 in my focusing eye) and have since gotten glasses that correct to nearly 20:10, but I don't know if this'll be enough.<p>

 

Is there a tried and true technique that I need to be aware of?? Do I just need more practice?? Or is shooting this stuff without the benefit of AF just pure folly??

 

Thanx in advance for any help!!!

 

BTW, I use an N90s.

I'm pretty certain that the percentage of sharp shots with AF will

be a lot higher than with AF. The tried and true method for MF

seems to be to prefocus on a spot, then shoot (with slight

anticipation) just as the subject gets to the spot (anticipation

is needed to acount for the shutter delay). Of course you only

get one shot that way. With tracking predictive AF you can fire

off motor bursts ans still get most of the shots in focus (if

you can keep the AF zone on the subject of course!).

 

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I think the bottom line is that AF will win just about every time

for this application.

I am a full time shooter who does a lot of wildlife. Living near the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge does help. I shoot flight shots regularly using a 600 f/4 Nikkor , often with the 1.4 converter. In flight work does work well with the pre-focus and wait for the bird to fly into the zone. I also follow focus with a lot of success.

One thing that helps a lot is knowing the flight patterns of the birds you are trying to shoot. Is it erratic, smooth, sharp turns, etc. Observing the subject makes for much more success. Predictive autofocus is almost worthless with the seemingly haphazard flight patterns of some species. It works best with those that are somewhat predictable. You notice all the autofocus testing is done with subjects that are generally going in one direction, not the unpredictable patterns such as a marsh wren makes, or even the ariel acrobatics of pintails in courtship flight.

If you want to get good at the follow focus technique, go to the local park and shoot kids soccer, little league football or baseball. Really fill the frame with the subject and keep the eyes in sharp focus.

Practice makes perfect. The payoff is in the ability to not only keep the subject pretty much in focus as you follow it around, but in the improved ability to frame the subject the way you want while shooting the actiion. One major drawback to many(not all) AF cameras is the 'bullseye' syndrome. You have to have the subject in the center to get the AF to work. If you practice technique in a controlled way on kids, the pet dog, etc., you will be able to focus with the subject coming into the frame, shooting verticals, etc.

With a small lens like your Tamron, try a gunstock. If you really want to see how to use it, watch some very good trap shooters. They pan & lead the clay targets and are very smooth in their moves. The same panning & smoothness works for in flight work. With some work, you can get the birds & planes with slow shutter speeds that will help convey motion of the subject in relation to the background.

The focus screen is a big part of your success(at least for me). I find the clear or clear w/grid screens work best. Your big plus with your N90S is the 'in focus spot' in the bottom of the viewfinder. I use F3's & FM2's, but have recently tried a friends N90s, and that in focus spot is easy to spot while concentrating on the flying subject.

Does this stuff really work? Yes, it does. Look at SI with the action sports, and the sidelined of any NFL game and you will see the techniques in action.

Pracatice a lot. With some species, 50% is a really good success rate. Good luck

I've had good success with both the Noviflex follow-focus lenses and with the Leica 400 f/6.8. Both lenses use a non-traditional sliding focus mechanism and are supplied with a shoulder stock. The Noviflex is available with a number of camera mount adapters but the Leica lens must be modified to use it on anything except a Leica.