a question for anyone who can help about shutter speeds when taking pics on a plane

[paul_taylor14]

hey everyone,

 

im going to san diego in a couple days and i'd like to take some pictures through the window on the plane. obviously the plane is traveling

extremely fast and im unsure of what speed the shutter should be set at. im shooting with a canon rebel g, 55mm, 28-80mm, f3.5-5.6. i

also have a telephoto 58mm, 75-300mm, f4-5.6. which lens would be better and what speed? any help, much appreciated.

[bobatkins]

At altitude, you're so far up that the speed of the aircraft won't blur your images of the ground at normal shutter speeds. Just set the camera on "auto" and maybe pick ISO 400 and you should be just fine.

 

You shouldn't be using any electronic camera during takeoff and landing, so speed close to the ground shouldn't be an issue. Cameras are on the list with computers, video games, cell phones etc. as devices which might cause interference with aircraft control and which have to be turned off during takeoff and landing.

[Craig_Cooper11664875449]

Assuming youre not in turbulent weather, anything that you're likely to want to photograph within 5 minutes of

take-off or landing will, for all intent and purpose, appear stationary for the duration of any hand held shot.

Just use you 1/focal-length as a starting point for shutter speed; any increase of a stop or more can only be a

benefit to combat any aircraft vibrations.

 

For ground shots just manual focus set at infinity and chose a suitable aperture that will give you a

satisfactory shutter speed (previous paragraph). As for which lens, its a trade off. Youre a long way away from

what youre shooting so a longer lens would help, but now think about what you can actually hand hold at

particular shutter speeds. Finally, just be aware that nothing shot through an aircraft window will be fantastic

...but it can be ok.

[cabbiinc]

According to this website you should shoot at 3 times the reciprical of your focal lenth. http://www.fredparker.com/ultexp1.htm#tricky This assumes that the vibration of the plane is fealt readily through your seat, in turn vibrating you and your camera. The last time I was on a flight it didnt seem that shakey though and you can probably use the 1/focal length method effectively. I didnt bother taking any shots in the plane though, I just didnt see anything worth taking a pic of.

 

Dan

[andrew_gale]

I saw my house once, on a flight from BOS to LAX. Took some great pictures with the ISO100 film that was in my camera already. Shake wasnt really a problem. I just used speeds similar to normal handheld shots. All but one came out sharp and clear.

[michael_dimarzio]

Hopefully you'll get to see a good sunset/rise over the wing, with nice clouds.

 

As you won't have a stable platform, definitly up your shutter speed, but you may not see a great difference!

 

Happy travels-md

[sallymack]

Hi, Paul, I frequently take pictures from a bus, can't shoot at less than 1/500 sec (35mm film camera, 50mm lens). A polarizing

filter may help reduce glare on the plastic windows. Have fun.

[catherinevankempen]

Hi Paul,

I'm a flight attendant so this question was right up my alley - or aisle as the case me be ... sorry about that, I just couldnt help it :). I've taken my fair share of airplane window pictures. As has already been pointed out the shutter speeds won't make a difference. Depending on what plane your on and your seat you can sometimes get some really cool shots of the reflection of the plane in the engines, very cool. Also the wings can be very interesting compositional elements and also pretty cool in and of themselves. Depending on the time of day you can sometimes get really cool sunset/sunrise pictures. One thing is to make sure you dont get your own reflection in the window, unless that is what you want of course. This will happen if you shoot straight on the window, but if you shoot at an angle that can usually be solved. Also, if its dark outside and the cabin lights are on you won't be able to do much, but they should be off for a while after take off and before landing. About the comment concerning not being allowed to use cameras during t/o and landing ... well, I personally have never told anyone or heard anyone being told by one of my colleagues, to turn off their camera. Laptops, ipods, dvd players, ... yes, cameras, no. Technically it isn't allowed but ... you get the picture. Just make sure you have only have your camera in your lap or hands since they probably will call you out if you have a huge camera bag that isn't stowed. Have fun with this but as someone else mentioned, airplane window pictures are fun but art they usually are not. Good luck and happy travels, Catherine

[phule]

[[A polarizing filter may help reduce glare on the plastic windows. Have fun.]]

 

A polarizing filter will not only not help reduce glare when shooting through airplane windows but it will introduce a pronounced rainbow affect in your images.

 

http://atmospherical.blogspot.com/2007/04/colours-in-airplane-window.html

[KenPapai]

The photo below was taken from a commercial jet shortly after take-off from Las Vegas Intl Airport.

 

Lens: 24-70 at 70mm, ISO 200, 1/500, f/9.6 (Canon EOS 10D). The shot was from the early afternoon in July.<div></div>

[berk_sirman2]

100ASA is more than enough for taking pics from the airplane window. Actually the slower film the better results you may get. You are shooting through the window(s) so if you have to stop down the lens too much, the dirt or water droplets on the glass may show a little. This especially holds when using wide angle lenses. When you are up there on a sunny day, you need to stop down further than f/11 with 400 ASA film at 1/1000 sec, which is the fastest my cameras can handle. It is alot of DOF. 100ASA film gives you a much better f/5,6 or f/8. Of course if you have a camera that can do 1/8000sec. you are fine with any film.

[frank uhlig]

Do you know how fast the earth spins around the sun? At 100,000s of miles per hour ... And yet we can expose stuff on earth at 1/focal length

sec speed. The absolute speed has no bearing on motion blur. Since you will be up 10 km or such, you can expose for the ground at

anywhere from 1/focal length sec and be successful.

 

What will get you are the little bumps you will feel and which will make the camera shake a bit, depending on the turbulences you are in, so

decrease the shutter speed accordingly . And a normal field of view lens generally works best, WITHOUT any polarizer ...