Even more airshow pictures, with a question

[scoami]

I see everyone's airshow pics here and I'm a little hesitant to post mine. What can I do different to get sharper pictures of the planes in flight? Different focus settings, different exposure settings, better lens/camera?(Nikon D70 w/ Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 VR) I don't know off hand any of the EXIF data, or how to find it once the pictures have been uploaded to a host. I'll post a few examples. The static displays are pretty good, I think. But once the planes took off, not so much. I appreciate any input or help. Thanks.

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[Daniel Bates]

The 70-200 f/2.8 VR is a great lens, and the D70 is a good body. You're shooting at high enough shutter speeds (1/1000 to 1/8000 for the most part), so that's not an issue. I would suggest backing the aperture down to f/4 in full sunlight - your shutter speed can handle it, and shooting a little less than wide open will help the lens achieve its maximum sharpness. Finally, if you have Photoshop, try applying Unsharp Mask at 200%, 0.4 px radius, 1 px threshold (or thereabouts) and see how much sharper that gets you.

[CaptainTom]

In flight photos are under exposed.
You need to meter in manual. The camera cannot meter for a sky with a couple of relatively small objects in it.

Find some grass or something relatively color bland like grey that is lit the same way as the aircraft will be and use that reading on manual.

In camera sharpening helps, as well as post process sharpening in photoshop or lightroom.

[AndrewCCM]

I typically shoot raw and set to +2/3EV or I will shoot manual and just bump until the subject matter is correctly exposed. Angle to the sun helps too..

[Graydon]

For exif data...

If you are using Firefox go to the add-ons and get the exif viewer... great tool.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/3905

It'll add an option when you right click an image that will show exif data...

like the below... (from the last photo above)

Exif IFD0

* Camera Make = NIKON CORPORATION
* Camera Model = NIKON D70
* Picture Orientation = normal (1)
* Last Modified Date/Time = 2008:10:12 21:57:44

Exif Sub IFD

* Exposure Time (1 / Shutter Speed) = 1/800 second = 0.00125 second
* Lens F-Number/F-Stop = 71/10 = F7.1
* ISO Speed Ratings = 200
* Original Date/Time = 2008:10:12 15:39:46
* Shutter Speed Value (APEX) = 9643856/1000000
Shutter Speed (Exposure Time) = 1/800 second
* Aperture Value (APEX) = 5655638/1000000
Aperture = F7.1
* Flash = Flash did not fire
* Focal Length = 200/1 mm = 200 mm
* Image Width = 2242 pixels
* Image Height = 1495 pixels

[scoami]

Thanks for all the information. Guess I'll have to wait until next year to try another airshow. Or maybe go to DFW airport. I heard the spot at JRB in Fort Worth is no longer there. Is this true?