Super Fast Frame Rate

Leave a Reply

One of the features that was added to the Canon EOS R3 via a firmware update was a ridiculously high frame rate mode.  The fastest frame rate in normal shooting is 30fps (which is clearly ridiculous itself for anyone that has been photographing for a long time).  The extra mode comes with limitations.  Once you start shooting, autofocus and exposure monitoring are suspended so you get a lot of shots with the same settings.  However, this does allow you to get 194fps!!!  Yes, that is not a typo.  It will only do this for a maximum of 50 frames but that is raw capture – not a jpeg.  You get to select how many frames are taken which I have to admit I didn’t realize until recently.  I was shooting with a limit of 10 frames for quite a while and wondering why.  I’ve fixed that now.

There are relatively few times when this mode is actually useful.  The viewfinder does black out when you use it so, if you are tracking something, a little bit of predictive guesswork is in order.  If you were shooting a baseball pitch being hit, this could be pretty handy.  I decided to use it on the Blue Angels pair crossing during Seafair to see how things work out.  The answer is pretty good.  I include a sequence of shots so you can see what even this frame rate gives you for two fast jets head on to each other.  A limited tool but one that could be utilized.  I have also been using it for very lower shutter speed experimentation but that will be another post.

Swallows Over the Grassland

Leave a Reply

These shots are not going to win any awards but they are an example of trying a lot of goes to maybe get something that works.  While waiting for the arrival of some interesting jets, I was standing near some grassland south of Tacoma.  The sun was out and I guess that there were plenty of bugs in the air.  This had attracted a lot of swallows.  I love watching swallows fly because they are so fast and agile.  They are amazing aviators.  I never see the bugs that they are catching but clearly they know what they are up to.  Of course, the targeting of the bugs means that they are always changing course.  Since they are so small, a long lens is necessary but tracking a rapidly weaving small bird with a long lens is a tough call.  At least modern autofocus can give you a fighting chance of getting a shot.  Will it be razor sharp?  Probably not but here are some of the results that weren’t total failures.

My First Encounter with a Kodiak 900

Leave a Reply

We get a lot of Kodiak 100s in the Seattle area.  Both Boeing Field and Renton have them based or passing through.  With the factory across the mountains in Idaho, we aren’t that far from their origin.  Recently, Daher announced the creation of the Kodiak 900.  This is a larger airframe that has been cleaned up to improve performance.  I don’t know whether it retains the short and rough field capabilities of the 100 or not but it is still a rugged looking type.

I had not seen one until we got a visit from one at Boeing Field.  Others have been through but I had not caught them.  When I saw this one was on its way, I was looking forward to comparing it to the original aircraft.  I saw a picture of the airframe online which suggested it was plane white which was not great but you can’t have everything can you?  Well, I guess I was lucky as they had painted the aircraft up in a type of faded camo look.  They seem to be aiming it at some sort of surveillance role judging by the markings on it.  They will probably become very common before too long as have the 100s but, for now, it was a nice thing to get a chance to shoot.

A Fluffy Caterpillar

Leave a Reply

No deep insight, equipment review or technique experimentation for this one.  I was out in the back yard and a caterpillar was in the grass.  The black and orange coloration combined with the hairy coat it had just seemed like it deserved to be photographed.  A quick grab of the camera with a macro lens and a few shots and then I left it to do whatever it was doing.

Thunderbirds Show Up (As Does Their Support)

Leave a Reply

While Mark and I were in Arizona, we heard about the potential of Harriers being at El Centro.  We decided an additional leg to our trip was worth it and headed for California.  As we came up to the base after a few hours of driving, we saw something rather unanticipated over the airfield.  The USAF demonstration team, The Thunderbirds, were flying around over the field.  It turns out that they had gone to El Centro to spend some time working with the Blue Angels that were still there for winter training.

This had us worried.  If the teams were going to be flying, that would stop the other base operations, and our trip would have been futile.  Fortunately, they landed and were going to spend the afternoon on the ground talking about whatever demonstration teams talk about.  Operations would continue.  We did get one flight with a Thunderbirds call sign, though.  The C-17 that had come to support them headed off.  It had a Thunderbird call sign and did try a sporty take off and climb out.  I’m not sure whether everyone was really buying it though.

Getting Eight to Work Together

Leave a Reply

I was down by the lake at Kenmore on my usual hunt for floatplanes but things were pretty quiet – at least on the aviation front.  On the water, I saw a bunch of rowers out training.  I don’t know whether they were from the university or a local club.  Several boats were out including some eights.  The coaching staff were guiding them around but, when they get to the top of the lake, it seems like a time for them to rest and turn around.  I imagine the process of getting eight people to row in unison is quite tricky.  I don’t know whether they start on smaller boats to get the hang of things before moving up to the eight or not.  These crews seemed to be working pretty well together.

A Hot Day at Concrete

Leave a Reply

The Concrete Fly In this year was a little different.  Our friend Bob couldn’t make the trip because he was not in good shape.  Little did we know it at the time, but Bob was going downhill and would not pull out.  Knowing this now makes the visit to Concrete without him feel very different.  However, on the day, it was a lot of fun.  Plenty of interesting planes, some rather hot weather, finding spots in the shade to take it easy, watching the usual bunch of slightly awkward approaches and landings alongside plenty of perfectly normal ones.  There is nothing quite like being able to be so close to a runway while planes come and go with everyone happy to be there.  If you haven’t gone, do try and get there at some point.

This Stabilization is Amazing

Leave a Reply

Another episode in the testing of the RF 200-800 for today’s post.  This is more focused on the image stabilization in the lens.  When shooting stills, I have commented on the slightly odd jerking effects visible in the viewfinder.  I think this is most apparent when panning very slowly and I think the camera is trying to work out if you mean to stay still or not.  However, one area which is really effective at showing the capabilities of the stabilization is video.

I have some footage below that is taken with the lens at 800mm and hand held.  No tripod or monopod here.  The rabbit was at the other end of our back yard while the bees were on the lavender plants in our beds.  You can see that the image is remarkably stable.  It is amazing to see it lock on so well.  I have also shot some video of an F-35B in the hover, also at 800mm.  It was interesting to see a lot of movement in the viewfinder for a moment and then it seemed to lock in on what it was doing and then things get really solid.  This tech is most impressive.

F-15s Arriving for the Flyovers

Leave a Reply

Seattle was hosting two football games in one weekend.  The Seahawks had their season opener on Sunday and the Huskies were playing on Saturday.  The 142nd FW from Portland sent up three jets to undertake flyovers for both games.  Each flyover involved two jets so the third was a spare should one be needed.  After all, these jets aren’t young.  Indeed, with the wing taking delivery of F-15EX jets, it won’t be long before the Charlie models are gone.

They showed up at the end of the day which made it easier to be there to catch them.  Since there were three of them, I decided to use a relatively high shutter speed for the first jet, a slower shutter speed for the second and then lower still for the last jet.  That way I should get a result on the early jets and hopefully would get something more dynamic on the last one if I was lucky.  Things turned out well enough and the last jet even popped the speedbrake on touchdown which was welcome.  The skies were a bit red as a result of the smoke in the are from wildfires but that might have softened the light a little.

One of BFIs Firetrucks

Leave a Reply

I have posted a few photos of the fire trucks at Boeing Field over the years (including one quite recently!).  While awaiting the movements of the F-15s, we were alongside one of the taxiways when one of the fire trucks drove towards us.  There was no way I wasn’t going to grab a picture of the truck.  It was quite interesting when looking at the images on my computer to see the various tools on the machine including the perforated spike that can punch a hole in the side of a burning plane to spray water inside.  Probably a little scary but very welcome!