I have been away for a while, not flying (virtually) much - in either DCS or MSFS. Work has made additional computer usage once home feel like a bit of a drag. On a more positive note, I have taken up photography as a hobby - so here are some aviation photos, since I know this community will have some people that will enjoy them!
Equipment List
- Canon EOS R10 Camera - Bought as a kit.
(APS-C “Crop” Sensor - Canon has a 1.6x crop factor, so multiply focal lengths by that for the required equivalent focal length lens needed on a Full-Frame camera to get the same amount of zoom**†**.) - RF-S18-45mm F4.5-6.3 IS STM - Kit Lens, Standard Zoom
- RF50mm F1.8 STM - Prime Lens
- RF100-400mm F5.6-8 IS USM - Telephoto Zoom Lens
- A technologically vintage Realistic Pro-32 Scanner (inherited) - tuned to scan CYYZ’s tower frequencies.
-
FlightAware IOS App
(Better for looking at Departures/Arrivals list of an airport - doesn’t de-select the airport when you look at a flight and try to go back, unlike FlightRadar24.) -
FlightRadar24 IOS App
(Better for watching the radar/map view, as the aircraft position update “live”. FlightAware’s screen updates about every 15 seconds.)
(†) I have included all the camera shot info on the tool-tip/caption/label for the photos, hover your cursor on them to see it - this includes a converted focal length if using a full-frame camera.
October 16th, 2022:
Takeoffs: Runway 23, shot from Dixie Road at the 05 end of the runway.
Landings: Runway 24L, shot from Silver Dart Drive standing in line with the end of Runway 24R.
Day One Review
Catching the 747 taking off, I should have swapped to the prime for its much faster aperture, but I wanted to see what I could do with the 100-400 as it was new to me having only got it a couple days before. After the Flair photo, I ran out of battery and had to call it a night. This makes me want to get a fast(er) mid-range zoom lens - and those are pricey, so it will have to wait.
The 100-400 lens is quite nice in that I can use it like a spotting scope and easily see the opposite end of an 11,000ft runway from outside the perimeter fence and across the street. The only thing keeping those shots from being sharper is heat off the pavement and other atmospheric effects.
I found that the 1/640s shutter speed made getting clear shots when panning quickly to keep up with the jets easy, however on the Dash-8 you can see it gets close to stopping the blades. I have to experiment more with trying slower shutter speeds on turboprops and see if I can get a nice prop-disk in the photo.
October 22, 2022:
Same position off Dixie Road watching Runway 23 takeoffs this time around.
Enough for One Post
I have some more from a third day, which was quite foggy, that I’ll put up in a reply to this post as this one is already getting a bit long. Also, since @Victork2 recently tagged me in a post - I’ll return the favor.