Advice needed on lenses & filters for airshows

[craigmason 10]

Can i ask what type of lens and filters i should be taking to airshows to get nice shots on the ground and in the air my camera is a cannon 550D my lenses are

EF-S 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 IS II Lens

EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS II

EF 75-300mm f/4.0-5.6 III USM

just don't want to be carrying round lots of heavy kit i do not need to

[rpsmith79 10]

Last airshow i went to i took my 300mm f4 and a 1.4x teleconvertor and i still had to crop most of the airbourne shots, well those of single planes anyway, not the formation flyers

 

So i'd suggest taking your longest lens (75-300), but the focus speed/ability will also be a contributing factor, but as i'm a Nikon guy i wouldn't know whaich was best out of those you have

[holymoses 10]

I use a 70-200, 2.8. Bunging on a X2 converter when needed.

As the last poster said your longest lens should do, but stick your 18-55 in your pocket for the close up and inside aircraft shots.

 

If you have time and a few quid look for a 28-300 or 18-270 these are good all purpose lenses and suit the indoor out door environment such as air shows. Tamron do these at reasonable money such as this one on Ebay worth a punt.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TAMRON-AF18-270MM-F-3-5-6-3-Di11-VC-LENS-CANON-FIT-/301582419927?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item4637b687d7

Edited April 9, 2015 by holymoses

[troutbasher 10]

Kind of depends which airshows youre attending Craig.Waddington (although not this year) a 70-300mm would do the job but sea front shows such as Sunderland or Southport you may struggle without some heavy cropping in post processing,i would assume maybe Blackpool would be similar unless you can get at the front of the crowd as the flight line at Blackpool is marked from the end of the piers not the promenade.As for filters they are not really that essential unless youre shooting into the sun.That said I use B+W UV-IR filters on my big lenses purely because they work for me.

 

Paul.