Camera/Lens for overflight photos at 33,000 feet

[Squire of the Gate]

Hi,
After a bit of advice,
My trusty Cannon 75-300mm lens is pretty much expired.
Rather than just get a similar replacement I want to be able to get a lens that I can get decent photographs of Aircraft(mainly widebody aircraft)going overhead on overflights at heights of between 30 and 38,000 Feet at speed.
I've seen a few photos on the net, I've also seen the cameras used for filming on channels such as LA Flights that have a excellant range(if anyone does know what they use feel free to let me know!),however has anyone any experience of these lenses and how useful they are in getting long distance shots or any tips on what to look for?

Equally has anyone purchased a cam/video recorder that would also cover these types of ranges?

[Archer]

Have you tried searching for representative photos at Airliners.net? A lot of those have some details of the gear that was used in the description. One I just found lists a 100-400mm Canon lens on an APS-C body, which is equivalent to a 150-600mm lens on a full frame camera (this photo). It depends on the body you have/want to get as well, and on how much money you want to spend on this.

[Supra]

Bold Statement Warning. The Canon 75-300 Lens is only one-click up from a milk-bottle for optical quality! To achieve your aspirations you're going to need a relatively high Mega-Pix' body with a decent focal length high quality lens. Most Canon bodies have very adequate video function these days. In the absence of any budget data from yourself, it's hard to suggest possible combinations. I suggest the bottom end is around £1800 up to £9k top-end buying used equipment.

[Nighthawke]

Maybe one of the 150-600mm lenses. Not sure what results you are expecting but you won't be getting pin-sharp for something 5-6 miles up. As Supra says, budget is a big factor to start with.

[John flightpath]

Photographing flyovers is very hit and miss. You maybe able to identify a colour scheme for example, but once you start cropping ,the images can become very distorted. Even if you used the Canon fixed focal length L series 800mm, you would struggle for results. We are talking big bucks for such a lens and frankly for me, not worth the outlay, for the relatively small amount of times you would use it, and the varied results you would get. I use a Sigma 150-500 and I have a 1.4 Sigma converter on it. There really are no guarantees on results. If I were you, I would literally lower my sights.

Cheers
John 'flightpath'.

[Archer]

Further to the above, keep in mind that the atmospheric conditions are also going to be a huge influence on how these photos are going to turn out. Shooting through 30,000 feet of sky, there will be an influence and as John stated, you may end up with only a handful of good shots out of hundreds of attempts. It's not just the equipment... and there are easier and less costly ways to amuse yourself with a camera.

[Squire of the Gate]

Thanks all for the suggestions/points raised.

[B58Hustler]

This was on New Years Day taken from my garden with Nikon D810 and Sigma 150-600 Sport + Sigma 1.4TC so 840mm on full frame.



Emirates A380 by Jayson Cork, on Flickr

[quid21]

I use a Sigma 150-600mm Contemporary with a basic Canon 2000D and can get pretty good results - the biggest stumbling block for me are configuring the manual settings, but practice makes perfect (I'd be happy with better!)

[John flightpath]

Another train of thought is. Unless you have a vice like grip, with your hands, you are not going to get a sharp image over that distance.

Cheers
John
Flightpath.

[B58Hustler]

Edit. Just got a D500.This is D500 and Sigma 150-600 Sport without the converter so native 600mm (900 equiv)


A380 by Jayson Cork, on Flickr

[Rob666]

Edit. Just got a D500.This is D500 and Sigma 150-600 Sport without the converter so native 600mm (900 equiv)


A380 by Jayson Cork, on Flickr

That's amazing.....

[B58Hustler]

Thanks Rob.

[Squire of the Gate]

Thanks all for the updates, and B58Hustler, thats a great shot.