there is a air show in my home town on 11/7/04 and i was hopeing to get a few pointers on taking pic of the planes in flight. i have a minolta maxxum 5 and the two lens i have are. quantaray 28-90mm and a minolta 70-210mm. the film i use is fuji 200 speed. if any one could give me a few suggestion i would be very thankful

Seymour Johnson AFB?
If you are plannning on shooting th thunderbords you'd like to use the 70-200, and if you can get some 400 speed film (fuji superia is good)
It is a lot easier to tka epics of planes when they are either far away from you or coming to you, if you plan to take pics of plane going by you you'll have to "pan" with the camera

Go with the higher speed stuff. I've tried 200 on moving targets...it wasn't pretty. 200 works well enough with people, their relative movement is a lot different from aircraft...LOL

This will be where you'll be glad you have auto focus...set it to program and let 'r rip...

I hope the weather's good for you. Remember to post your pics!!!

I use to live near a base and would stand in the back yard and use a 100-300 AF. Used 100 speed film and got very good results. Key is to anticipate and pan. If you have done any bird hunting, it is pretty much like that - if not just pan a little ahead of the subject and press the shutter.

If you can get up close to some of the planes, try the 28-90 at 28 from under the plane or from other angles that you don't normally see. Most of all, have fun.

If you have an in camera spot meter, use it. You usually get a lot of the underside of the plane, which will be darker than the sky.

David.

I think it would be a good idea to use a tripod if possible.

Also find a good cover. There is atleast one plane falling on every air show.
Just an umbrella won't be enough.

I suggest a lens of at least 250-300mm and a minimum film speed of ISO 400 if you hope to have any definition of the planes. A monopod will help. In the frame those planes are a lot smaller than they appear to the naked eye. Unless you are really too close for comfort a 135mm will not work at all. I have pictures of the Thunderbirds made with a 135mm that are hardly visible except for the smoke trails.

Of course if you are out on the edge of the runway when they do a head-on barrel roll you can take that picture with a normal lens. Personally I get as far away as possible .