MAN777,
I'm back but with very little time...
Suggest you read my background, telling amateurs what to do is one thing...in any association or group one comes across people only too willing to say " you shouldn't do it like that, do it like this "
Shutter priority or better, manual exposure and the best lens possible is still the way to go, however software now comes into the equation, and kit that one can work naturally without peering at readouts is one of the paramount factors - as this is an individual thing all I can do is very strongly recommend potential buyers ' try before buy '; certainly not full open aperture just because it gives a high shutter speed.
As I say, for professional purposes Depth of Field Preview is worth it's weight in gold.
The best ground to air ( a regime I hate, usually guaranteed crap unless in the case of the aforementioned people on hilltops ) I ever took was at 250th, F 5:6, VPS rated at 125 ASA, John Farley flying past Dunsfold ATC; even rivals agreed it was the best G-A shot they'd seen, but that was entirely thanks to John's flying; he did 4 passes of which I got 2, using a standard 80mm lens ( similar to but better through physics to a 50mm on a 35mm camera ) on a Hasselblad 500CM, NC90 viewfinder ( no motor drive 5FPS on a Hassel, unless one counts the ELM which was utterly unreliable, and at best gave brief glimpses through the viewfinder before settling itself down to contemplate taking the next exposure !
My boss using the Nikon F4 35mm wet film with 80-105 lens & motor drive only got wingtips, John was that close, but all calm & smooth completely drama - free.
Digital cameras make shots unimaginable in those days free to anyone willing to put in the money - and skill, not least in knowing where to be -available to a lot more people ( I know someone who's a keen & good photographer, also ex-Test Pilot & racing driver with a Ferrari Daytona & top of the range Porsche turbo, but even he regards the digital Hasselblad prices as laughable )...
Each to his own, and I'm certainly not being paid to say this ( I wish ) but I'm a Nikon fan personally.
This is despite knowing most if not all digital camera 'chips' come from the same source ( Sony ) and I found a couple of 'Gotcha's' working with the F4,
A, a black LCD readout in the viewfinder is sod all use in low light - ie a lot of professional situations,
B, what idiot chose to make the ( wet film ) 35-105 lens zoom & focus twist one way, the 80-200 the other !
If that's not asking for a cock-up, I'd hate to see what is; we didn't fall for it, but it took valuable spontaneous milliseconds - or in my case, minutes.
Try before buy, if buying expensive kit the salesman might well be happy to come along on an interesting shoot.
NB some compact cameras are now running at 24megapix, so unless mad or in a real hurry I'd wait before buying current 'top of the range' kit, though there is the increasing problem of transferring large files.
DZ
Last edited by Double Zero; 31st Mar 2010 at 21:22.