I just committed to "Wings Over Houston 2026" in late October. I was on an assignment and missed last year's show. Home base for the Phantom so hopefully it will take to the skies.
I've been so slammed since the North Pole Expedition that James and I haven't had much time to shoot together, we fixed that this morning................
Dan, the Sony 400-800mm weighs 5.5 lbs, on the heavy side. It's very sharp. F8 is bright enough for daytime airshows. It's internal zoom, zooming to 800mm from 400mm and vice versa is just turning the zoom ring about 30 degrees in either direction. It replaced my 200-600 as my favorite airshow lens. I value the 800mm end of the 400-800 more than the 200mm end of the 200-600. But sometimes 400mm of the 400-800 is too long for some shots if the planes come close. If I know I will need wider than 400mm, I will bring something wider on another camera.
A few more shots from the Ocean City show. It's crazy the massive French Airbus A400M Atlas went almost inverted. The curvy propellers are interesting.
ILCE-1M2FE 400-800mm F6.3-8 G OSS lens430mmf/14.01/125s50 ISO0.0 EV
ILCE-1M2FE 400-800mm F6.3-8 G OSS lens622mmf/14.01/125s50 ISO0.0 EV
ILCE-1M2FE 400-800mm F6.3-8 G OSS lens725mmf/16.01/60s50 ISO0.0 EV
ILCE-1M2FE 400-800mm F6.3-8 G OSS lens720mmf/18.01/125s50 ISO0.0 EV
JWilsonphoto wrote:
I just committed to "Wings Over Houston 2026" in late October. I was on an assignment and missed last year's show. Home base for the Phantom so hopefully it will take to the skies.
I need to make an excuse to go to Houston. Jim. I was all excited that the F-4D was going to this weekend's Columbus, OH show, based on their recent responses in social. But yesterday Fighterjets Inc said the show cancelled their participation. Someone posted the response from the show as to why the F-4D was cancelled.
"We pulled it off our web site and stopped promoting it five weeks ago when it started to look like they would not be able to be ready by our air show. It just flew for the first time in seven years one week ago. Our air show is 11 days after the F-4's first flight after sitting for 7 years. Additionally, that also means no pilot has been current in the aircraft for 7 years and they only just did so one week before our show. 11 days after its initial flight 'around the patch' and after a 7-year hiatus for the airplane and pilot(s) it just too close and doesn't give the team a comfortable enough time to safely fly the aircraft cross country or perform a demo at an air show. We are hopeful the F-4 will be able to fly at air shows later this summer, and we have requested it for the 2027 Columbus Air Show. Safety is paramount, and this is a complicated vintage jet that needs some more time in the air before it can safely appear at an air show. Additionally, as stated on our website, the lineup is subject to change without notice.”
I saw my F-4 at the Sanicole show in Belgium last year. I never thought I would see one flying again here in the US. I was wrong. BTW the lineup of the Sanicole show in Sept this year looks amazing, F-35s from Belgium and the Netherlands (not that I would want to fly to Belgium to see F-35s, ), Panavia tornado, Euro fighter, Gripen, SAAB J-37 Viggen and Saab J-32 Lansen (never seen the Viggen and Lansen before), and many others. The Viggen is one crazy looking jet! The show on Saturday is a sunset/evening show. I love the light from those shows.
If flights to Belgium get cheaper in the next few months, I will be tempted.
Douglas L wrote:
Second installment: the Thunderbirds. They fly "a little tighter" than the French team. First time to see the Thunderbirds this season.
cs3is wrote:
Steller shots again. The Pre capture feature is super handy for specific use case.
Thank you! It's very difficult to predict when they will pop flares. Usually when they do, they are pretty far away from the crowd line, even for long lens. I wouldn't want to keep pressing the shutter to take hundred of pictures hoping they will pop flares. The pre-capture feature helps a lot. I programed my camera's pre-caption duration to 0.5 second. When I see they pop flares from the viewfinder, I then press the shutter all the way. I don't use the pre-capture function much but it comes handy when I need it. I programed one of the buttons to turn the function on/off.
. First time to see the Thunderbirds this season.
. 
), Panavia tornado, Euro fighter, Gripen, SAAB J-37 Viggen and Saab J-32 Lansen (never seen the Viggen and Lansen before), and many others. The Viggen is one crazy looking jet! The show on Saturday is a sunset/evening show. I love the light from those shows.