Beijing, 5 Dec 2015

[PorkScratching]

I managed to spend an afternoon at Beijing Capital back on the 5th December. Cold and crisp, perfect for photography. As you would expect, plenty of Chinese carriers we don't see in the UK, together with unfamiliar types from familiar airlines.


XiamenAir Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner by Nick Challoner, on Flickr


China Postal Airlines Boeing 737-3Q8F by Nick Challoner, on Flickr


Wanfeng Aviation Bombardier CL-605 Challenger by Nick Challoner, on Flickr


Japan Airlines Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner by Nick Challoner, on Flickr


Capital Airlines Airbus A320-214 by Nick Challoner, on Flickr


Shenzhen Airlines Airbus A320-214 by Nick Challoner, on Flickr


Shenzhen Airlines Boeing 737-97L by Nick Challoner, on Flickr


All Nippon Airways Boeing 737-781 by Nick Challoner, on Flickr


All Nippon Airways Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner by Nick Challoner, on Flickr


Air China Boeing 777-2J6 by Nick Challoner, on Flickr


Air China Boeing 737-86N by Nick Challoner, on Flickr


Air China Airbus A320-214 by Nick Challoner, on Flickr


Air China Boeing 737-86N by Nick Challoner, on Flickr


Hainan Airlines Boeing 737-84P by Nick Challoner, on Flickr


Sichuan Airlines Airbus A321-231 by Nick Challoner, on Flickr


Shandong Airlines Boeing 737-89L by Nick Challoner, on Flickr


Grand China Air Boeing 737-84P by Nick Challoner, on Flickr


Asiana Airlines Airbus A320-232 by Nick Challoner, on Flickr


Asiana Airlines Airbus A330-323 by Nick Challoner, on Flickr


Dragonair Airbus A330-342 by Nick Challoner, on Flickr


China Southern Boeing 737-86N by Nick Challoner, on Flickr


Scandinavian Airlines Airbus A340-313 by Nick Challoner, on Flickr


Shanghai Airlines Boeing 737-86N by Nick Challoner, on Flickr

C&C welcome, but go easy because these were shot with old cheap lenses because I was out there on business, so it was impractical to haul heavy lenses around!

[andygolfer]

super selection Nick, thanks for posting them.

It looks as though the 'cheap' lenses worked well, as a matter of interest what lenses were you using? They look pretty sharp to me. I tend to only take my 'all round' sigma 18-250 with me when I go abroad and find it pretty good except in poor light so sometimes it is far easier than hauling lots of gear about.

Re the pics, as a set I think it would have been nice if you had been able to vary the angles a bit more so that some were not all side (or nearly side) on, I always try to get some side on and some a bit more frontal to mix it up a bit but I don't know how much your angles were restricted so I may be talking out of turn.

great to see some from Beijing and thanks again

andy

[Lowfly11]

Superb shots..and a bit colourful some of the livery.Regards Tim

[PorkScratching]

super selection Nick, thanks for posting them.

Thanks Andy.

It looks as though the 'cheap' lenses worked well, as a matter of interest what lenses were you using?

All these were taken with a Canon EF 75-300mm f4-5.6 USM III. It dates back to 1998 when I switched to Canon kit. It's plastic, lightweight and has a good focal range, so good for travel. It is noticeably soft at 300mm though. I also took an old Sigma DC 18-50mm lens, which again is plastic and very lightweight. I kept them as spares when I upgrade to L series lenses, and I'm glad I did because they're perfect for business trips where I can't really take heavy/bulky kit.

They look pretty sharp to me

Thanks. I shoot in shutter priority mode for shots like this, usually 1/1000th or 1/800th. I change the ISO during the course of the day so the aperture is around f8 which as I'm sure you know is often the quality sweet spot for a lens. Towards the end of the day the ISO is quite high, so using the noise reduction feature of my editing software was essential.

I tend to only take my 'all round' sigma 18-250 with me when I go abroad and find it pretty good except in poor light so sometimes it is far easier than hauling lots of gear about.

I did think about buying such a lens, but few of them reach 300mm, and all the reviews were quite negative about the lens' performance at the extremes of the zoom range, so decided to stick with what I had.

Re the pics, as a set I think it would have been nice if you had been able to vary the angles a bit more so that some were not all side (or nearly side) on, I always try to get some side on and some a bit more frontal to mix it up a bit but I don't know how much your angles were restricted so I may be talking out of turn.

I thought you'd comment on that For each aircraft I shot a range of angles but I decided to select the side-on shots because a) the lens isn't zoomed in so much so is sharper, and b) the liveries are so interesting I thought they needed showing off to their best!

[andygolfer]

thanks for the feedback on that Nick and good point re the liveries!

I'm pleased with my sigma 18-250 right through the range, there's a very little loss of sharpness right at the top end but I find a bigger problem is the quality loss in lower light conditions, it's certainly better if I can keep it around the F.7.1 - 8 range i.e. sweet spot but in low light around F4.5 it loses a bit.
It's a very handy holiday lens though - as long as I go somewhere sunny! Certainly better than lugging the 100-400 about for any length of time.

[Polehill]

A lovely set and thanks for the info on your camera and lenses, it is very interesting for a beginner like me.

[PorkScratching]

but I find a bigger problem is the quality loss in lower light conditions, it's certainly better if I can keep it around the F.7.1 - 8 range i.e. sweet spot but in low light around F4.5 it loses a bit.

Try shooting at higher ISOs in low light, that's what it's for! That's what I do anyway - increase the ISO so I can keep the shutter speed and aperture where I want them and not resort to wide open aperture which will drastically reduce image quality. HIgh ISO causes noise of course, but that can be dealt with when editing with noise reduction. That does tend to soften the image somewhat, but in my experience no where near as much as shooting with wide open aperture, and you're in control so you can play one off against the other. This is with my old bodies too - an EOS 5D and EOS 30D which have much poorer high ISO performance than modern bodies.

[Grass73]

Nice set.

The Air China's are particularly nice.

Thanks for sharing.

Niall

[pig hunter]

i do not quite get this

what is the point of having high grade gear if u do not take it with you??

especially to somewhere like PEK??

a confused pig hunter who drags L series with him worldwide...and two bodies

just in case

best ph

[PorkScratching]

My high grade gear gets plenty of use, don't worry. My employer sent me to two cities in China to work for a couple of weeks. I work in IT, and needed to carry a fair bit of expensive IT kit with me. I had a few days holiday before coming home to do my own thing, hence spending time at PEK and the China Aviation Museum. Because of all that, I took lightweight kit. Had it been solely a aviation trip or family holiday I would have taken my L series lenses etc., but it wasn't.