These telephoto, and super telephoto lenses will help you excel at airshow photography.
Airshows are going on all around the country right now, and if you want to be able to capture these electrifying aerial displays with ease, you’re going to need a super telephoto lens that will let you get up close and personal with those incredibly fast metal birds. All of the super telephoto lenses listed here offer incredible image quality, ridiculously fast autofocus performance (perfect for locking on to planes flying 700mph), they produce colors that will make your jaw drop, and they are all easy to use despite being on the heavier side of things. Regardless of which lens you choose, you will absolutely love the results you get. Check out our favorite lenses for airshow photography below.
Sony 70-300mm f4.5-5.6 G OSS (Sony E Mount, Full Frame)
Here are the pros and cons from our full review:
Pros
- Weather sealing
- Compact size
- Sharp images
- Optical image stabilization
- Pretty fast focusing in good lighting
Cons
- Slows down when focusing in lower light no matter what camera you use
Buy now ($1,098): Amazon
Tamron 150-600mm f5-6.3 Di VC USD
Here are the pros and cons from our full review:
Pros
- The Tamron 150-600mm f5-6.3 is not too big.
- Image Stabilization works very well on the Tamron 150-600mm f5-6.3.
- The Tamron 150-600mm f5-6.3 is easy to carry around.
Cons
- The lock on the Tamron 150-600mm f5-6.3 only works at 150mm. It would be nice if the lens could lock at all the marked focal lengths.
- There is severe lens creep without the lock
Buy now Canon ($899): Amazon
Buy now Nikon ($849): Amazon
Pro Tip:Â Â Chances are that when you are out at an airshow the skies will be blue, and the sun will be shining, but as we all know, the weather can change in an instant, and if you get caught outside when the heavens open up, and you don’t have a weather sealed lens or camera, you’ll be in trouble. You should always keep some affordable, weather proof camera and lens covers in your pocket, or in your camera bag. If you do this you’ll be able to practice airshow photography no matter what the weather may do.
Sigma 150-600mm f5-6.3 Contemporary
Here are the pros and cons from our full review:
Pros
- Your friends will be jealous
- Excellent image quality, though not as good as some of the companyâs other lenses
- Tripod collar is large enough to also allow you to carry the lens in your hand
- Pretty lightweight to maneuver around with even while on the go
- Effective image stabilization; though please keep in mind that that still wonât necessarily stop fast motion
- Surprisingly fast to focus even with moving objects
Cons
- F6.3 on the long end means that you wonât be using this lens a lot at night unless youâre ready to go nuclear in the ISO realm
- Large
- Heavy
- Â Switches get knocked off of your settings too quickly; and a way to lock the switches would be really, really appreciated
- Attracts one too many âbig lensâ jokes from your more immature friends
Buy now Canon ($899): Amazon
Buy now ($836.64): Amazon
Fujifilm 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR (Fujifilm X Mount)
Here are the pros and cons from our full review:
Pros
- Not as heavy as youâd think
- Weather sealing
- Feels great in the hand
- Sharp output
- Beautiful bokeh
- Aperture doesnât change all that much, but even so youâd probably want to shoot at a higher ISO setting during the daytime
- Fast autofocus performance on both the X Pro 2 and the X Pro 1
Cons
- Though we completely understand why, some folks may be miffed at the fact that the OVF isnât practical with a lens like this
- Holding it vertically is tough
- Zooming in and out moves the scene that youâre viewing due to the motion involved with tuning the zoom ring. A push/pull design would have been nicer
Buy now ($1,699): Amazon
Pro Tip:Â Memory cards. Trust me, you’re going to need a boatload of them. Modern cameras generate RAW files of 30MB, 40MB, and even 50MB or more. You will fill up SD cards in a hurry at an airshow. Make sure you don’t run out of card space by taking along plenty of extras with you. These ones are affordable, and they’re fast, so they will keep up when you’re shooting at a rapid pace.
Sony 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 G Master FE (Sony E Mount, Full Frame)
Here are the pros and cons from our full review:
Pros
- Pretty lightweight
- Ring around it that allows you to adjust how tight the zoom is
- Image stabilization
- Weather sealing
- Sharp
- Nice bokeh
- Close focusing for what this lens is
- Convenient focal lengths
- Not too badly priced for a lens like this
- Good for tracking subjects when shooting sports outdoors
Cons
- Tracking moving subjects still more or less demands that you stop down the lens when shooting interior sports
Buy now ($2,498): Amazon
Olympus 300mm f4.0 IS PRO (Micro Four Thirds)
Here are the pros and cons from our full review:
Pros
- Great colors
- Sharp image quality
- Nice bokeh
- Incredible build quality overall
Cons
- Pretty expensive
Buy now ($2,399): Amazon
Pro Tip: Airshow photography is an all day affair. You arrive early in the morning, and usually, you’re there until early evening if you want to see the headlining events. You need to make sure you are totally comfortable. One of the ways you can do this is by using a camera sling. A camera sling like this one will help you rest by allowing your gear to hang by your side. The sling will also evenly distribute the weight of your camera and lens over your upper body, instead of around your neck like regular camera straps. A sling is a must-have.
Nikon 300mm f4E PF ED VR (Nikon F)
Here are the pros and cons from our full review:
Pros
- Very, very lightweight
- Extremely fast focusing abilities with the D810 when shooting sports. Of course, you should stop the lens down for the best results
- Sharp image quality without a single complaint
- Beautiful bokeh from the nine aperture blades
- Fairly small and pretty low profile
- More useful than we initially thought it would be
Cons
- Color is a bit muted compared to the companyâs other prime lenses. This is easily fixed in post-production
Buy now ($1,996.95): Amazon
