Using Your Mirrorless Camera for Plane Spotting

With every passing year, more and more aviation enthusiasts discover the thrill of watching a majestic plane take flight. Capturing that moment perfectly is the next step on the journey, which requires the right tools and a bit of know-how. This blog delves into the world of plane spotting with a mirrorless camera. We'll explore essential camera gear for sharp, detailed photos, dive into ideal camera settings for capturing fast-moving aircraft, and even provide resources to help you locate the next plane to spot near you.

Plane spotting is a popular hobby that covers more than the desire to look up when you happen to hear a plane flying overhead; keen plane spotters study models of planes, and track aircraft carefully, so their spotting is not left to chance.

A plane spotter may simply view aircraft through a pair of suitable binoculars, or they will make a record through photography or videography, using appropriate camera gear.

If you think you’d like to see what plane spotting is all about, you don’t need to patiently wait until you see a plane, or drive straight to the airport. There are a range of valuable online resources and smartphone apps, such as the popular Flightradar24 flight tracker, which provides real-time updates of flight paths and other valuable information, such as aircraft model info.

Plane Spotting can be enjoyed all year round, but your task becomes easier and your results a lot more successful, if you plan your spotting for specific days.

You want to avoid stormy days, as well as severely foggy or cloudy days, as you will have low visibility of the aircraft you are trying to view. On the other hand, extremely sunny days can make plane spotting photography a tricky task, as you are pointing your camera up at the sky, which can cause distracting lens flare.

We suggest planning your plane spotting adventures for fine weather for the best visibility, but avoid midday when the sun is directly overhead. To produce particularly picturesque images of planes taking off and landing, consider planning your shoot for during the golden hour.

Mirrorless cameras are the obvious choice when looking for the best camera for plane spotting. Not only are mirrorless cameras portable and lightweight, so they can be carried comfortably to various locations, but they also offer impressive image quality. With modern mirrorless cameras offering high-resolution image sensors, you can capture stunning details of planes,  as well as the surrounding environment. 

These high-resolution sensors also allow you to crop your photos while you are editing, adjusting your framing for a more impactful result without sacrificing image quality. Mirrorless cameras provide the freedom of manual controls, so you can adjust the key camera settings for the best results, and with their interchangeable lenses, you can experiment with different focal lengths until you find your favourite plane spotting view.

Your camera is not your only consideration when preparing a kit of the best plane spotting camera gear; your lens is just as important! Wondering what lens you should use for shooting planes? We recommend exploring telephoto lenses, as their longer magnifications allow you to fill your frame with aircraft, without having to get too close physically.

While we love the image quality and depth of field control of prime lenses, we simply can’t go past a telephoto zoom lens for the versatility provided. With a high-magnification zoom lens, such as a 70-300mm, you can zoom right in to capture an aircraft as it sores above but also utilise its wider settings if you want to include environmental details as well.

We have compiled a selection of our favourite plane spotting camera lenses below.

With your plane spotting camera gear at the ready, you can utilise the following settings to produce eye-catching plane spotting images at any time.

Camera mode: When deciding what camera mode to use, we find it's always best to dig into manual mode. Yes, there is a bit of a learning curve, but in the long run, this understanding of how to use your camera, and how the exposure triangle works will drastically improve your photography, and not just when you are plane spotting. If this seems like too much of a leap for now, your camera should have a shutter priority mode, which allows you to set the shutter speed and your camera does the rest. The shutter speed has the greatest impact on the stylistic appearance of your plane spotting photos (more on this below), so it is the most important setting to take control of.

ISO: The ISO setting of your camera dictates its sensitivity to light, and is largely dependent on environmental conditions, such as whether you are shooting in the day or at night. The required setting also differs depending on what shutter speed or ISO you are using, so it's fine to leave this on auto or dial it in after your shutter speed and aperture are set.

Shutter Speed: The best shutter speed for plane spotting depends greatly on your goals, as well as the type of aircraft being photographed. For example, if you are photographing jets flying over at an airshow, you will need a fast aperture of around 1/1000th or 1/2000th of a second to freeze them in action, while a domestic flight going by will not be as fast-moving, so you can lower this slightly to 1/500th of a second. Some people also like to experiment by including motion blur in their images, to illustrate that the plane is in flight, which will require a slower shutter speed of around 1/60th of a second, as well as learning the technique of panning.

Aperture: There’s no need to get fancy when setting your aperture for plane spotting. A moderate aperture of 5.6 to f8 provides a good deep depth of field, which renders much of your image sharp and in focus, and you can typically set your aperture to one of these options and forget about it.

Once you have the best plane spotting gear and an understanding of how to use it, you can start to have fun, and experiment with some cool techniques to help your work stand out from the crowd. Here are some plane spotting tips to get you started.

Expose your images to the aircraft - If you are shooting during the day, the sky behind your aircraft can sometimes be too bright, causing your camera to dial back the exposure, thus underexposing the aircraft. Our advice is to use spot metering, so your camera exposes so you have detail in your aircraft. You can always find a middle ground, and tweak the exposure during editing.

Shoot in RAW -  As above, post-production is essential in perfecting your work. Shooting in RAW mode provides greater freedom while editing.

Shoot from different angles - To make your work seem different from everyone else’s, try to gain a different vantage point, or even crop your images differently, displaying only a portion of the aircraft. Avoid a collection of the same image of a plane dead set in the middle of the frame.

As you can see, a mirrorless camera is a great option for exploring your love of plane spotting. For even more photography tips and tricks, be sure to check out our Photography Blog. If you are on the lookout for personalised gear recommendations to elevate your plane spotting experience, head into one of our nationwide stores – our friendly staff is always happy to help.