http://www.airliners.net/aviation-forums/aviation_photography/read.main/375228/
Username: yerbol
Posted 2012-06-25 05:00:56 and read 4542 times.
Dear Spotters,
Please advise if 18-105mm kit lens wide-long good enough for spotting in St.Maarten.
Would be nice to see some photos taken at 18mm wide from the famous "Macho Beach" spot.
Thanks!
Username: JakTrax
Posted 2012-06-25 05:06:23 and read 4541 times.
Will be fine Yerbol - I used a 24-105 out there and didn't miss a single shot!
Karl
Username: Fly-K
Posted 2012-06-25 05:12:50 and read 4538 times.
If you want to be creative (for example very close underneath the aircraft), even a fisheye could be fun. But 18mm should be enough in most cases (unless the 747 comes in too low LOL).
Username: jlunddk
Posted 2012-06-25 08:17:06 and read 4503 times.
I only used my 17-55mm all the time, so your 18-105 will be just fine. If you check my site (JLPhoto.dk under St.Maarten 2012) you can see the pictures. They're all taken with the 17-55 even the ones taken from a barstool at sunset bar 
Username: yerbol
Posted 2012-06-26 07:59:44 and read 4383 times.
Dear All,
Thanks for advise!
I hope to visit Macho soon and share my photos with you.
What is the best time for spotting there? Assume it is morning hours and evenings as it seems a very hot place and day time temperature can cause a heat haze. Am I right?
Username: jlunddk
Posted 2012-06-26 13:25:41 and read 4347 times.
The best time is somewhere between noon and 18.00 because that's when the "heavies" come and go. There's traffic all day long, but mostly smaller planes in the morning and evening.
Username: JakTrax
Posted 2012-06-26 13:42:13 and read 4345 times.
Yerbol,
Heat-haze is a problem for ground shots after about 08:00 and before around 16:00, unless the aircraft come right down to the fence (some do). Mornings are good from the Sunset Beach Bar side from 07:00 (when the airport opens) until about 11:00, but you can get away with a few hours after if you want the heavies and don't mind the light a little tail-end on. If you shoot the aircraft over the water there's no issue with haze.
After 16:00 you can shoot aircraft as they line up on runway 10, and after about 17:30 you can move to the Driftwood Boat Bar side of the beach for evening arrivals if you wish.
Karl
Username: yerbol
Posted 2012-06-26 14:21:19 and read 4335 times.
Dear Karl, Konstantin, Jorn,
Thanks for help. I look forward to see that place and do some spotting.
Username: kl692
Posted 2012-06-27 00:20:44 and read 4289 times.
Quoting Fly-K (Reply 2):
unless the 747 comes in too low LOL).
Don't they always comes in too low? For the love of me, I don't know how a 747 can land and takeoff from that single runway.
Username: Fly-K
Posted 2012-06-27 01:02:48 and read 4286 times.
Quoting kl692 (Reply 8):
Don't they always comes in too low
What's low, what's too low LOL Too low in this case meaning too close for having 18mm as the lower end of your lens.
Username: coninpa
Posted 2012-06-28 06:46:13 and read 4185 times.
From around the Sunset Bar (the wooden terrace on the right of the attached), I used 24-70mm for the big ones, 70-200mm for the smaller ones, 14 mm for the wide angle shots closer to the center line or on the beach.
Photo © Patrick De Coninck
Username: JRowson
Posted 2012-07-01 13:57:35 and read 4017 times.
Quoting JakTrax (Reply 6):
). Mornings are good from the Sunset Beach Bar side from 07:00 (when the airport opens) until about 11:00, but you can get away with a few hours after if you want the heavies and don't mind the light a little tail-end on
It does depend what time of year you go. If you go during high season (northern hemisphere winter) then the light at the beach bar is good pretty much all day long. It's during the middle of the year that it becomes backlit during the middle of the day.
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