Just an amateur enthusiast based in the UK trying to combine my various passions and interests with learning more about digital photography and hopefully improving my photographs in the process.

As well as being an anything maritime enthusiast I have a keen interest in aviation, particularly military, but rarely get to airshows so most of my aircraft shots tend to be distant views of aircraft glimpsed from my home and therefore unfortunately most will be heavily cropped and not of the resolution I would ideally hope for.

Due to the distance and high magnification usually involved I also tend to have to use higher shutter speeds to reduce image blurring so photos of prop planes don't have the blurred props I would like. I am often shooting bird photos when I am surprised by the planes so don't have time to adjust shutter speeds as the planes appear/disappear so quickly!

Finally gave in and got an old school, but high resolution, Canon 5DsR DSLR which repeatedly out performed my Panasonic G9 in continuous autofocus for Birds in Flight (BIF), fast distant aircraft and, with all those pixels, crop-ability. The G9 has lightning fast pinpoint and static focus especially in lower light (The "Scope" magnification facility is great for pinpoint focusing through branches etc), far more advanced "Mirrorless" facilities, fantastic stabilisation and video and of course the kit is a lot smaller/lighter for portability. The G9 can hold it's own for continuous autofocus if you give it a bigger, well lit, target. The 5DsR sensor and continuous (Servo) autofocus inside my Panasonic G9 would be my perfect camera!

Latest news - After 8 years with M43 equipment I have traded in my Panasonic G9 for the new Canon R7 APS-C mirrorless camera with far superior continuous tracking auto focus to compliment my 5DsR DSLR. One of the main drivers for using M43 equipment was the low size and weight compared to most APS-C and full frame DSLR equipment. Amazingly the Canon R7 with the new RF 100-400mm lens (cheaper than the Panasonic lens) is lighter than my Panasonic G9 with Leica 100-400mm outfit so that removes one of the main drivers for using it and the 50% more pixels of the larger Canon sensor actually gives more reach than the Panasonic despite the differing crop factors (1.6x on the Canon, 2x on the Panasonic) especially when coupled with my Sigma 150-600mm giving a reach far beyond anything available on the Panasonic (although at the expense of greater size and weight). The R7 with mount adapter is also able to use all of my existing 5DsR Canon EF lenses so I can rationalise to a single set of lenses. The addition of a relatively cheap secondhand Canon EF-S 10-18mm lens also now gives me an ultra-wide angle lens combination I never had before at a much lower price than those ultra wide angles lenses available for the Panasonic. For the time being I am retaining my M43 Panasonic GX80 with tiny 12-32mm zoom and the 14-140mm as an excellent pocket/travel stills and video camera. However, I can't tell if it is the right decision yet as apparently there is a several month long waiting list for the Canon R7 so it may be some time before I actually get it and compare the results to my G9 photographs (which I am missing at the moment as until the R7 actually arrives I don't have a long reach, low weight, walk around outfit. UPDATE: Definitely was the right decision, I am loving the Canon R7, and the animal eye tracking autofocus is magic!).

All photographs are copyright nbroadsman - Please to not copy or publish without my permission.

My website: nbroadsman.me.uk/