Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

How often do we "capture the beacon" in photography?

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • How often do we "capture the beacon" in photography?

    Although I am not a very frequent planespotter, I think it is safe to say that we all have a bit of excitement when we review our photographs and see that a photo captured the aircraft's beacon light(s).

    I just wanted to know, if any of you photographers out there can estimate, about how frequently do we actually capture the beacon on camera? Once in how many shots? For the aviation mechanics specialists, do you know how many seconds the beacon light takes to flash once?

    I was just scrolling through my photos of one planespotting shoot and noticed I had 4 beacon lights.

    Happy planespotting

    Jerry
    Remember on your hardest days, that the airplanes always take off against the wind... afterwards, the skies are all yours.


  • #2
    I suppose that if you use a slow enough shutter speed you could be able to "guesstimate" when a beacon is going to fire and use a countdown to capture it but most times it is just pure luck if you get the beacon during a flash.
    If it 'ain't broken........ Don't try to mend it !

    Comment


    • #3
      I have never been bored enough to count. I was bored enough to count, however, some 3 weeks ago that N577RP (or was it N574RP, not sure) took 11 or 12 flashes of the top beacon for both bottom and top to be virtually synchronized.

      In reality, you're better off with hoping that you catch it, because it would be very difficult to even have an approximate guesstimation that works.

      Suppose that on an ERJ-145 it takes 6 seconds for a flash to occur (and you happened to get this from somebody who knows how the timing circuit works). Assuming that you're shooting at 1/320th, your counting method must be accurate to 1/320th of a second. So your shot has to be taken at the 6th second, plus or minus .003125s (that's 1/320 in decimal) (how many Mississippis is that??). Fortunately, if the beacon flashes for more than 1/320th of a second, then your shot can be within the slowest one, so if the beacon flashes for 1/60th of a second, then you have to shoot at the 6th second, plus or minus 0.01667 second.

      Assuming that you don't know how much time there is between flashes, you have to measure that, and you're introducing a whole lot more of error. Even if you are using a stopwatch, your reflex time, and the hysteresis of the stopwatch will lead to small errors. A difference in .05 of a second in the time it takes you to get from your house to the airport is negligible, but on 6 seconds, well, it's about 0.8%. And in order to have decent results you would have to set up an experiment, have data, get averages, etc.

      So you're better off just hoping for the best. Unfortunately you're dealing with such small measurements that unless you have a highly sophisticated control setup, you probably won't be that accurate.

      I could go on and on, but you get my point.


      I've found that at slower shutter speeds it's easier to catch (again, read above) to where it's eactually noticeable, but the chances of the photo being blurry increase, so you may get a sharp photo and a photo with the beacon, but not necessarily both in the same photo.

      I got this at 1/160th, and it's nice, except for the part where the nose is blurry. That can also occur, and it's even more annoying

      Delta Boeing 737-800 N3754A KCMH 01AUG13 by FelipeGR90, on Flickr
      [SIGNATURE GOES HERE]

      Felipe Garcia

      Comment


      • #4
        It's nothing I'm aiming at, but sometimes I'm lucky enough to catch it , both taken with fast shutter speeds :
        [photoid=7386877]
        [photoid=7386917]
        My photos on Flickr www.flickr.com/photos/geridominguez

        Comment


        • #5
          Also complete accident and fast shutter speed

          [photoid=7654111]

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by hongmng View Post
            Also complete accident and fast shutter speed

            [photoid=7654111]
            Very true ........ And I would stab a guess at around 99% of visible beacon shots being just that........pure accident !

            I mean to say ........ Look what I got here !

            [photoid=7356128]
            [photoid=7356121]

            Pure accident of course. No planning at all !!
            Last edited by brianw999; 2013-09-22, 16:33.
            If it 'ain't broken........ Don't try to mend it !

            Comment

            Working...
            X