PANNING TECHNIQUES

One needs to really work on their panning techniques to capture a fast moving airplane. It is important to continue panning with the plane even after the shutter is released. If one does not continue panning then the shutter release will tend to be abrupt and may blur the aircraft. A good place to practice is alongside a roadway in your neighborhood. But, be careful not to look suspicious, someone may call the police. Practice panning and shooting fast cars as they go by, until you can successfully capture nice sharp images most of the time. It might be good practice to go to a few car races where they expect you'll be taking pictures, and the cars are moving much faster than normal cars. Good practice!

USING "FOCUS TRACKING WITH LOCK-ON®"

I also feel that turning "Focus Tracking with Lock-On" (Custom setting a4) ON is somewhat important in shooting airplanes, since it allows the camera to stay with the target plane even if a bright cloud or another airplane gets near. Leaving custom setting a4 on is not absolutely necessary if the sky is clear and blue, since nothing will distract the autofocus system.

Panning technique is as important as camera settings in capturing fast moving objects. Use High-Speed Continuous AF (AF-C) so that you can fire off rapid sequences of shots. It is good to use a digital camera like the D2x with some big CF cards for plenty of image storage room. Use that motor drive!
	By Nikonian Jur van der Wees (Jur)

WHICH METER MODE?

You'll need to be careful shooting the airplane if it is silhouetted (sun behind plane). Your meter may give you a picture of a beautiful sky and a black featureless airplane under those conditions. This is especially true if the plane is some distance away and doesn't fully cover an AF sensor point. You need a zoom lens that can at least let the airplane cover an AF point and a distance of about 50% of the width of the AF brackets on either side. Many do not realize that the focus sensor width on the D2 cameras extends significantly on either side of the focus point brackets you see in the viewfinder.

One way to deal with the silhouette issue is to spot meter the plane, or use manual metering. If you can spot meter the plane while it is on the ground and the light does not change significantly, you may be able to simply use manual metering and shoot without worrying. Of course, if the light changes, or the plane flies near the sun you'll have to pay closer attention to metering again.
	By Nikonian Patrick Godfrey (pateod)

Just use your good sense. If the plane is silhouetted, with the sun behind it, and you are using matrix or averaging meters, you may not get the best results for keeping the detail in the plane. Of course, a silhouetted plane makes an interesting subject too.