INDEX

Sky pics from a plane in full flight

UPDATE 2015 Feb 8 : two new pictures added from the sky from a Dubai to Capetown flight EK772.

UPDATE 2013 Feb 3 : two new pictures added from the sky from a Dubai to Johannesburg flight and back.

UPDATE 2012 Feb 3 : two new pictures added from the sky from a flight from Amsterdam to Singapore.

During a trip to Bali in Jan 2009 I was on the plane during a 12 hour flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur on Jan 11 2009 I wanted to play with my Canon EOS 40 SLR camera. The flight was calm and I was in the rear of the Boeing 747-400 of Malaysia Airlines and could put my camera befor the emergency exit window and tried to make time exposures of the sky. Because of the glare of the in-plane lighting I put the window shutter down to just above the lens and shielded it off by a blanket provided to the passngers. Then I took the picture, 8 seconds @ F/4 18mm at 3200 ASA. Remarkably good result. (When there is turbulence, passengers are supposed to be seated with the seatbelts fastened).
The images marked with feb 6 are taken on the return flight on 2009 Feb 6. Note the red colored engine and wing tip, this is not the actual color, but caused by the blinking red starboard lights.
The last (third row and further) are taken on the next trip to Bali in jan/feb 2010, each taken 4 seconds @ f/4 18mm, 3200 asa.
My conclusion is that the aircraft windows are by far not clean, some are better than others, but it is just a challenge. The images on EK772 are taken on 8 Feb 2015 with the EF 24-105L on an EOS 6 while pushing the camera against the window while having a pillow on top of the camera to prevent ghosts of cabin lighting.

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