Somewhere along the line, July 4th became my favorite holiday. It is a low stress - no gifts to buy, no elaborate cooking, lots of booms, fire and plenty of BBQ. The biggest 4th July celebration in the Dallas area is KaBoom Town in Addison drawing 500,000 people. It is a weekend celebration, and in the Dallas tradition, it is mostly food and drink. In my youth, the drinking part was the highlight. Nowadays, the Addison Air Show is the best part.

Last year I missed the Addison air show, and in 2009 the 1Ds Mark III suffered heat stroke, flat-lining with ERR99 (Read More). The 1Ds Mark III was sent to Canon after its ERR99 “event”, and since then has been trouble free. Yesterday was probably the first time in 2 years that the 1Ds Mark III baked in direct sunlight with 4 hours of 100 F temperatures. This time, no problems. The Canon 70-300mm F4-5.6 L IS with its white finish was noticeably cooler to the touch.

In 2009 I stood at the northwest end of Addison Airport (by the Midas and Sonic parking lots). I selected this spot because my back was to the sun. The Canon 100-400mm F4-5.6 L IS was used the entire time.

While the 2009 location was a good “technical” choice in terms of light, it was not the best choice for planes. Most of the pictures were taken as the planes passed overhead, so lots of tail sections. There were trees and obstructions which blocked or limited head-on shots. Sometimes the planes shortened their arc before heading southbound, and those shots worked well. And if the planes stayed close the airport while heading north, then 400mm was justly barely enough reach. The 400mm reach of the Canon 100-400mm F4-5.6 L IS was very useful, but there was alot pumping between 200 & 400mm.

This year I wanted to get pictures as the planes were taking off. It is mostly the same planes each year, so if I stood at the same location, then it would have 2009 all over again. I started walking from the Control Tower, due south, looking for a break between buildings. Despite an hour of searching, buildings and fences spoiled the plan. I ended up a grassy area with a small hill on Arapaho Road. This is a viewing spot to watch planes taking off and landing, and I had planned to shoot from here. I should have just gone there first...

This year the Canon 70-300mm F4-5.6L IS was the lens-of-the-day. The 70-300L weighs almost 50% less than the 100-400L and is much shorter. The 70-300L is easier to use, but I would have like to have had another 100mm of reach. To get nice level shots of the planes (as if looking straight across), the planes need to be fairly far away. The 70-300mm did not have enough reach, but there are trade offs. The 100-400L IS needs more light and its IS out-dated. Most of the 100-400L pictures were ISO 800-1600, whereas with the 70-300mm the highest ISO for the day was 800. At the end of the day, both lenses get the job done, so 70-300L vs 100-400L is mostly a preference decision.

The Canon 70-300mm F4-5.6 L IS is a great vacation lens. It is fairly small, sharp and IS makes it very easy to use. Though, for air shows the lack of reach cab be limiting. Despite the 100-400L being rather out-dated, the 100-400mm range works very well. If I had to pick one lens, I lean towards the Canon 70-300mm L IS because it can serve multiple roles (ie - lightweight travel lens). The 70-300L did very well for day, I just wish it had a bit more reach... More pictures in the Addison, Texas gallery.