The chaos on the ground melted away the moment I pointed my lens to the sky. As a Chinook helicopter defied gravity with an impossibly tight turn above Iruma Air Base, its twin rotors beating a deep wub-wub-wub, I put the R5 to the test. I’d set the autofocus to track vehicles, and it instantly snapped onto the cockpit, holding on with terrifying precision as I held down the shutter. A moment later, the sky screamed as a pair of Kawasaki T-4s tore past. Even though they were tiny dots in my 105mm lens, the focus box stayed glued to them. My old camera would have struggled, but this beast delivered.
My lens was the 24-105mm, which is way too short for high-flying aircraft. But no problem, the sensor with its 45 megapixels made cropping easy. You can go deep. Call it a poor man’s zoom? It’ll do until I can afford something better.
When I arrived earlier that day, the excitement had me pumped. Everyone at the gate felt the same. You could see it. The kids (including the big ones) had massive smiles. It was our chance to see the aircraft of our dreams.
When the gates opened, it was time to find the big toys! The mad dash to get photos before the main crowd arrived is a trial for older photographers like me. My knees aren’t what they once were.
In 2019, the Mitsubishi F-2 and F-15 Eagle drew most attention. 2024 was the same. That’s no surprise. They are sexy aircraft. My only complaint about them was that they didn’t take to the sky.
Once the slower people arrived, it was game over. Cameras and smartphones were everywhere. It was a patience game waiting for a space to open. I squeezed my way through in some places to get my photos. But in most cases, it was simply a case of waiting.
That was the pattern for the rest of the day. My biggest challenge wasn’t just the crowd, but my own hands. After seven years with Fujifilm, my muscle memory was all wrong for the Canon R5. It’s a bigger, heavier camera driven by menus, not the dials I’m used to. Fumbling to find a setting while a perfect shot disappeared was frustrating, but I know I’ll get faster with practice.
I skipped most of the hangar displays. Aircraft photos were my target. I didn’t want to line up with hundreds of people. Time was important. After all, the Air Show went from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Six hours was all the photographers had to work with!
The Blue Impulse aerobatic team was the highlight of the day. It’s Japan’s version of America’s Blue Angels. They flew Kawasaki T-4s, a subsonic intermediate jet trainer. The pilots knew how to work a crowd. Everyone on the ground lapped it up.
Well, I imagine they did because I missed it completely! Around midday, I felt a fever coming on, so I beat a hasty retreat. This was a letdown, but I didn’t want to be sick on a crowded train. That was okay because I still took many photos.
Using my new Canon EOS R5 at the Iruma Air Base Air Show was like a dream. This camera might be the king of action photography! Others claim that title too. Maybe I should say it exceeded my expectations. It’ll be exciting to see how it performs in other situations.
The Canon R5 proved to be a beast, but learning it in the chaos of an air show was a trial by fire. For all the photographers out there, what’s the one piece of gear you can’t live without at a crowded event? Let me know in the comments!
Camera Body: Canon EOS R5
Lens: Canon RF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM
Rohan has lived in Tokyo for 30+ years. He loves photography and plans to capture the entire city.
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