It doesn't matter if it's a digital or film camera, the way you use the
camera is the same. I would think that the only time you would use a tripod,
would be for low light situations where you would need long exposure times,
when you need a steady camera. I could see using one at the museums, where
they generally have low light, but not at an airshow. If you want to shoot a
high speed pass, you don't know how high off the ground he will be in front
of you. He may even climb, so, that would require you to crank up the height
of the camera very quickly, or pickup the tripod while holding on to the
camera. You want to be able to move the camera with the subject in order to
avoid blurring of the image. A tripod doesn't help.

I have a couple of lens, both zoom. The general purpose small zoom will take
care of most of the static close up aircraft. It's an 18-55mm lens. For
flying stuff, I use a 75-300mm. This is large enough for most aircraft I
shoot, and small enough to put in my case. However, there are times I wish I
had the 400mm zoom. or larger, but then, it starts getting expensive. Zooms
allow you to get several focal lengths without carrying a lot of lens around
with you.
Ron

"john smith" wrote in message
...
I just purchased an Olympus E-510 DSLR.
What lense are most of you using for airshow photography?
Fixed focus or zoom?
Handheld or tripod mounted?