Motorsport Photography Settings (350D) Help

[dk]

I am struggling with my 350D and car racing, i can't seem to get a decent picture, now this is either my lens or my lack of ability.

I was just wondering what settings you normally use, do you use is on the sports mode (running man?) or another setting.

Also, do you have to se the ISO number or is this set for you, if not, what sort of range should I be looking at and what does it depend on?

I am thinking about getting this lens

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Canon-EF-70-300mm-f-4-5.6-IS-USM-Lens-Review.aspx

as I like what I read about IS and can't really afford to stretch to the 70-200 f4 L

Have been looking at getting it from Warehouse Express as they seem to be the cheapest but I just need some help and guidance on the settings I should be using as I want to try it out at the F1 at the weekend and don't want to waste my time with the wrong settings and ruin a days photography.

thanks in advance!

 

[Rich]

Sports mode should get you a sharp picture and sort everything for you settings wise i.e shutter speed aperture and ISO, Focus Servo - it will however freeeze action and make the car look static, so if your looking to show motion the shutter speeds it will give you are too fast. Should get you a decent shot though.

I got hardly any decent pics at FCS last weekend when trying out slower shutter speeds.

Hoping that 300mm will be long enough for the weekend here at the moment.

 

[dk]

all my shots were blurred from FCS (not sharp enough but i was using a £60 lens off ebay, second hand 80-200), I used the sports setting but didn't change anything else. The problem is that every photo looks amazing on that tiny screen, its only when you get home you find out its sh1t!

What lens are you using Rich?

 

[Rich]

I have a 70-300 mm Sigma which will not be ideal as it is soft over 200mm.

So will be using my Canon 70-200 4L with a 1.4 extender (which was ment to arrive for the FCS but arrived two days after!)

 

[TheCake]

Really enjoying my lens with 350D.

 

[dk]

how much did you guys pay for that L lens and why did you go for it over the lens I am looking at with IS?

 

[Rich]

Nice shoots Si - What shutter Speed?

My best shot with the 70-200, TV setting @ 1/100 second

 

[TheCake]

It was £1,460.

L-series stuff is s**t loads better picture quality and build quality

Its an f/2,8 throughout the whole range

 

[TheCake]

Shutter speed was 1/80th from memory mate.

 

[TheCake]

Oh and side on photo's for you Rich..

 

[Rich]

how much did you guys pay for that L lens and why did you go for it over the lens I am looking at with IS?

70-200 is renowned as one of the sharpest ever Canon zooms, had also read a few poor reviews on the 70-300 IS. A few of the Motorsport Pro photographers find IS a pain when it comes to making small adjustments when panning. As Si says its L quality glass too.

Plus at 370 odd on Ebay new it was cheaper than the one you want.

 

[Rich]

Dave worth a read before you part with cash

http://www.fredmiranda.com/reviews/index.php?cat=45

Canon 300mm 4L IS Prime for me next or the Sigma 100 - 300 DG F4, combined with 1.4X on the 350D will give 672mm reach!

 

[dk]

Dave worth a read before you part with cash

http://www.fredmiranda.com/reviews/index.php?cat=45

Canon 300mm 4L IS Prime for me next or the Sigma 100 - 300 DG F4, combined with 1.4X on the 350D will give 672mm reach!

have been reading that, lots of good comments about it apart from the portrait problems, but canon are aware of the problem and its only of some lenses, hopefully they will sort it.

I'm guessing at £370 the one you have rich is the 70-200 f4 and I guess Si, yours is the f2.8 at that price?

 

[TheCake]

Yes as above. F/2,8

 

[Rich]

have been reading that, lots of good comments about it apart from the portrait problems, but canon are aware of the problem and its only of some lenses, hopefully they will sort it.

I'm guessing at £370 the one you have rich is the 70-200 f4 and I guess Si, yours is the f2.8 at that price?

Yeah cant affords Si's big Budgets! 70-200 4L

 

[TheCake]

Haha.

All my pics are done without IS. I'm getting along quite happily without it.

 

[dk]

Haha.

All my pics are done without IS. I'm getting along quite happily without it.

have you tried it with though, it must make some difference?

 

[TheCake]

I think its down to the individual photographer ultimately.


I've tried non-IS and IS lenses. Frankly I prefer to be in control of whats happenning.

 

[UncleGrumpy]

Having just bought a IS lens i'll be changing all my others as well, 400mm hand held shots at 1/125th with no blur - ooooer missus

 

[Rich]

Pah - come on at least 1/80 with IS

What lens you gone for?

 

[unofficialPete]

It was £1,460.

L-series stuff is sh*t loads better picture quality and build quality

Its an f/2,8 throughout the whole range

wish I could afford L series thats almost 3x350D's!


Sound like I'll have to get in touch with a few of you about working my camera! Know your stuff...

And Si, great shots!

 

[UncleGrumpy]

Canon EF 100-400 L IS USM, only had it a few days but im liking it a lot, all i need now is a 1DS MKII to use it with

theres more chance of me growing a second c0ck though unfortunately.

 

[TELFORDS_LURK]

Although this wasnt taken on a Canon, it was taken with my Nikon D70s with a 70-300mm lens attached. The camera was also in the sports mode which sorted everything out apart from the ISO which was on 200.

Being on sports mode you get the effect that Rich was talking about of just freezing the action. I may try putting it to the setting where the aperture is automatic and then adjust the shutter speed slightly to get abit of motion.

I have also recently bought a 18-200 lens that should hopefully give me a lens that is capable of taking a picture of for example people at close range then have the ability to zoom a reasonable amount to catch the action on track.

Chris

 

[Englebert]

Nice clear shot there. You can't beat a bit of movement though, especially when the brakes are glowing.

 

[Rich]

Chris - quick question - from where the free Renault tickets allow us to sit at Luffeild C do you know if 300mm will give enough reach?

 

[Leeds_VTO]

Just go near the spitfire were the fire car goes ull be ok there, or at the exit of the old hair pin were the spark plug is

 

[Justin]

i took this pic a while back of my mates xsara, while goin at about 70.. but it looks like he has stopped moving, can anyone let me know how to make it look like he is moving? wheels and background? etc..

 

[UncleGrumpy]

what you mean - like this?

 

[Rich]

Without out photoshop shoot at 1/320 second or less.

 

[Lee]

Chris - quick question - from where the free Renault tickets allow us to sit at Luffeild C do you know if 300mm will give enough reach?

Just uploading my pics from today Rich. Mine is 300mm so you'll get a good idea from mine. The ones furthest away were at maximum zoom.

Anyway, back to how to make a car look like it's moving in pics. How do I do it on my camera? I'm useless I know.

I'm going tomorrow after all mate, so I'll see you in the morning. God I'm tired. lol

 

[Lee]

Here's mine: Link

 

[Rich]

Nice one Lee, I will have a look.

With the 350D - For head on and 3/4shots TV Mode, set the shutter speed to 1/320 or less, focus drive set to AI Focus as it would be in sport mode and hold the camera very steady. Anything over 1/500 second wont show motion.

Side on pans 1/200 second of less. 1/320 will show some movement. This one was 1/100 second and is a bit soft as the shower shutter speeds are hard to hold the camera still.

Most of my FCS shots are blurred trying out the above for the first time, If you want shots that will be sharp keep it in Sports mode if you really dont want to mess up tommorrow, I think I will!

You going to the meeting point first or straight to the circuit in the morning?

 

[TELFORDS_LURK]

Chris - quick question - from where the free Renault tickets allow us to sit at Luffeild C do you know if 300mm will give enough reach?

^^^ This is a pure picture that has not been through photoshop or anything.

From this picture I can tell you that it was taken at 300mm (Full zoom) and was set on shutter priority with a shutter speed of 1/60 at F25.

It was taken at the Abbey chicane grandstand which is about the same distance away from the track as at Luffield.

Chris

 

[Rich]

Cheers Chris. When you shoot in Shutter priority on yours I take it it sorts the aperature for you?

Bump up the ISO if you want a larger aperture.

 

[TELFORDS_LURK]

Yeah sorts out the aperture and just leaves you with the shutter to play with, and vice versa if it were aperture priority.

Havent really messed much with the ISO, does it make alot / noticable difference? Might have a crack tomorrow.

Chris

 

[Rich]

The higher the ISO will add noise. But say bumping the ISO 400 will mean that you should be able to shoot 1/320 or slower at more like f 8 - 11.

 

[Rich]

280 mm was to short, but some where ok once cropped, in focus and with movement!

 

[ukaskew]

I don't have a 350D (or D-SLR) so I don't quite get the level of adjustability that you guys will get, but the concept is all the same...

For panning shots I firstly where possible try to manually focus using a bit of trial and error, getting a few static shots (high speed, usually 1/800 or so) to check everything is sharp at the point where I want to get the shots.

I then go with 1/100sec in almost all conditions, I track the car with the camera for as long as possible to get a sense of how fast it will be passing, then with a smooth constant motion fire off 3 shots as it passes. My second shot of the sequence usually nails it...(unedited)

I swear it's dark art though, I tried for months and then all of a sudden at Rallye Sunseeker this year it all just clicked; even though I never consciously did anything different. Ever since then I tend to have about an 80% success rate.

 

[Rich]

With the 350D in AI Servo mode, you need to follow the car for at least a second or so with the shutter half depressed so it can pick up on and track the car.

From today I found that being smooth is key when tracking the car, panning and shooting. That said, my better pans today where at 1/200 second, hoping to go lower again when I improve.

 

[SimonD]

I've got a 10D and get some quite good motosport results:

(only 2 I've got on the web...)

This in uncropped - If you get rid of the heads it looks much better!

The first thing I'd say is NEVER use the picture modes - you'll learn a lot more doing it yourself. I usually put the camera in shutter priority (Tv) and match the shutter speed to what I'm trying to do. For panning I try to aim for something around 1/100 to 1/300. Any quicker and you'll freeze the action rather than blur the background. Head on stuff I go quicker though that does tend to be more complex (you have to worry about large apertures and a reduction in depth of field). Panning takes a LOT of practice and good technique but there's nothing to stop you practising on the road outside your house! The focusing on the 10D is a bit rubbish, so I tend to avoid Servo and use the other mode that isn't One Shot (can't remember the name as I never take the camera out of this mode!) I try to avoind ISOs above 400 too (though if it's dark I have to pump it up a bit). Obviuosly use the high speed motor drive setting, but don't just blast away. As the 10D does about 3fps I try to take one as the car is approacing, one as it is dead in front of me and another as it moves away from me. On the above 2, I got the Ferrari square on and just missed the Jag, though I really like that picture.

As for lenses, I use a Sigma 70-200 f2.8. I wanted the Canon, but it was too much! I don't use IS but them I'm old skool and would still be using black and white if I still had my darkroom! It is a bit short and I could do with a 1.4 converter, but I'm happy with it for now. f2.8 throughout the zoom range is useful but as cars tend to move quicky and you have a small depth of field, it isn't always that useful. (they will be moving in and out of focus faster than the camera can keep up!) I tend to stick to f4 or below. I find large apertures are more useful in low light like this (yes, I did take this picture!):

If your worried your lens can't focus fast enough, focus on a point on the track, flick the AF off and then release the shutter just before the car which you are following snaps into focus. It's a hard technique to learn, but it's how we did it before AF was quick enough to keep up. Buy the BEST lens you can afford as if you look after them they should outlast your camera. Good lenses are expensive - end of. However, all is not lost, you can rent the beasts from places like Calumet:

http://www.calumetphoto.co.uk/

I rented £3,000 300mmL IS lens once - craking bit of kit. Also means you can 'try before you buy'.

Photography is a great hobby - I was up at 4:30 on Sunday doing a sunrise at Stonehenge. Magic!

Hope that little lot helps!