D50+Drag Racing=questions - DPChallenge Forums

Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM

08/11/2006 01:06:07 PM · #1

I am going to the Mopar Nationals tomorrow and will be taking my D50 and my kit 55-200. I was just cuirous what settings I should use to get the best results. Iv never shot action like this before, so its a new thing for me.

NstiG8tr

Canon EOS-5D Mark IV

08/11/2006 01:16:47 PM · #2

Release the shutter when the tree is yellow. I'd probably use Tv mode

Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 EX DG Macro for Nikon

08/11/2006 01:37:31 PM · #3

What kind of speeds should i have on my shutter? im sure there will be plenty of light, my lens is a F4-5.6. I just want to get a few of the best possible photos i can.

cryan

Nikon D700

08/11/2006 01:52:10 PM · #4

Shoot at your lowest iso adn set the camera to shutter priority. Your shutter speeds should be at least 500th of a sec. That will give you very minor motion blur in the wheels but keep the car sharp.

MrEd

Sony DSLR-A100

Sigma 15-30mm f/3.5-4.5 EX Aspherical DG DF for Minolta

08/11/2006 01:53:02 PM · #5

Take a peek at my shots here. Scroll down to see if theres any comments. I know their not the best, but it was my first time shooting drag racers and I couldn't get any closer.
Added: Also, I shot in JPG, shoot RAW if you can. I was there for 4 1/2 hours and took over 500 shots.

Message edited by author 2006-08-11 13:54:27.

NstiG8tr

Canon EOS-5D Mark IV

Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM

08/11/2006 02:02:33 PM · #6

Originally posted by cryan:

Shoot at your lowest iso adn set the camera to shutter priority. Your shutter speeds should be at least 500th of a sec. That will give you very minor motion blur in the wheels but keep the car sharp.

I agree with cryan. ISO 100 and at least 1/500. In good light you should have an aperature value of about F/5 or so in shutter priority. If you need to, bump the ISO up to 200. After a few shots you'll figure out what works best for you.

Nikon AF-S Zoom-Nikkor 28-70mm f/2.8D IF-ED

08/11/2006 02:03:34 PM · #7

Thanks for the tips so far. I plan on shooting RAW, only problem I have is I only have a one gig and 512 cards, and no portable storage.

I tried to access the photos Mr. Ed linked to, but it would not allow me w/o buying a membership.

So far, I have the camera settings at Dynamic focus, center weight metering, ISO 200 which is my lowest.

Nald

Nikon D700

08/11/2006 02:04:50 PM · #8

For stopping the action....

To get some nice motion trails pan while shooting your subject...

I think I have my camera settings on each of those pics....

Azrifel

Fujifilm X100VI

08/11/2006 02:13:24 PM · #9

Originally posted by steveh552:

Dynamic focus, what's that? Has it something to do with the focus points?
When doing fast vehicle pans I mostly use continous AF or manual AF (fixed on one point of the track).

ISO 200 is fine, just stop down to get the right shutter speed. When you pan well the background will be blurred anyway and at long focal lengths, depending on the distance, you still get proper focus isolation.

MrEd

Sony DSLR-A100

Sigma 15-30mm f/3.5-4.5 EX Aspherical DG DF for Minolta

08/11/2006 02:14:28 PM · #10

Originally posted by steveh552:

I tried to access the photos Mr. Ed linked to, but it would not allow me w/o buying a membership.

OK, I didnt know you didnt have a membership. Ill post like this

The most noticable mistake I made was to be on the wrong side of the track. The sun reflected of the windshield and smoke and screwed up quite a few of the shots and I hadn't bought a polarizer yet.. I was standing about the 60ft mark.

P.S. I love drag racing. I should get there more often.

Added: You could just look up my profile. There are a few more there.

Message edited by author 2006-08-11 14:16:21.

zardoz

Nikon D200

Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR II

08/11/2006 02:32:15 PM · #11

For super fast action you are to some extent at the mercy of the light. I have never shot drag racing so Iâ��m not sure exactly what is involved. When shooting a moving target both the speed and the direction are important. The influence of speed is obvious but the direction needs a little more thought. If the target is moving across your field of view then the movement within the frame is at its greatest and you will need a much higher shutter speed than if the target were moving towards or away from you.

Fortunately with drag racing you should be able to control both of these things, speed and direction. You can control the speed simply by shooting early in the race before they get to crazy speeds. Direction is a matter of where you shoot. If the light is poor and you canâ��t achieve a high shutter speed the optimum position would be as close as you can get to the side of the track and down near the finish line so the cars are heading straight at you. Then shoot early before they get too fast. The better the light the more options you will have.

For camera settings I would use either full manual or shutter priority. Shutter priority used in conjunction with auto-ISO is a very useful combination. This combination will give you the smallest aperture the camera can select before it then cranks up the ISO to give you the correct exposure. As for actual shutter speed, it all depends on the speed and direction. The best thing to do is take a few shots, cranking up the speed a bit at a time and then review them on the camera. Find the speed at which the image is sharp, and then use the next higher speed.

Always pan with the subject, even for stopped action. It gives you time to think about composition and allows the auto-focus, set to AF-C time to settle and predict the motion. The predictive focus on the Nikon estimates how much the target will move between the moment the mirror lifts and the shutter opens.

These are the methods I use for stopped action, I hope they help.

Mike