Donnington Track Day

antc

antc

antc

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went to a track attack day at donnington yesterday morning. though i would post a few picks and get some feedback on whats good and bad. this is my first attempt at panning so be gentle ;)










all images were panned at 1/125 and all were roughly at 200mm focal length handheld. was set to ai servo and centre waited focusing. (exif data seems to have been lost when uploading the pics)

came home with a couple of hundred images and a lot were blurry, probably had around 50 really sharp ones.

i found my lens hunted a little sometimes and i missed the shots i was after. it could just be me of course but i have a feeling its down to the lens not being fast enough.
 
antc said:
went to a track attack day at donnington yesterday morning. though i would post a few picks and get some feedback on whats good and bad. this is my first attempt at panning so be gentle ;)

all images were panned at 1/125 and all were roughly at 200mm focal length handheld. was set to ai servo and centre waited focusing. (exif data seems to have been lost when uploading the pics)

came home with a couple of hundred images and a lot were blurry, probably had around 50 really sharp ones.

i found my lens hunted a little sometimes and i missed the shots i was after. it could just be me of course but i have a feeling its down to the lens not being fast enough.
Click to expand...
.

nice stuff... im planning on getting this camera for the exact same sort of shorts.... Motor racing, and Planes... So you think it wasn't fast enough? I need many opinions on this 350D cos its a expensive peice of kit! :p
 
it's the lens that isn't fast enough
not the camera, although a better camera does help I think
donnington park??
nottingham local?
if we get a few people together we can test out diff lenses
the one I got for this sort of thing was the 100-300 USM
pretty fast all round I feel
 
i know the lens isn't fast enough but once you set it @ certain focal length and get the focus right, you dont have to worry about focusing, its all down to handling it steady and getting the shutter speed right.

@ 200mm shutter speed of 1/125 is too low to handheld.
 
antc said:
i found my lens hunted a little sometimes and i missed the shots i was after. it could just be me of course but i have a feeling its down to the lens not being fast enough.
Click to expand...

I had this happening at silverstone last year so I set the camera for a good DOF & manually focused for the middle of the track . Seemed to work out quite well (imo :))
 
Nice attempt
Some constructive comments - The images lack punch (they look very flat) this can be fixed in Photoshop with a levels and contrast tweak.
e.g. The first BMW photo - I guess the car is white but in your photo it is grey

They are also not focussed properly and therefore the cars don't look much sharper than the out of focus background.

Were you in the middle/inside of the track ?
 
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SDK^ said:
Were you in the middle/inside of the track ?
Click to expand...

From where those shots were taken he was both inside the first corner (Redgate) and also on the outside of this corner.

Tom
 
TomWilko said:
From where those shots were taken he was both inside the first corner (Redgate) and also on the outside of this corner.

Tom
Click to expand...

i was on the inside of redgate for a lot of the pics i took including the ones i posted apart from the mini shot i was at the second corner on the outside

@SDK^ - the bmw was infact white yes

what is the best way of focusing in moving objects guys?? i set the focus to be on the middle red dot only and tried to make sure that was in the middle side of each car i shot. not sure if this is right. at the camera set on tv mode so i just had to concentrate on that.
 
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antc said:
what is the best way of focusing in moving objects guys?? i set the focus to be on the middle red dot only and tried to make sure that was in the middle side of each car i shot. not sure if this is right. at the camera set on tv mode so i just had to concentrate on that.
Click to expand...

Yup - that's pretty much it.
To achieve the perfect panning shot you should take it as the car passes parallel to your position.

For example like the photo below. (This has not been cropped).

bmw-m3-csl-side.jpg
 
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SDK^ said:
Yup - that's pretty much it.
To achieve the perfect panning shot you should take it as the car passes parallel to your position.

For example like the photo below. (This has not been cropped).

bmw-m3-csl-side.jpg
Click to expand...


that is a stunning shot SDK^, unlike mine its very very sharp. are you handholding that or are you on a tripod or monopod?

im thinking i need a monopod as i find it quite hard to hold the lens steady (70-300) handheld, gets a bit shakey.

im thinking its possibly time to upgrade the lens as well :eek:

need to try and decide on something if i can by the time the F1 testing comes around as i really want to get some good shots of the testing :)
 
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DizMatt said:
it's the lens that isn't fast enough
not the camera, although a better camera does help I think
donnington park??
nottingham local?
if we get a few people together we can test out diff lenses
the one I got for this sort of thing was the 100-300 USM
pretty fast all round I feel
Click to expand...


agree with you on the lens front. im just not sure what to get next. looking at the sigma 70-200 F2.8 and the canon 70-200 F4L. for an extra £100 quid im thinking of the sigma as its a stop quicker. other than that im sure they are both gret lenses tbh.

yeah i would be up for meeting, i had noticed recently there are quite a few of us from the nottingham area.
 
Very good for a first try antc. I like 2 and 3 the most, just need more contrast and saturation.. Not too keen on the tight composition on N1, and car on N4 looks static.
Nothing wrong with shooting at 1/125, 200mm as long as you have a steady hand, or are willing to take few extra shots.
I took this one at 170mm, 1/80sec handheld. It took a few attempts though.
Keep it going!
 
agree with you on shot number 4. its definatly my steady hand thats an issue ;)
very nice shot btw, thats is pin sharp great work.

well that was my first and last practice before the F1 testing arrives so will see if i cant do a little better and will post up some results.
 
antc said:
that is a stunning shot SDK^, unlike mine its very very sharp. are you handholding that or are you on a tripod or monopod?
Click to expand...
It was hand held

Focal Length : 100mm
Shutter : 1/160
Aperture : F13
ISO 100
 
antc, from my experience of F1 cars so far and also where you will be positioned on the track at Silverstone for the testing, I would not drop below 1/250 of a second to even attempt capturing their movement.

They move that fast and accelerate so quickly that you will get motion blur even at 1/400 quite easily. Man I love those cars!
 
I'd say your panning was pretty good considering the shutter speed you were using. As other say, push it up to 1/200 or 1/250th and they will look much better. :)
 
Joe T said:
I'd say your panning was pretty good considering the shutter speed you were using. As other say, push it up to 1/200 or 1/250th and they will look much better. :)
Click to expand...

thank god, people finally backing up my comment. :p
ofcourse you get sharp photos at lower shutter speed but obiviously you are new to this type of photography.

no brainer tbh.
 
Joe T said:
I'd say your panning was pretty good considering the shutter speed you were using.
Click to expand...

Definately! I wish mine had been this good when I first starting taking shots at Motorsport.
 
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