Panning techniques

NorthstaNder · 29 Jun 2007 at 22:47

Hi,

I will eventually get round to trying my hand at panning (hopefully at my local race track) and I'm wondering which technique might be best...

1: Lock onto the subject using autofocus and pan round with the subject and snap when ready etc etc

2: Use continuous autofocus so the camera is constantly checking the subject is in focus, then pan round with the subject and snap when ready etc etc

Oh...and put the camera in sports mode or manually select a high shutter speed (probably using shutter priority rather than full manual).

L0rdMike · 29 Jun 2007 at 22:49

If you use sports mode the cam will use a fast shutter speed so you cant really do it with that.

I would do shutter mode and play about with it till you find whats best.

rtk · 30 Jun 2007 at 00:00

Yeh shutter priority is best , but it also depends on wether your panning directly accross or if your subject if moving slightly near/away from you, if the first then you can pre-focus and that would increase your fps.

Howski · 30 Jun 2007 at 03:01

When I did it - and by no means am I an expert. I used full manual (including focus)and set a decent DOF by using a big fstop. but you really need to be at a position where the subject is travelling at 90 to where you are.

What I found helped was when I pressed the shutter I had the subject lined up in a auto focus box and tried my best to keep it there. Find a method that works for you by all means though and let us know! Just don't get too disheartened if you fail to get the shot because from what I've read even pro's have a bin rate with fast sports.
-How.