motorsport camera

[alibongo]

Have just been into jessops looking at digital SLR cameras am quite keen on a nikon D50x I would have to buy a 300mm lens extra as well, is that lens big enough and is that camera any good? or does anyone have a better sugestion? I should point out that I'm a total duffer as far as photography is concerned, all I want is a point and shoot jobby as long as the camera is fast enough...problem I have with my pocket Nikon cam is that from pressing shutter there is a delay before piccy is taken .......long enough for subject to have gone by, I have some exellent pictures of L/M tarmac

[Steve Pyro]

Chris -

1 - read this thread http://www.clubarnage.com/forum/index.php?topic=6726.0

2 - Jessops can be Expensive!

[alibongo]

Hi Steve cheers for that Nikon does seem to be popular, what budget lens would you go for? do I need a monster lens or would a smaller lens do? another thing has just crossed my mind if I get one of these I will have to buy a flashgun or can I still use it in well lit parts?

[termietermite]

Speed is almost as important as length - if not more so (as the actress said to the bishop.)  A flash gun is pretty pointless except when shooting into pits (or unless you spend half the national debt) - buy as fast a lens as you can afford and you can speed it up still more by adjusting  the ASA in low light - one of the happy advantages of a digital SLR.  But do shop around - the o/h has just bought a D40 and saved a packet thanks to a bit of research.

[Pam the Weather]

Chris, a couple of things to consider when choosing a lens for a C size CCD, which Nikon uses, first is that the lens you use will have an image magnification comparable to a 35mm of about 1.5 times.  In other words a 200mm on you d50/70 etc is like having a 300mm on a 35mm camera.  I not saying that the image is comparable in all areas of image quality etc, its just that that the image has the same angle of view when comparing an image taken with a 35mm + 300mm and d50 + 200mm.  As the camera body uses a smaller image sensor, you will have an increased depth of field in comparison to the 35mm lens, f stop vs f stop.  This is good because you can open the lens more and still achieve a good depth of field, in low light conditions etc.

Secondly, you are photographing fast moving objects, so you need to make sure that the camera and lens work as one and make sure that when the lens not only stops down it actually can focus on the object quickly enough.  otherwise you'll still have only half a car in your frame and it will be blurred. Some of the budget lenses you refer to have a very slow focusing response time. 

You may also like to look at the respective specs to compare focusing modes, ideally choose a camera body that has S C & M modes.  These stand for single, continuous and manual.  The continuous is very handy when panning moving objects, as you can compose, set expose and focus all in one step by half depressing the shutter button, continue panning and when you have the view you are after, take the shot, the image will be crystal sharp, because the camera body is adjusting the focus as you pan.  Another reason to choose a lens that has a good focus response time.

Another consideration is to think of buying a good small telephoto zoom and then use a teleconverter like a 1.4x when you need the reach of a longer lens. VR is very worthwhile getting, unless you are well practised at hand holding shots.  Have a look at any of the professionals and most if not all will use at least a mono pod for those shots.

One last thought, using a digital SLR body, get some time practising with it before LM, the metering etc needs getting use too and is not like using a 35mm SLR, where possible use manual for all your shots and get some control.

[Leftie]

Hi Chris,

I've just bought an Olympus 'Evolt E500' with 2 lenses for £320 +P&P.

All DSLR's should be programmable to the type of photos you want to take. Although all have basic modes such as portrait, sport etc, etc.

My two lens are;

14-45mm (SLR equivalent is 28-90mm)
40-150mm (SLR equivalent is 80-300mm)

Although I'm a bit of a traditionalist, I have lens from an OM2 that I am able to use with a 'converter' and will then need to use the 'manual' mode. This meens my 50mm mirror lens will be 1000mm!!!

Check out eBay, but if you are UK based, ensured that it is supplied by UK co' and all UK guarentees are in place. Some of these are from elsewhere where the Guarentee is not UK valid.

Jerry

[keithk]

Have just been into jessops looking at digital SLR cameras am quite keen on a nikon D50x I would have to buy a 300mm lens extra as well, is that lens big enough and is that camera any good? or does anyone have a better sugestion? I should point out that I'm a total duffer as far as photography is concerned, all I want is a point and shoot jobby as long as the camera is fast enough...problem I have with my pocket Nikon cam is that from pressing shutter there is a delay before piccy is taken .......long enough for subject to have gone by, I have some exellent pictures of L/M tarmac

I use the Nikon D200 with an assortment of different lenses Sigma 12-24, Tokina 28-70 and Nikon 80-200 and carry a X2 converter, all these lenses work fine on the D200 but there are some issues with the D40 I understand that they may not. Sigma lenses have got better over the years.  As you say the main issue is you see the car and by the time the camera takes the picture the cars half way to the next corner!!! The D 40-50-70 all have some shutter delay so more that others, the D40 can take 1.6 seconds from pressing the button to taking the picture the D2H takes 16 milli seconds, D200 50 milli seconds I think I got these figures correct but its just and example to show the difference.

So if you taking a panning shot of a car doing 100 KPH a one second delay with translate to the car has travelled about 28 metres in a second…..and that would be a slow race car

[alibongo]

Cheers people.......think I'm more confused now,(F stops? Brembos? as I said I'm a total dunce with cameras) without starting a major argument can anybody recomend a camera/lens combo suitable for an idiot to point and shoot? ?.....or should I stick to my nikon coolpix/video cam? 

[rcutler]

OK,

I used a Fuji S9500 Finepix at the finish of the Tour of Britain Bike Race. Conculusion: Useless for sports as it was too slow.

Then I bought a Canon EOS400D with 17-55 Lens (Standard Bundle)
Great Camera very little shuttle lag. Work OK on manual, but you will play and enjoy the manual settings later on.

After Sebring I knew I needed a better lens. So bought a 70-300mm IS USM by Canon. This lens is fantastic for the money. I have used L series canon lens which are brilliantly sharp but ££££££.

My Sebring shots taken with a mix of lenses. Standard, Manual 300mm and 400mm IS USM L Series £££££ lens can be seen here:-

http://www.totalsportscar.com/Sebring%202007-0/index.html               (P.S. I borrowed the zoom lenses for Sebring)

So you can get a Canon EOS400D with 17-55Lens for about £400, then the 70-300mm IS USM lens for £369.

With this you can take pictures like this:-

[alibongo]

Nice shot Rick how long did it take you to get used to that combo? I supose with a digital if you dont like the shot you can bin it..... so no wasted film eh? I could practise for 24hrs lol!

[alibongo]

Hey Rick I think you should add the Khumo girls to the open with caution thread 

[rcutler]

I have had the camera since December 06 and the lense for a month.

Used only at Sebring, (Got new lens April) Castle Coombe, RAF Marham Track Weekend, Brands Hatch A1GP, Silverstone FIA GT.

Got used to it very quickly, the old camera was a IXUS!

A word of caution though it may be in my geans photography as dad was a proffessional for years. But did not teach me I hasen to add.

[alibongo]

Hey thats good, so ok a buddy of mine has offered me a Nikon D50 body for £200 and says I that I should be able to get a Nikon 70-300 lens for around £250 or less for a sigma equiv what do you think?

[rcutler]

Go for it! and join the merry band of Motorsport photographers.

Word of advice try to take picture of motorsport before LM if you can as it will mean you can only come away with better images of the big one!

If there is no motorsport possible practice on fast moving things instead.

[Steve Pyro]

Chris, I use a D50.  I'm pleased with my results from Sebring and Gainesville earlier this year.  Well worth the money.

I'd also recomend investing £340 in a Nikon 70-300 AF-S VR lens - very fast focusing / follow focusing and has vibration reduction.  I've found that 300mm is a better option than 200mm for us without media passes.