Camera choice for F1 night race photographers

[vidssnap]

Hi Turbonetics

Sorry forget to mention 70-200 for panning
Yes,it's difficult to get whole car in 1 frame. I took only few panning because I want to get some spots on Sunday. I focus with at least got race feel mean 2 cars in 1 frame.

Panning is depend on your location, I did not get the nice colorful background but I am happy with the result, still sharp and have a motion feel.

 

[Turbonetics]

Hi Turbonetics Sorry forget to mention 70-200 for panning Yes,it's difficult to get whole car in 1 frame. I took only few panning because I want to get some spots on Sunday. I focus with at least got race feel mean 2 cars in 1 frame. Panning is depend on your location, I did not get the nice colorful background but I am happy with the result, still sharp and have a motion feel.

70-200 is very good for our local race.
However I had sold off mine and this year I was using 200mm prime so it was another problem faced.

 

[ricleo]

70-200 is very good for our local race.
However I had sold off mine and this year I was using 200mm prime so it was another problem faced.

200mm prime is good enough hehe.....

i was struggling to pan effectively with the Sigma 120-300, and at my location @ 600mm with 2X adaptor hehe....

end up just doing the safe faster shutter speed shots and getting a sharp car. end up happier with the candids and shots around zone one rather than the car shots haha

 

[vidssnap]

200 prime is good lens but yes a bit difficult to get the spot for it for panning

I am considering sigma 120-300, but some said is heavy

How is it when use for panning?

 

[Kisuke]

Do u have any panning shot(s)?
This shot is pretty easy to get,U could either use focus tracking or just pre-focus and wait for the cars to come and snap. the most important for this shot is to get a fast enough shutter speed. Any DSLR can do it quite easily.

Yes. it's easy to get with a fast shutter speed. but clean High ISO? Telephoto optics with wide max aperture to blur the fence? do you think that it's fun lugging all that equipment down to get a cleaner shot, or a tighter framing on the cars without cropping the image? u say until like it is chicken feet, but don't forget that this also is what the pros shoot also. so you're saying that they have it easy? we also have to go earlier to find the spot, choose our angle etc. so don't discount the hard work put in and say "it is easy"

of course panning look very glamorous and nice. n the reason why i not doing any panning is because i'm waiting at this corner for drivers who will be doing overtaking, or the close fight between drivers, and capturing it. if you think it is easy to hold a 300mm lens steady on a monopod, and jostle with people cramming next to you, then i say u pro lor.

you may be more senior, and you may have more technical experience. but don't forget, not every area is ideal for panning. where i was, it wasn't. wand no, i won't reveal where i was (then we'll have more people clustering here like in Zone 4)

and to answer your qn: yes, i do have. but my entire hdd of 4 years of images got wiped out (and my backup hdd got corrupted) and this is what i currently have. like you said, you decided for a change. and this year i did not do any panning shots for a change.

 

[unclejosh]

Not sure why you got pretty offended by the a reply that much.
pertaining to your 1 shot 1 kill phrase earlier, i felt that perhaps you might have a better image to share as compared to the one you've posted up?

first off, i can't quite pinpoint your focus within the shot. the overall shot was blur(even though it resized)--can't quite determine is it from OOF or from motion.
secondly, if that's the best shot you've--bursting 2 or 3 shots might have given you a better option
thirdly, having multiple shots through one turn gives the photographer varieties in his shot--blur shots,different parts of the turn, capturing that part where the wheel is off the ground and etc.

and yes, i'm sure it isn't fun lugging around your equipments around. my honest opinion? a 300mm lens on a monopod is much easier as compared a handheld 400m?

i would definitely agree on the fact that not every spot is ideal for panning and it depends a lot more on what shots are you aiming for.

lastly, i share you grief on how HDDs could betray us.

Yes. it's easy to get with a fast shutter speed. but clean High ISO? Telephoto optics with wide max aperture to blur the fence? do you think that it's fun lugging all that equipment down to get a cleaner shot, or a tighter framing on the cars without cropping the image? u say until like it is chicken feet, but don't forget that this also is what the pros shoot also. so you're saying that they have it easy? we also have to go earlier to find the spot, choose our angle etc. so don't discount the hard work put in and say "it is easy"

of course panning look very glamorous and nice. n the reason why i not doing any panning is because i'm waiting at this corner for drivers who will be doing overtaking, or the close fight between drivers, and capturing it. if you think it is easy to hold a 300mm lens steady on a monopod, and jostle with people cramming next to you, then i say u pro lor.

you may be more senior, and you may have more technical experience. but don't forget, not every area is ideal for panning. where i was, it wasn't. wand no, i won't reveal where i was (then we'll have more people clustering here like in Zone 4)

and to answer your qn: yes, i do have. but my entire hdd of 4 years of images got wiped out (and my backup hdd got corrupted) and this is what i currently have. like you said, you decided for a change. and this year i did not do any panning shots for a change.

 

[lightning]

This is shot in 2010 F1, 1DM4 with 200F2L IS hand held. The lens is the same weight as the 300F2.8 lenses.

http://victorgo.dyndns.org:8080/share.cgi?ssid=0SRfMn5

i shoot hand held panning most of the time, didn't use any tripod / monopod. Gave up using it in 2009.

 

[daredevil123]

Kisuke, calm down. Don't think Turbonectics mean't it that way.

Lugging huge heavy gear yes, we all did it before. I've even handheld 300/2.8 with 2x TC when required. ISO required is not high also, in the end it is very well lighted. And no, no one cares about your location.

And yes, the shots you posted are indeed easy to achieve by my standards too. But easy or not is subjective. A person with enough skill, experience and knowhow will find it easy. It does not discount any hard work put in too, whether it is easy or not.

Cool down.

 

[Turbonetics]

Yes. it's easy to get with a fast shutter speed. but clean High ISO? Telephoto optics with wide max aperture to blur the fence? do you think that it's fun lugging all that equipment down to get a cleaner shot, or a tighter framing on the cars without cropping the image? u say until like it is chicken feet, but don't forget that this also is what the pros shoot also. so you're saying that they have it easy? we also have to go earlier to find the spot, choose our angle etc. so don't discount the hard work put in and say "it is easy" of course panning look very glamorous and nice. n the reason why i not doing any panning is because i'm waiting at this corner for drivers who will be doing overtaking, or the close fight between drivers, and capturing it. if you think it is easy to hold a 300mm lens steady on a monopod, and jostle with people cramming next to you, then i say u pro lor. you may be more senior, and you may have more technical experience. but don't forget, not every area is ideal for panning. where i was, it wasn't. wand no, i won't reveal where i was (then we'll have more people clustering here like in Zone 4) and to answer your qn: yes, i do have. but my entire hdd of 4 years of images got wiped out (and my backup hdd got corrupted) and this is what i currently have. like you said, you decided for a change. and this year i did not do any panning shots for a change.

Sorry if u had felt offended by my post earlier. Because u mentioned u were using Sony A7 and how people beside u using D4S and 1Dx were amazed by your gears and u mentioned one shot one kill and I thought it was panning shots which isn't as easy as the one u posted on stationary frontal shot. That's why I asked if u had panning shots also one shot one kill? My first time shooting in 2009 was using Canon 1000D and rented the 70-200mm 2.8 just for the F1. I was shooting some similar shots and I just put my tripod and pre-focus on a spot and just wait for cars to come and snap..I don't have to look at the viewfinder. So after a few times of shooting,I would say its not that hard and not because iam more senior or what. This year I was shooting for 2 days and the first day was mostly hand holding 1D4 with 200/2 lens as I didn't bring any support. Second day was using 1D4 with 200/2 hand held for the first qualifying and second qualifying was 1D4 and 500/4 on monopod. On the third day,I got a surprise of shoulder ache. Let's peace as iam not showing off my skill or experience, just stating some of my personal opinions.

 

[Turbonetics]

Kisuke, calm down. Don't think Turbonectics mean't it that way. Lugging huge heavy gear yes, we all did it before. I've even handheld 300/2.8 with 2x TC when required. ISO required is not high also, in the end it is very well lighted. And no, no one cares about your location. And yes, the shots you posted are indeed easy to achieve by my standards too. But easy or not is subjective. A person with enough skill, experience and knowhow will find it easy. It does not discount any hard work put in too, whether it is easy or not. Cool down.

Thanks DD...lighting was pretty ok so ISO need not be that high...sometimes the lighting was so good that my panning had to be shot at ISO 50 for a slower shutter speed and sometimes I can't get to use the F2 and had to stopped down.

 

[Turbonetics]

200mm prime is good enough hehe..... i was struggling to pan effectively with the Sigma 120-300, and at my location @ 600mm with 2X adaptor hehe.... end up just doing the safe faster shutter speed shots and getting a sharp car. end up happier with the candids and shots around zone one rather than the car shots haha

The challenge about our local race is that a good lens may not be a suitable lens but a suitable lens is more important. I was very contradicting before going for the shoot on what should I use.

 

[vidssnap]

Agree with that
I was thinking to bring 70-200 plus 2x but I know for focusing it's not as fast as 400mm.
At the end I brought that 2 lens plus 1 wide.
400 for sharp faster and 70-200 for panning.
And at 200 it's difficult to get the whole car body in 1 frame (base on the spot I went)
But at 200 the cage is mostly disappear

 

[lightning]

The challenge about our local race is that a good lens may not be a suitable lens but a suitable lens is more important. I was very contradicting before going for the shoot on what should I use.

So far I am always able to get good shots with just a 1D4 and a 200F2. No issue getting whole car in frame and no issue with lightning conditions. Get a F2 lens (not shooting at F2) to have good focusing accuracy. My camera tracks the car more accurately with a 200F2 compared to a 300F2.8

 

[Turbonetics]

So far I am always able to get good shots with just a 1D4 and a 200F2. No issue getting whole car in frame and no issue with lightning conditions. Get a F2 lens (not shooting at F2) to have good focusing accuracy. My camera tracks the car more accurately with a 200F2 compared to a 300F2.8

I believe getting full car has for to do with the spot we are shooting at..I tried to balance both shutter speed and aperture being shutter speed priority as I wanted to get slow and if possible at F2 to make the fence less obvious I didn't go beyond 2.8 and some shots were slightly over exposed but not a big issue. Indeed F2 focus was fast...at some point I was shooting just One Shot mode for panning.

 

[unclejosh]

Personal experience, I've carried 400 and 600 both with monopod under the scorching sun for 3days in a row.

On personal view, I've always been shooting at f4+- though shutter speed and iso varies throughout the day. Choice of lens depends on the spot i've predetermined--from 24-70, 70-200 and 400. Camera runs between a 5D2s and 7Ds as I've to shoot the pit as well (occasionally on 16-35).

Panning on a deep turn or a long curve varies. Being on the inside or the outside of the turn would play a role as well.

 

[Turbonetics]

Personal experience, I've carried 400 and 600 both with monopod under the scorching sun for 3days in a row. On personal view, I've always been shooting at f4+- though shutter speed and iso varies throughout the day. Choice of lens depends on the spot i've predetermined--from 24-70, 70-200 and 400. Camera runs between a 5D2s and 7Ds as I've to shoot the pit as well (occasionally on 16-35). Panning on a deep turn or a long curve varies. Being on the inside or the outside of the turn would play a role as well.

What's your advise on a sharp turn shooting from inside angle? The car slows down pretty much probably 1st-2nd gear before the turn. This was what I was shooting?

 

[unclejosh]

wouldn't say advice but i'll share on what are my options if i were to shoot.
depending on the distance i've from the turn, i'll try to pan it at above 100mm
however, if i'm right on the turn itself with little room to move, would just pan at whatever range I could. sometimes it could be pretty fun to pan with a fish eye~ but i can't do that for every shot. panning at anything lower than 100mm would require more precision in your movement--only diagonal, not to mention precise focusing if you're bursting. in such occasion i would most likely get only 3 usable shots if i burst about 7 across the turn.

as mentioned, if you're on the outside of the turn then most likely you would've more room thus using a longer lens.

What's your advise on a sharp turn shooting from inside angle? The car slows down pretty much probably 1st-2nd gear before the turn. This was what I was shooting?

 

[Turbonetics]

wouldn't say advice but i'll share on what are my options if i were to shoot. depending on the distance i've from the turn, i'll try to pan it at above 100mm however, if i'm right on the turn itself with little room to move, would just pan at whatever range I could. sometimes it could be pretty fun to pan with a fish eye~ but i can't do that for every shot. panning at anything lower than 100mm would require more precision in your movement--only diagonal, not to mention precise focusing if you're bursting. in such occasion i would most likely get only 3 usable shots if i burst about 7 across the turn. as mentioned, if you're on the outside of the turn then most likely you would've more room thus using a longer lens.

I thought a more tele lens would need more precision in movement?

 

[unclejosh]

I thought a more tele lens would need more precision in movement?

the longer the lens, the lesser you've to move and less noticeable in the slight difference in your diagonal movement.
the shorter the lens, the more you've to pan for the same amount of distance.

not sure if this would explain better


therefore the the movement has to be really smooth in one direction

 

[Turbonetics]

the longer the lens, the lesser you've to move and less noticeable in the slight difference in your diagonal movement. the shorter the lens, the move you've to pan for the same amount of distance. not sure if this would explain better ---------| | probably 30degrees? --| | almost 45degrees

Ok so that's what u mean.
But precise wise I would say longer lens need to before precise as the subject is bigger and any motion blur would be more obvious.
I was shooting with 200mm outside esplade where the speed was pretty fast...I swung my whole upper body from left to right. Lol