North West 200 Help

[gwocni]

Hi Guys

From tonights practice at the NW200 road races, my first motorsport. Using the D200 with the 18-200 VR, monopod and available light at a range (to the race bikes) of about 75 feet. Weather was overcast and not a great deal of light about. Pictures are in time order.

The pics aren't sharp to me, is this me or is it because the lens is at extreme range or what is it? The "closer" pics seem sharper.

I used continuous focus most of the time and centre spot focus in shutter priority at 1/800 and iso 400 (rising in later pics).

So........ How do I get them crystal? Is it me? Your help appreciated for this one guys.

Sorry if these are the incorrect size, I haven't twigged the resize method yet:shrug:

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s209/gwocnipix/Sport/NW200Practice07020.jpg

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s209/gwocnipix/Sport/NW200Practice07066.jpg

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s209/gwocnipix/Sport/NW200Practice07078.jpg

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s209/gwocnipix/Sport/NW200Practice07096.jpg

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s209/gwocnipix/Sport/NW200Practice07126.jpg

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s209/gwocnipix/Sport/NW200Practice07178.jpg

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s209/gwocnipix/Sport/NW200Practice07196.jpg

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s209/gwocnipix/Sport/NW200Practice07355.jpg

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s209/gwocnipix/Sport/NW200Practice07406.jpg

Thanks & Regards
David.

[mole2k]

These images seem ok to me, they do seem slightly soft but nothing a little bit of selecting sharping cant fix :)

http://www.mole2k.co.uk/NW200Practice07126%20copy.jpg

[PaulBoy]

Mole2k is right but as you said yourself there wasn't much light around & the 18-200mm isn't anything like f2.8 - You queried whether the problem might be that you were at the extreme end of the lens? - I had one when they came out & loved it as a "one lens" solution but missed the 200-300mm of my old 70-300mm & now have a 70-300mmVR which I rate highly (& those in the know also rate highly) - very envious of you being there as I used to go when I lived in NI - Hope the weather is kind on race day :wave:
Paul :thumbs:

[gwocni]

Thanks for the comments Guys

Maybe I was expecting too much from the lens but if it's not raining too hard tomorrow (and it will rain) I may get some better shots in. It seems that I'm going to have to beg, steal, borrow or maybe even buy a 300mm or longer to cope. Also looks like I'll have to spend hours on the PC learning processing:naughty:

Thanks
David.

[matty]

try and get closer, and user a slower shutter speed while tracking the bikes, this will give a better feeling of speed.

there is a good tutorial on post processing in the tutorials forum, i will find it...

[gwocni]

Thanks Matty,

I'm not sure about getting closer as the barriers dictate distance but I will try panning at lower speeds. I intended to "stop" the bikes and try to get used to using shutter priority and get the pix sharp on this shoot without too high an iso. Soooo many things to do on these modern cameras and that's before processing :bonk:

Ta
David.

[PaulBoy]

Something else occured to me - The 18-200mm has 2x settings on its VR one of which is "full on" VR and not suitable for panned shots like the side on m/cycle ones (not sure what you set yours at) the other setting is designed for use when panning etc - something else I would try (& I'm sure I run the risk of derision for saying it) try setting the D200 to AutoISO so that it compensates for the available light for you based on the aperture & shutter speed you select - you might get a bit of noise if the D200 ramps up the ISO but again this can be addressed in pp but at least in poor light you'll get a usable image - hope that makes sense (?) Look forward to some more pics & the rain holds off (hang on its North Antrim where it rains twice a week - once for three days & once for four :lol: - we call it "Liquid Sunshine" when I'm on the golf course in Antrim :shrug: )
Paul ;)

[gwocni]

Thanks Paul

I had the lens on VR (didn't even think to change it) and didn't use auto iso for fear of noise if the 200 decided it needed iso 2000 on it's own. :)
Steeeep learning curve innit:thinking:

Roll on the rain
:thankyou:
David.

[matty]

i took the run before i could walk approach with my first bike shots, whacked it on manual and just kept snapping away with different settings, checking to see what was working and what wasnt. Be wary though, the shots on the camera screen may look sharp, but on monitors they might be a bit more soft

[RickMezza]

I think the images look fine considering the distance to the subject and lens you're using :thumbs: . But echoing what the others have said, I'd say
- reduce the shutter speed a bit to blur the background whilst keeping the bike/rider in focus (this alone can make the bike 'look' sharper ;) )
- possibly use the widest aperture you can to reduce the depth of field - this will help separate the bike from the background. Given the poor light you might have to boost the ISO a bit but the camera should be able to handle it.
- sharpen the images a bit more - I think 'Mole2k' hit the nail on the head, they could definitely do with a sharpen I think.

I'm certainly no expert though. :)

ps, wish I was there, I'd love to watch the 200 :thumbs:

[gwocni]

OK Guys

Thanks, providing its not pi55ing it down I'll be there tomorrow giving it big licks....... We'll see :)

David.