1st Time Bike Racing...

[johnnyflash]

Hi,

Today was my first time to try capture motorcycle racing and man oh man, it was difficult. From the hundreds of pictures these were the only useable ones(in my minds eye). All C&C welcome and no offence taken, after all I'm here to learn. :bonk:

1.
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii97/satanmademedoit/DSC_0491.jpg
2.
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii97/satanmademedoit/DSC_0238.jpg
3.
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii97/satanmademedoit/DSC_0411.jpg
4.
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii97/satanmademedoit/DSC_0422.jpg
5.
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii97/satanmademedoit/DSC_0486.jpg

[desantnik]

Not bad! I like the crossed up front wheel in #4 and #1 is a nice tight wheelie shot.

Is that the Nikon 70-200 you are using there?

What was the weather like on the day? Overcast?

[johnnyflash]

Yeah it was overcast alright, thought they looked a tad bit dark myself. I used a Nikon 18-200mm VR, its a bit short for the track (mondello) so there's not many good vantage points for the lens.

[TomWilko]

For a first attempt these are good, bikes are tricky. Which circuit were you at?

EDIT: No matter, seen above.

[johnnyflash]

Tricky is not the word, i have 200 or so rubbish images to prove that. I know this has probably been asked before, but what (non-astromically priced) lens do you all use in motorsport?

There are so many choices. I was tempted with the thought of teleconvertors but i believe these reduce the aparture by at least a stop, reducing focusing speed? Is this correct?

Any thoughts on the nikon 80-400mm f4.5-5.6 D ED VR?

[Matt Sayle]

Bikes are sooo much harder than cars. Nice shots, like the fourth!

[desantnik]

but what (non-astromically priced) lens do you all use in motorsport?

Well, obviously I am into Canon, but to be honest the answer is the same for Nikon too...

70-200mm f2.8
300mm f4

And a teleconverter - think the Nikon one is a 1.5x, the Canon is a 1.4x.

Yes I know Nikon do a 1.7x and a 2x too, and Canon a 2x but...

The TC's drop a stop on a 1.5/1.4 and one and a half stops on a 1.7 and two stops on a 2x. If your lens aperture goes above f5.6 your camera will not autofocus (not the aperture you set for taking the pics, but when the camera focuses it opens it all the way up, but this MUST be f5.6 or better or it will not work). So you can basically fit a 1.5/1.4 to a F4 lens (or rather F4 at whatever zoom you are at because some zooms the aperture size varies with length) and a 2x to a F2.8 lens.

Image quality DOES go down, not much on the 1.4/1.5 but the 2x can be a bit choppy IMHO. No doubt a million people will disagree, but its true!

Those lenses are under a grand each, which is cheap in the world of motorsport photography! Obviously the pro's use far longer and far better lenses, but then you are talking two and a half grand upwards!!

For a much cheaper option that will give you some pretty neat shots none the less, try the Nikon 70-300VR (or if anyone is a Canon person, the 70-300 IS). That is around 350 quid and pretty good bang for your buck - a large proportion of my pics are taken with the Canon 70-300.

[garyrestall]

Your photos look fine to me. I attended the WSB meeting at Brands at the weekend to shoot Motorbikes for the first time. I found that the delay in auto focus tracking to the shutter operating allowed the object to move out of focus even in servo mode. I have a 30D. I enjoyed the experience very much and will look forward to future meetings and hopefully meet up with new friends from here. I am new on here so not to sure how to upload images but will give it a try. Regards gary

[garyrestall]

http://http://www.flickr.com/photos/garyrestall/2735899539/in/set-72157606560801126/

[maddog.mark]

You did well, I've only tried motorsport photgraphy once and it was hard.

However my 2p is:
1) I like this, very nice
2) The bike is too central in the frame, a little off the left might help. A slower shutter speed would have helped blur the b/g too... but that takes more skill than I have. :)
3) A tad soft, but I'm being picky
4) I like
5) Again I like but may be to central again.

HTH

[garyrestall]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/garyrestall/2736771870/sizes/l/

[maddog.mark]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/garyrestall/2736771870/sizes/l/


That'll be a private page then;)