Body for Motorsport

Dal

Dal

Is always right
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Darren
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I love my little Nikon D50 to bits as its a cracking little camera, the problem I notice at motorsports events is that when something happens and I try shooting several shots, the camera slows down to maybe 4 photo's before waiting to take the next shot (can often be 2 or 3 seconds later). This is when I shoot in RAW format.

If I shoot in Jpeg format I can shoot a whole sequence to about 12 images but the shots are still pretty far apart.

Now to the solution.

I keep looking at the specs for the D200, D90 & D300.

I love the look of the D300 and I've used Hammerhead64's a few times and love it. The thing I don't like is the price. Even if I had the cash I just don't think I can justify it.

Is it worth me looking at the D200 or the D90 or and I kidding myself with those 2 camera's.

I have a feeling the D300 is going to be the answer but I think I just need some other opinions aswell.

I don't have the cash for a new camera right now anyway but I keep running it through my head.

mmmmmmm 8fps with a D300.

Dammit lol
 
What you are experiencing is the buffer filling up, are you using fast cards?
I'm not sure how much you will gain from increasing the card write speed mind, if the buffer is too small then it is too small - I don't know what the D50 specs say it should be able to achieve either.
 
RichardtheSane said:
What you are experiencing is the buffer filling up, are you using fast cards?
I'm not sure how much you will gain from increasing the card write speed mind, if the buffer is too small then it is too small - I don't know what the D50 specs say it should be able to achieve either.
Click to expand...

I'm guessing the buffer on the D300, D90 & D200 would be alot better than on mine.

I've got SD cards in mine which are slower than CF cards I think
 
andrewc said:
I think fast fps is overrated for motorsport, unless you catch a crash sequence. D90 or above will be fine.

Saying that I would love a 1D series camera, although primarily for the AF system.
Click to expand...

I seem to get lucky with capturing a crash and its the camera that seems to let it down.

The AF system is pretty slow on the D50 aswell but I've learned to work around that now so it doesnt bother me too much.
 
Ok Shooting Raw images will slow the process down, personally don't shot raw for motorsport/aircraft, don't see the need, get a great shot from a JPeg and easily get an A2 print.

As to why you are filling the buffer, its probably down to the way you are take a buster of images. The way I attack the problem, is to not try and take a large buster of images (there no point) but to fire of 2-3 shot buster, allowing the data to be written to the card and autofocus to catchup while continuing to pan the shot.

I've seen many shots from the likes of nikon D50 canons 350D at airshows or motorsport where all you hear is the shutter continually firing, usually only stopping when the buffer is full. Most of these images are for the bin because their not sharp or the subjects partly out of frame, this is because the user not giving the camera time to catch up, and not kept a smooth panned or the subject in framed during the action.

Its better to take a few shots at a time and keep a smooth pan and always set up the shot way before the place you want to capture the action, you'll probably have no problems with the camera buffer and get a better percentage of sharper images.

Peter
 
pete.rush said:
Ok Shooting Raw images will slow the process down, personally don't shot raw for motorsport/aircraft, don't see the need, get a great shot from a JPeg and easily get an A2 print.

As to why you are filling the buffer, its probably down to the way you are take a buster of images. The way I attack the problem, is to not try and take a large buster of images (there no point) but to fire of 2-3 shot buster, allowing the data to be written to the card and autofocus to catchup while continuing to pan the shot.

I've seen many shots from the likes of nikon D50 canons 350D at airshows or motorsport where all you hear is the shutter continually firing, usually only stopping when the buffer is full. Most of these images are for the bin because their not sharp or the subjects partly out of frame, this is because the user not giving the camera time to catch up, and not kept a smooth panned or the subject in framed during the action.

Its better to take a few shots at a time and keep a smooth pan and always set up the shot way before the place you want to capture the action, you'll probably have no problems with the camera buffer and get a better percentage of sharper images.

Peter
Click to expand...

Thinking about it, I can’t remember the last time I edited a RAW file for motorsport now.

I understand what you mean about taking a burst of 2 or 3 shots, which is what I often do, but when you get a crash in front of you and you want to capture the entire event then the 2-3 shots doesn’t help out at all as your more than likely to miss those key shots and its practically impossible to plan ahead for that kind of shot.

I’m at the BTCC this weekend so I’ll shoot in just Jpeg this time and see if I still get annoyed with it lol.

Thanks for the reply Peter.
 
Whats better for motorsport IMO is following the car/bike etc and taking two shots for panning, maybe 2/3 in a corner and only if needed for crashed then use more

the D300 with latest firmware gives 7fps without the grip which would be great, i feel you maytake more shots than you think at once with it however lol

a great for both purposes the D300 but IMO i would keep the "clicks" down and try and focus/follow the car more before clicking
 
This page might be interesting. Write speeds of cards on the D50

http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/multi_page.asp?cid=6007-7905

I use to struggle with a 300D for the same reason. 4 shot buffer with a laggy shutter, so you had to preempt the shutter delay and pick the shot with manually taking it. One of the main reasons I upgraded to a 40D.

Now I've gone to a 50D I've noticed my Sandisk extreme3 cards are a little slower than the camera write speeds, so I'm looking to upgrade these.

I couldn't find a buffer size for the D50, just 2.5fps, which might indicate it's card write times slowing you down.
 
andrewc said:
I think fast fps is overrated for motorsport, unless you catch a crash sequence. D90 or above will be fine.
Click to expand...

:agree:

If the D90 has the same af module as the D300 that would do the job nicely, but fast glass is equally, if not more important. Ideally you want lenses with their own motors though, even with the D300's faster af I found the 80-200 AF-D just a touch slow.
 
I've got a 6fps 50D and rarely use the full burst rate. I couldn't see myself using 10fps of a 1D3 apart from in exceptional circumstances - although I can see that for other sports it may be of more importance - the landing of the punch, the catch of the ball and so on.
 
This is a similar problem to what I am facing... The other body I would consider, is the D2X.
 
Buffer maximums and Shooting Rates. If I was to upgrade, would think seriously about the D90, 1/2 the price of the D300. Information below is for shooting Large fine JPeg.

Model Name: Nikon D300
Buffer Frames, Max Res: No limit
Continuous Mode Rate (fps): 6.12

Model Name: Nikon D50
Buffer Frames, Max Res: 23
Continuous Mode Rate (fps): 2.47

Model Name: Nikon D60
Buffer Frames, Max Res: 100
Continuous Mode Rate (fps): 3

Model Name: Nikon D80
Buffer Frames, Max Res: 6
Continuous Mode Rate (fps): 3

Model Name: Nikon D90
Buffer Frames, Max Res: 20
Continuous Mode Rate (fps): 4.5

Peter
 
pete.rush said:
Buffer maximums and Shooting Rates. If I was to upgrade, would think seriously about the D90, 1/2 the price of the D300. Information below is for shooting Large fine JPeg.

Model Name: Nikon D300
Buffer Frames, Max Res: No limit
Continuous Mode Rate (fps): 6.12

Model Name: Nikon D50
Buffer Frames, Max Res: 23
Continuous Mode Rate (fps): 2.47

Model Name: Nikon D60
Buffer Frames, Max Res: 100
Continuous Mode Rate (fps): 3

Model Name: Nikon D80
Buffer Frames, Max Res: 6
Continuous Mode Rate (fps): 3

Model Name: Nikon D90
Buffer Frames, Max Res: 20
Continuous Mode Rate (fps): 4.5

Peter
Click to expand...

Hi Peter,
Very interesting, do you by any chance have the data for the D2X?
 
You could always go canon :exit:
 
grahamc said:
Hi Peter,
Very interesting, do you by any chance have the data for the D2X?
Click to expand...

Model Name: Nikon D2X
Buffer Frames, Max Res: 20
Continuous Mode Rate (fps): 5.3

Peter
 
pete.rush said:
Buffer maximums and Shooting Rates. If I was to upgrade, would think seriously about the D90, 1/2 the price of the D300. Information below is for shooting Large fine JPeg.

Model Name: Nikon D300
Buffer Frames, Max Res: No limit
Continuous Mode Rate (fps): 6.12

Model Name: Nikon D50
Buffer Frames, Max Res: 23
Continuous Mode Rate (fps): 2.47

Model Name: Nikon D60
Buffer Frames, Max Res: 100
Continuous Mode Rate (fps): 3

Model Name: Nikon D80
Buffer Frames, Max Res: 6
Continuous Mode Rate (fps): 3

Model Name: Nikon D90
Buffer Frames, Max Res: 20
Continuous Mode Rate (fps): 4.5

Peter
Click to expand...

Thanks for that Pete, where did you get that info? Any Idea what the D70 is like aswell, I know its old but Just found out it does flash commander mode lol, so might buy a cheap one of those.
 
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