Going to BSB snetterton tomorrow for pracitce- what settings

[formula400]

right i am going to the British superbike practice day tomorrow and it will be my 1st outing to photograph bike racing or any kind of racing,

i am taking my Sony a200, Sigma 17-70 and Sigma 70-300 APO.

what will be the best mode for me to shoot in and what kind of setting should i look at using???

cheer people.

 

[Annie]

I usually opt for TV mode (shutter priorty) when shooting bikes. For straight on shots you might want to try something like 1/320th and for panning shots (depending on light etc) I'd normally use something between 1/125th down to 1/60th. That said, I'm still pretty new to motorsport photography, so you may well get better advice from the more seasoned motorsport 'togs.

It's a case of trial and error really. Good luck. I loved the superbikes. Try to pre-focus on the bike because they go faaaaaaaaaaast!! Have fun

 

[fordpop]

Depends on what parts of the circuit your on, and how good your panning is! Start in shutter priority at about 1/200 and work from there.

My simple advice is get the bike/rider in focus - sounds like a no brainer, but it's easier said than done, and the images will be useless if the background is nice blurred, but so is the bike

There are plenty of stunning images in the motorsport section - study them and the exif and you'll get to see what you like. Shooting it then maybe another matter

Have fun, and post some shots.

 

[formula400]

cheers you 2, is it worth taking the hoods for both lens???

 

[Gary]

I dont really do bikes, but a good rule of thumb for starting out is to use Av mode when you cant see the wheels (wheels, not tyres) and Tv mode when you can see the wheels.
Use maximum aperture in Av mode, and 1/320 or lower in Tv mode panning with the vehicle.

 

[Creed]

Done cars before but not bikes... need to be in TV mode and experiment with the shutter speeds to get the effect you want... if you are going for those lovely panning shots where the bike is pin sharp and the background is blurred then I would strongly suggest a monopod if you have one... can be done hand held but a monopod helps... see my flickr for my motorsport pics taken using an old camera, kit lens and a cheap monopod... there nothing flash but show what you can acheive.

 

[Annie]

cheers you 2, is it worth taking the hoods for both lens???

I don't normally use a hood on the 300 unless it's really bright. But I always use it on the 500. don't know why LOL

A lot of people swear by using a monopod but I just can't get on with it, even with the 500mm it gets in my way and annoys the poop out of me because I don't feel I can pan right with it on, although I tend to use the 300mm for panning and it's wayyy lighter to pan with than the 500.

 

[Creed]

I don't normally use a hood on the 300 unless it's really bright. But I always use it on the 500. don't know why LOL

A lot of people swear by using a monopod but I just can't get on with it, even with the 500mm it gets in my way and annoys the poop out of me because I don't feel I can pan right with it on, although I tend to use the 300mm for panning and it's wayyy lighter to pan with than the 500.

Think using a monopod to pan can take practice but it can help alot... for example you need to make sure you have one the right height, for me that was hard as I'm 6 foot 3 but if it's too low and your bending down it's a lot harder to pan with it... also takes a bit of forethought as to where you are going to pan.. for example I started off trying to follow the cars through about 180 degrees which was a nightmare as I just kept falling over the monopod, changed my angle a bit so was keeping one eye open and started panning before the car came into shot and my results were far better...

Also depends on how steady you are as well... I was not very steady so without the monopod was finding panning at low shutter speeds almost impossible.


EDIT: forgot to add that I found it easier to set it to the central focus point only and try while panning to keep this in the same place on the vehicle at all times... that way you know you're panning correctly... also burst mode is useful (think that enables AI-Servo on my camera)