setup and lenses for motorsport (canon)

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ned.c

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Name
Andrew
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ok, so here's the deal..
I've recently been asked if I'd be willing to cover a uk race series that I'm already at all the weekends for in another role.
I'm an amateur and done a bit of hobby motorsport photography, I'm maybe a bit OTT perfectionist but not always happy with my results (especially panning).
I've been offered money towards a new lens in return for doing photos for the rest of the year for the series with the potential to sell photos to drivers. They (the series organiser) know I won't be the quality of a pro but expect I'll improve during the year and obviously I'd be cheaper to them and an opportunity for me to improve and maybe make a little money.

My current kit is:
40d + battery grip
sigma 10-20 f4-5.6
canon 18-135 IS f3.5-5.6
canon 70-200 f4L
1.4x teleconverter
canon 50mm 1.8

I recon to cover grid shots + action/first corner etc I'd maybe need 2 bodies as I'm so slow and hate chopping and changing lenses all day, it's a faff.
I am also thinking (especially with the teleconverter) that my 70-200 is either too slow, needs stabilising, or both.

What would be a good start point/compromise? I recon I could have £500 towards a lens plus any trade in on my existing kit. Will my 18-135 or 10-20 be most suitable for walk about/wide angle stuff?

Will my 70-200 f4 be sufficient and should I just try to improve my hand steadiness with it or would I be better investing in a 70-200 2.8, a 70-200 f4 stabilised or something else for action and potentially low light? With the teleconverter it goes up to equiv of 280mm or would I be better selling both and getting a lens upto 300mm?

My other thought is I don't have a laptop or website/hosting so I'd need to get something sorted to host an automated upload and watermark thingy and get some business cards so people could view the photos I'd taken.

Sorry if that's several questions and a bit of rambling, any input appreciated.

cheers,

Andrew.
 
IS is only going to help with stationary objects. Motor racing, the cars are moving, peopel are walking about etc..., so you want high shutter speed -> high ISO abilities and aperture. If you use auto ISO on the 40D, you may find the 40D a bit limiting on shutter speed (i.e. the F4 on something newer might actually be better than f/2.8 on the 40D).

Not sure what I'd do in your situation TBH.... (I know that doesn't help but...)
 
There have been quite a few threads on lenses for motorsport photography recently.

On a sunny day at a circuit where you can get close to the action (say Cadwell) your 70-200 will be great. When the clouds come over you'll be wanting an f2.8 lens though. I used 70-200mm f2.8 as my main lens when covering a race series over the last few years. then at circuits, such as Donington and Silverstone where the gravel traps are a bit bigger I hired 300mm or 400mm primes.

I think I only used my wide lens a few times over the years, it was mainly 50mm for pits and 70-200 for track. Also you will probably struggle to get grid AND first corner shots at most circuits unless you can clone yourself...
 
It's a tricky one, but should be more than doable. 2 bodies would probably be pretty handy, but it would be possible to do without. Assuming 2 bodies...

I'd probably do is something like have the 18-135 on one body and a flash which should be fine for the walkabout stuff (and flexible for the wider, atmospheric shots to the tighter driver head shots), then have a longer lens of the other body.

As to what the longer lens should be, that's quite a tricky one. What type of race series is it? If it's something like rallying, then you'll want something fast to freeze action as well as doing the slower panning stuff. If it's more circuit based, then I'd say having the correct focal length is probably more important than speed. After all, if you're doing slow pans at 1/100, your aperture might be down at f/8 or similar, so IS will be a big benefit but a f/2.8 lens wouldn't be.

So, more details please! :)
 
This is circuit racing: brands, silverstone, donington, all the main/usual places. I found with the teleconverter on my 70-200 f4L that I had to have the iso so high to try and keep the shutter speed up and shake down at full reach, even framing a shaking full reach shot wasn't great (that said I was standing on top of a windy gantry at the time). As said for slowish panning the stabilisation would help me a lot. of course with the teleconverter I also loose a stop of light hence the f4 becomes 5.6 so a 2.8 would really help keep the flexibility when I need to use the longer reach.
Apart from higher ISO, how would a better body help me, different auto focus zones/assist or other features? I'm not that clued up about the benefits of the bodies above the 40d, are you talking about the 7d or a 1d something?
 
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To be honest, the suggestion of a second body was more of a flexibility thing rather than to do with features, there are some great examples of motorsport photography with a 40D!

I'll let the real motorsports gurus give the ins and outs of the circuits you mentioned, but for some of them you're going to need more length than your current setup allows.

Possibly a 100-400 would be an idea? While it won't be as sharp as a long prime, it should perform better than a 70-200 with a teleconverter, and you'll keep IS? Just an idea though, i'll let someone who really knows what they're talking about elaborate further :)
 
ned.c said:
Apart from higher ISO, how would a better body help me, different auto focus zones/assist or other features? I'm not that clued up about the benefits of the bodies above the 40d, are you talking about the 7d or a 1d something?
Click to expand...

5630405857_65f1ba3b1f_b.jpg


As to comparisons between higher ISO capabilities take a look at the colour charts part way down: http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Canon-EOS-60D-DSLR-Camera-Review.aspx

You'll have to look at the 50D review to see 40D->50D
 
Thanks Neil_g, I'd done a search and was just reading that one..

I think I need to get more details of budget for a new lens as this could well end up being the limiting factor on what I can afford.

I would also likely to get accredited and get a media pass so I'd be in front of all the catch fencing (but behind the tyres) in the 'pro' tog areas so might help a bit with the reach? A lot of the circuits such as brands, snet you can get pretty close, I guess Silverstone, Donington and a few other you're a bit further away.
 
The 40D has pretty much the same AF as the 5D/20D, I didn't find that to be great, when I had a 1D that was considerably better, I understand the 7D has AF somewhere in the middle.
 
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