Setup for a DSLR for motorsport.

Matt Sayle

Matt Sayle

2017MSA Young Photographer of the Year(Motorsport)
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Matt Sayle
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Well, all being well, I will pick up my first DSLR next weekend :woot: I will be getting it on the morning of the BTCC at Oulton Park. SO, what settings need to be setup??

Thanks
Matt
 
I don't have experience with motor sports shots, but I have some with moving subjects, so in general:
- use continuous AF
- if you don't want to freeze the moment completely, you should practice panning a bit - requires slower shutter speeds
- I'd go with M mode, trying out the exposure before taking the shot itself
 
If you want those classic high speed pan shots with the wheels slightly blurred you'll need to shoot around 160sec if I remember right, experiment around that.

Pan fast but smooth on AF, chasing the cars with the side of the frame at the closest ?mm you can handle comfortably (not much point having loads of cropped of cars etc). Fire the shutter gently as you continue through the pan, keeping the button down, at that speed you'll only get off one or two so timing is everything...up your speed if you struggle to get crisp focus on the car.

(y)
 
matt how i use my camera (20D)

servo AF (continuous focus)
set it up on the middle focus point
i use Tv and adjust the shutter speed to get my pans as i want them, adjusting the iso as necesary to get a reasonable aperture and DOF
i shoot in large Jpeg fine, if its a shot i really want to be able to work with in lightroom ill shoot in raw, but usually jpeg large as this allows it to clear the buffer asap and allow me to shoot the next gaggle of cars
 
Best setup to get some keepers.

AI-Servo focus mode
Tv shutter priority mode
AWB
for a front 3/4 experiment around 1/320
for a sideways pan start at around 1/160 and work down.

Use a specific focussing point, not necessarily centre one, but this is normally the most accurate.

Hope to see you at Oulton in August for the CSCC meeting.
 
andrewc said:
Best setup to get some keepers.

AI-Servo focus mode
Tv shutter priority mode
AWB
for a front 3/4 experiment around 1/320
for a sideways pan start at around 1/160 and work down.

Use a specific focussing point, not necessarily centre one, but this is normally the most accurate.

Hope to see you at Oulton in August for the CSCC meeting.
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Cheers (y) You have a pm ;)
 
Matt, the shots I got at the BTCC at snetterton were taken between 1/160th, and 1/250th. The further the car is away from you the faster you will need to have the shutter as it becomes alot more difficult to keep the camera steady. Monopods are a really helpful bit of kit aswell.

my settings I use are.

Shutter Priority,
Center weighted metering,
Continuous focus,
Auto white balance,

and make sure you keep the camera on the multiple shot setting so if you see a crash just hold the shutter button down :D
 
Yup, back focusing button for sure. Pre-focus for panning shots so that the camera doesn't suddenly decide to focus on something else!

I tend to use manual settings - figure out the correct exposure before each race starts. Then the camera isn't going to give different exposures for bright and dark cars.

For panning I generally use 1/100s and drop down to 1/40 - 1/60 for a few blurrier attempts.

I'm headed to Oulton tomorrow. Shocked that this is my first visit of the year - I used to go almost as much as you!
 
i dont want to saturate your brain with lots of different (and some times contradictory) advice from lots of different people, and all the advice seems good so far, but here's my 2 penneth for a rookie

camera set up:
jpeg large fine
if it has colour settings then put it on something like landscape and max sharpness
ISO 100 if its reasonably sunny.. if its overcast then ISO 400, raining then even higher.
AF AI Servo
Auto White Balance
Drive mode - whatever the fastest burst mode is
centre weighted metered exposure
use centre focus point
(these settings are all for moving cars by the way, you probably already know the settings for badge shots :) )

If you can see the wheels on the car:
Tv mode 1/320 shutter speed (slowing it down as you get used to it.. even as far down as 1/60 or slower)

If you cant see the wheels on the car:
Av mode set to the widest aperture possible

That's a good setup for a beginner. You'll get some good shots, but if you want to get really really good shots then there's a lot more to it.
 
i dont want to completely contradict some of the previous posts, but some of you guys need to read the original post about Matt getting his first DSLR the morning of the race.. I dont think the suggestions of using manual exposure, manual focus, and 1/40th is really the best idea for a rookie (no offence Matt :) )
 
Cheers (y) I will advance the settings as I advance in pictures quality if you get my drift. I will make note of all this and set the camera up in the car on the way :LOL:
 
Oh no offence. I am a rookie. I want what is going to give me the best results I can achevie not what the camera can acheive. Well not yet anyway ;)
 
Matt Sayle said:
Oh no offence. I am a rookie. I want what is going to give me the best results I can achevie not what the camera can acheive. Well not yet anyway ;)
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with that attitude you will just do fine..
take your time, practice a lot (i dont need to tell you that LOL) and experiment. Oh and dont always listen to what people think. If you like the photo you've taken then thats all the matters really.
 
badgerbaiter said:
with that attitude you will just do fine..
take your time, practice a lot (i dont need to tell you that LOL) and experiment. Oh and dont always listen to what people think. If you like the photo you've taken then thats all the matters really.
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The plan is practice with the 400D for 2 years. Try my upmost to get 'known' or even published *crosses finger* Then when I am 18 upgrade and apply for media passes!!
 
good plan
stick at it mate

just remember that its very hard to make any money out of this game, and almost impossible to make a living out of it.. There will be plenty of people that will try and put you off but if you want it bad enough and are determined enough then go for it.
 
badgerbaiter said:
good plan
stick at it mate

just remember that its very hard to make any money out of this game, and almost impossible to make a living out of it.. There will be plenty of people that will try and put you off but if you want it bad enough and are determined enough then go for it.
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Tbh money would be a bonus, I love motorsport and do it for the love of the sport. I really enjoy spending hours at Oulton with my camera and it would take a lot to put me off!!
 
well when you do then you;ll know what its like


and im talking the sort of hangover where your head feels like its being squashed with a G-clamp and you think your insides are about to fall out of your ******** because you had a dicky kebab on the way home, and your mouth feels like a rodent has built itself a nest on your tongue, then young sir you'll understand how hard it is to get anything done on a saturday morning.........
 
whitewash said:
well when you do then you;ll know what its like


and im talking the sort of hangover where your head feels like its being squashed with a G-clamp and you think your insides are about to fall out of your ******** because you had a dicky kebab on the way home, and your mouth feels like a rodent has built itself a nest on your tongue, then young sir you'll understand how hard it is to get anything done on a saturday morning.........
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That sounds rather bad!! Dont like the sound of a hangover :LOL:
 
Good choice Matt, even if it is a Canon:puke:

Seriously though, have another read at what badgerbaiter wrote and then read it again.....in fact print it out and take a copy with you to the races.

The only extra bit of advice I'd add is that because your 70-300 is a fairly slow lens you'll probably find that you'll need to shoot at higher isos (I sometimes find myself up at 400+ iso, even with the D300 +80-200 f/2.8) to get the shots, but the 400D is pretty good for that sort of stuff, so no need to panic ;)
 
badgerbaiter said:
i dont want to completely contradict some of the previous posts, but some of you guys need to read the original post about Matt getting his first DSLR the morning of the race.. I dont think the suggestions of using manual exposure, manual focus, and 1/40th is really the best idea for a rookie (no offence Matt :) )
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I think a great deal of the forum started out on full manual (I know I did on my dad's SLR) It's not beyond matt at all (he obv. has a decent grasp of the principles of photography), just requires a tad more patience from him than the big green button would, it's his choice as to what feels right on the day of course.

Matt Sayle said:
That sounds rather bad!! Dont like the sound of a hangover :LOL:
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Being two years older than you, I can assure you the drunken debauched nights on which legends are made are Sooooo worth the hangover.

If you're going to college/sixth form, you're about to enter a world of underage drinking and random house parties with interesting consequences (best mate got his hand stuck in a wall, amongst other stories).

Enjoy it whilst you can :p
 
i dont think that anyone was suggesting that matt should go anywhere near the 'big green square of cash over understanding' (as i like to call it), we were more suggested use of the PAS functions rather than simply straight onto fully manual.
 
TheKrikkitWars said:
I think a great deal of the forum started out on full manual (I know I did on my dad's SLR) It's not beyond matt at all (he obv. has a decent grasp of the principles of photography), just requires a tad more patience from him than the big green button would, it's his choice as to what feels right on the day of course.
Click to expand...

Funnily enough, I've stopped shooting in manual and started using Shutter Priority for the first time in years because the light changes so much from shot to shot at Knockhill- there can be bright sunshine on one side and hailstones on the other :bonk:
 
i hope it doesnt make me sound too amateur but i only ever use fully manual when i'm shooting at a night race, or trying to get some weird effect, or drunk :)
when i need to set the exposure myself because the camera cant do it or gets tricked by something (i.e. car headlamps shining head on) then i just use the * button to preset the exposure. Never really had to use manual exposure, but maybe i should. I guess its just a matter of taste.
My main problem with manual exposure and manual focus is the if something happened that you werent expecing (like the leader of the race barrell rolling) then chances are you arent going to catch it.
 
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