Thinking about getting into auto racing photography. 

"Anon" (tjsielsistneb) 06/21/2015 at 17:26 • Filed to: None

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Since I’ll be moving to baton rouge this fall I’ll only be living an hour away from the NOLA Motor Speedway. As such I’m thinking about buying a Nikon 300mm ED IF AI-s with a tripod and try my hand at auto racing photography. Does anyone here have any experience shooting races and if so, what advice would you give. Also a ton of camera nerd stuff about the lens after the jump!

(Camera Nerd Stuff Below!!!!!)

It’s a manual lens, however from what I understand most people use their lenses in manual mode and just pre-focus on a corner and waiting for the car to come. I’d be using it with my a7 and would probobly buy a 1.5x extender. Since the A7 can be used in crop mode and if I used the extender I could turn it into a 600mm f8 (though letting in the same amount of light as a f5.6) and a resolution of 12mp, more than enough if you don’t crop. I’d also probobly use it this winter when I go duck hunting with some friends. So I think it would be a decent investment at $400.

mcseanerson > Anon 06/21/2015 at 17:44

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http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/80200f4a…

Don’t know that much about the lens you posted but I’ve been eyeing this one for a while as it’s supposed to be super sharp, is a parfocal zoom, and can be had for under $100. I’ve been thinking about getting this lens for basically the same thing as I’m a little more than an hour from mid ohio.

michael bleggi > mcseanerson 06/21/2015 at 18:12

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70-200mm f/4 lenses are soooo fun to work with.

ReallyColorful > Anon 06/21/2015 at 21:39

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You’re shooting JPEG? I’d just shoot RAW and worry about the crops in post processing. That way you can focus on the shot and exact framing later? I’m not familiar with the A7. Also you can practice getting panning shots of cars on the street, basically what you’ll be doing later though the cars will be moving faster!!!

Anon > ReallyColorful 06/21/2015 at 21:43

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I shoot in raw, also that is a good point about just cropping in post.

ReallyColorful > Anon 06/21/2015 at 21:45

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What are you using for post software?

Anon > ReallyColorful 06/21/2015 at 21:49

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Adobe raw editor + Photoshop CS6

ReallyColorful > Anon 06/21/2015 at 21:53

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That’s a good combo. Take Lightroom for a spin when you get a chance!

Baskingshark > Anon 06/22/2015 at 01:12

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I have done most of my motorsport photography with a 55-250mm and have gotten some really good results. I do find the auto focus useful for panning shots so I think a manual lens wouldn’t give you all the options you would want. Also a tripod isn’t necessary but a small folding stepstool can be if like my “home track” Laguna Seca you have a chain link fence to look over.

The biggest thing I think has improved my shots has been getting the shutter speed right. For me personally I want some nice speed blur on the wheels but keep the chassis in focus. It takes some panning and a steady hand but you can really capture the feeling of speed that way.

Also don’t be afraid to take a ton of shots. Set the camera to burst mode and spray and pray. I think I took almost 900 shots last time out.

RWS Motorsport > Anon 06/22/2015 at 08:11

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I do a fair bit of Motorsport photography and I personally wouldn’t shoot in Raw, and I shoot on auto focus although I can see the sense in using manual if the lens autofocus isnt quick enough. When shooting through the fence at Le Mans i switched to MF a couple of times to stop the camera constantly switching between fence and car, but mostly it stayed on AF and I worked my way around the fence instead.

The drawback with RAW is even on high end cameras you can only burst a relatively small amount, owning to the larger file size. On my 7D Mkii i think i can do 50ish on RAW, so about 6 seconds, where as Jpeg I can shoot continuously without having to buffer. That helps an awful lot when your trying to get the car in the shot in the right spot.

as for reach, I use a 100-400 on a cropped sensor (1.6x) which works really well, but 300 seems a very common length so certainly a good starting point.

Only other point is tripods make shooting cars really tough. Your too fixed to the spot. If you can use a Monopod thats much easier, or personally I shoot freehand to give me the freedom to move.

mcseanerson > RWS Motorsport 06/22/2015 at 08:21

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If you do get a monopod one with a fluid head will be a lot more useful for things like panning shots and if you ever want to do video.

mcseanerson > Anon 06/22/2015 at 08:23

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As for manual focus lenses I see no reason not to use one, especially if you have a wide depth of field. I used my Nikon 50mm AI lens for this shot and since I was stopped down and focused on the same corner this was really easy to pull off. Obviously I was probably a lot closer than you would be at most tracks but it’s the same concept for a bigger MF lens.

Una Bear Dog > Anon 06/22/2015 at 12:41

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You might be much happier with a zoom lens. A single, fixed focal length can be pretty limiting. That also sounds like a lot of money for an older, manual focus lens with no VR/ IS/ OS. Stabilization will help you with the view through the lens when you are trying to compose and focus.

I have a Canon 70-200 4.0 non-IS that runs a bit over $400 used. I bought it and the Canon 70-200 2.8 II for my Canon 7DDII, so it does double duty on my Sony A6000 and A7II.

The older Canon 100-400 IS zoom is running under $800 used. That was a very well known birding, wildlife, and sports lens used by many pros until version II came out in December. Add a 1.4x extender and it is very versatile.

You could look for version I of the Nikon 80-400 lens, very similar to the Canon 100-400. Or a Sigma 150-500 in either Nikon or Canon mount. (Although the 50-500 is supposed to be a better lens.) The brand new, excellent Sigma 150-600 Contemporary was on sale for $800 a week ago through Canon Price Watch.

I have 5 or 6 older manual focus lenses that I have used on my Sony A6000, A7II, and other mirrorless. A Nikon 24 2.0, Contax Yashica 28 2.8, 3 Canon FD lenses.

In general, modern AF lenses are much better coated than the older lenses, and usually better optically. There is very little reason to buy the old stuff unless it is really cheap. I don’t mind manual focus here and there, but a good quality AF lens is great to have. Even my $400 Nikon D5300 can autofocus quite well with a longer zoom, and the D7000 is getting down in that range too.

Canon lenses made since 2010, the more recent Sigma lenses, and a lot of the newer glkass from Nikon are absolutely awesome in comparison to the glass from the film days. Or even from the late 1990’s.

Good luck!

Stephen the Canuck > Anon 06/23/2015 at 13:46

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Motorsports racings is something I enjoy doing. The vehicles are mostly moving too fast for manual focus. You could pre focus on the spot, then you would have to time the shutter release very well. The car could quickly be through the pre-focused spot, ended up with missing the intended focus point of the car.

Autofocus is usually the way to go, and the faster the autofocus the better. Pre-focusing on a spot can allow the autofocus to pick up on it quicker, and thus track the vehicle faster. From what I’ve heard, there are complaints about the A7’s autofocus speed, so it might not be up to the task, especially with adapted lenses.

600mm is probably more than you need. I usually shoot with a 75-300 on a crop camera, so effectively about 118-480mm and find that is’t plenty. Even then shooting at the long end isn’t very sharp usually with camera shake and the vehicle speeds.

A tripod is usually too slow. A monopod or handheld are your best bets. I’ve seen a few pros at the track using monopods, but I don’t think I’ve seen a single tripod.

What lenses do you have? The lens you’ve shown there would probably work, although an AF version would probably be handier.

What I would suggest would be to go out with the equipment you have and use it to figure out where you’re lacking/having problems that new equipment would fix.

Something like the FE 24-240mm F3.5-6.3 lens would probably be a good start, although it’s $1000. Sony doesn’t seem to have many long lenses.