Moto GP Silverstone

[Fozzy4]

Re: Moto GP Silverstone

Great set, no 1 for me simply because I love Orange in Motorsport.

Doug.

Can't argue with that !, thank you.

[JohnIStephen]

Re: Moto GP Silverstone

Hi All
Firstly; these photos are FANTASTIC. However I was also at Silverstone but in no way do my photos compare; despite much enthusiasm and consideration as to set-up.

Here’s the set up
Canon 50D with Canon EF 70-300 f/4-5.6L IS USM Lens
ISO 800 (to allow high shutter speed)
TV set at 1250-1600
Manual focus on point on racing track
High speed 6fps burst
Monopod
Image stabilisation ON (1)
RAW format files (20MB approx.)

So, I am at max zoom; as the m’cycles approach the focus area, I fire off a burst. The bikes are a few hundred metres away in distance. I then crop the photo to produce the desired frame but am disappointed that results are not sharp.

Where should I begin to make improvements? Is there something “wrong” with the settings above?

At one point I did change to AV to set F11 in the hope that the depth of field would provide greater overall sharpness. It didn’t.

My suspicion is that because I was using a monopod – as opposed to a tripod – the inevitable camera shake caused fractional blurring; even at 1000-1600th second shutter speeds.

What do you think?

PS In late April we were in Jerez where I was able to use a tri-pod. the results were better for sure. But them I see all the "Pros" using monopods; so I must be doing something fundamentally wrong. OR could it be that I am not actually focussing precisely due to the eye piece in the 50D not being properly setup for my eyes?

[DanFlag]

Re: Moto GP Silverstone

Try Autofocus JohnIStephen !

[JohnIStephen]

Re: Moto GP Silverstone

Try Autofocus JohnIStephen !

Are you suggesting that I should have used AI FOCUS / AI Servo? What did "Fozzy4" use I wonder ?

[DanFlag]

Re: Moto GP Silverstone

Fozzy4 does not display EXIFS, but I bet it's not manual focus, motorsport is too fast for manual focus

[mistral105]

Re: Moto GP Silverstone

Excellent set Fozzy - Regards John

[Fozzy4]

Re: Moto GP Silverstone

Hi John, Dan is correct, I generally use auto focus AI Servo with single point AF, IS is set to off most of the time, for the Bradley Shot I couldn't get sharp focus through the fence so I switched to manual focus and spot AF IS off, if I can get to a hole in the fence I use either l/r surrounding points or a small cluster, the reason for IS off is that it acquires A/F faster and with high shutter speeds you don't really need it, and I almost always shoot in manual mode. Hope this helps

Regards

Paul.

[Fozzy4]

Re: Moto GP Silverstone

Excellent set Fozzy - Regards John

Cheers John, appreciate it.

Paul.

[JohnIStephen]

Re: Moto GP Silverstone

Hi John, Dan is correct, I generally use auto focus AI Servo with single point AF, IS is set to off most of the time, for the Bradley Shot I couldn't get sharp focus through the fence so I switched to manual focus and spot AF IS off, if I can get to a hole in the fence I use either l/r surrounding points or a small cluster, the reason for IS off is that it acquires A/F faster and with high shutter speeds you don't really need it, and I almost always shoot in manual mode. Hope this helps

Regards

Paul.

Hi Paul
This is so helpful so if I am correct I should :-
- continue with a high shutter speed of 1000+
- Allow the ISO to rise to support this
- Allow the Aperture to support the high shutter speed ie stay in TV mode
- Turn image stabilisation off
- Use AI Servo coupled with a single point AF (as opposed to the 9 points in the diamond)
- continue to shoot in a high speed burst of 6 fps (approx)
- continue to shoot in RAW mode

I would so appreciate your validation of the above; thanks Paul
John

[S_J_P]

Re: Moto GP Silverstone

Hi Paul
This is so helpful so if I am correct I should :-
- continue with a high shutter speed of 1000+
- Allow the ISO to rise to support this
- Allow the Aperture to support the high shutter speed ie stay in TV mode
- Turn image stabilisation off
- Use AI Servo coupled with a single point AF (as opposed to the 9 points in the diamond)
- continue to shoot in a high speed burst of 6 fps (approx)
- continue to shoot in RAW mode

I would so appreciate your validation of the above; thanks Paul
John

I'm nowhere near as experienced at Motorsport as many users here, but he's what I have to say...

If you're panning, then 1/1,000th is a little fast, more like 1/100-1/200 is needed to blur the wheels and background otherwise you'll get shots which look static.

I like to choose an aperture which will yield the best image quality, but tempered with further blurring the background (depth of field) and select an ISO which supports my chosen shutter speed/approximate aperture. By that I mean use TV and 1/125th, and then choose an ISO which gives me an aperture in the f/8-11 range. This should be regularly revisited as conditions change. You can also use Manual mode, with 1/125th and f/8 chosen but with ISO in auto to allow the ISO to compensate for changes in lighting (a sort of SV (sensitivity value) mode).

IS is a bit of an unknown quantity when panning - some lenses have IS modes which support panning (I.e. they're only active in the vertical plane) but I've had variable experiences with them, so try both the so called Mode 2 IS and turning it off.

As my camera only has 11 AF points, I tend to stick with Servo mode and all points active, that way I have a sporting chance of locking-on to the cars/bikes. I'm nowhere near good enough to maintain a single AF point over the target, it's hard enough to keep the subject in the frame!

Shooting bursts is definitely the way to go, that way you're increasing the likelihood of getting composition, focus, background, and exposure all spot-on in at least one image. Between races I then scroll through the dozen or so images of each subject and delete the obviously out-of-focus ones, or the ones of the grass verges ;-)

I tend to use fine-JPEG for motorsports as it means I don't have to swap cards so often, I can get better burst lengths, and there's less post-processing required on the huge number of images produced.

[Fozzy4]

Re: Moto GP Silverstone

Hi Paul
This is so helpful so if I am correct I should :-
- continue with a high shutter speed of 1000+
- Allow the ISO to rise to support this
- Allow the Aperture to support the high shutter speed ie stay in TV mode
- Turn image stabilisation off
- Use AI Servo coupled with a single point AF (as opposed to the 9 points in the diamond)
- continue to shoot in a high speed burst of 6 fps (approx)
- continue to shoot in RAW mode

I would so appreciate your validation of the above; thanks Paul
John

Hi John, Sent you a message.

[milli]

Re: Moto GP Silverstone

Wow, nice pics Fozzy. Had a look through your flickr page, some great pics there.

I went to Silverstone as well but my pics don't look that good. The colour on yours is great. Did you post process any?

[Fozzy4]

Re: Moto GP Silverstone

Wow, nice pics Fozzy. Had a look through your flickr page, some great pics there.

I went to Silverstone as well but my pics don't look that good. The colour on yours is great. Did you post process any?

Thank you Milli, I do pp them a little, usually just very basic as my editing skills are very limited to say the least !!