Brief summery: for the last few years I was just a Sony / Minolta user, I climbed the ranks through the crop sensor's up to the full frame a900, coupled with the 24-70 and the 70-400 and I loved them all.
Then early into the racing season this year I started to question why! why is it that the majority of motor sports photographers use Canon or Nikon? there must be a reason other than it's what they started out with - I continued to shoot the racing with the 900 and mainly the 70-400 and had a pretty good hit rate, shooting only in RAW - all the while checking out other tog's sites for comparisons etc.
What I noticed most was the sharpness at lower shutter speeds and the brighter colours mainly from the Canon boys and girls, surely this wasn't just down to post processing? So in early August I just said 'sod it' and shot out at lunchtime armed with my plastic friend and bought a complete replacement system - 7D / 24-105 / 100-400 / Tamron 90 and the 580 flash. . . . . once I got home that evening (and the panic had subsided) I set about scouring the net for the best 'base settings' for the camera - the menu of the Canon system is mind boggling compared to the Sony - shot a few test shots at home and thought "what the hell have I done" . . . checked the calender for Brands Hatch - great some racing is on, after a couple of hours shooting and tweeking the settings I sat down to see how many keepers I had, RESULT - half the amount of time spent in PhotoShop with just about every shot brighter / cleaner, so the Sony kit went up for sale on fleabay and I sold the lot with a couple hundred quid left over for spare batteries etc.
One other major factor that I didn't mention above - I realised that if I was away at a circuit anywhere in the UK and something unexpected happened - dropped or damaged kit (trackside is a very unforgiving place) with the Canon I could jump in the car and go into the nearest town with a camera store and 99% of the time I could pick up a replacement where as with the Sony gear . . . . I even had to order a flash unit as next to no one stocks any of the high end kit. I admit I do miss the 25mp full frame and there are still times I wonder if I did the right thing but the decision has been made so here I am. . . . learning all over again.
I don't know if there was really any point to this posting other than to explain why I did what I did. The 7D is without a doubt a phenomenal bit of kit especially for sports / action and I kinda wish I had jumped sooner.
Thanks for reading this inane drivel, you can wake up now
.DAVID.
Can't believe I forgot the biggest 'improvement' - the AF on the 7D is far superior in both speed of lock and accuracy.
Then early into the racing season this year I started to question why! why is it that the majority of motor sports photographers use Canon or Nikon? there must be a reason other than it's what they started out with - I continued to shoot the racing with the 900 and mainly the 70-400 and had a pretty good hit rate, shooting only in RAW - all the while checking out other tog's sites for comparisons etc.
What I noticed most was the sharpness at lower shutter speeds and the brighter colours mainly from the Canon boys and girls, surely this wasn't just down to post processing? So in early August I just said 'sod it' and shot out at lunchtime armed with my plastic friend and bought a complete replacement system - 7D / 24-105 / 100-400 / Tamron 90 and the 580 flash. . . . . once I got home that evening (and the panic had subsided) I set about scouring the net for the best 'base settings' for the camera - the menu of the Canon system is mind boggling compared to the Sony - shot a few test shots at home and thought "what the hell have I done" . . . checked the calender for Brands Hatch - great some racing is on, after a couple of hours shooting and tweeking the settings I sat down to see how many keepers I had, RESULT - half the amount of time spent in PhotoShop with just about every shot brighter / cleaner, so the Sony kit went up for sale on fleabay and I sold the lot with a couple hundred quid left over for spare batteries etc.
One other major factor that I didn't mention above - I realised that if I was away at a circuit anywhere in the UK and something unexpected happened - dropped or damaged kit (trackside is a very unforgiving place) with the Canon I could jump in the car and go into the nearest town with a camera store and 99% of the time I could pick up a replacement where as with the Sony gear . . . . I even had to order a flash unit as next to no one stocks any of the high end kit. I admit I do miss the 25mp full frame and there are still times I wonder if I did the right thing but the decision has been made so here I am. . . . learning all over again.
I don't know if there was really any point to this posting other than to explain why I did what I did. The 7D is without a doubt a phenomenal bit of kit especially for sports / action and I kinda wish I had jumped sooner.
Thanks for reading this inane drivel, you can wake up now
.DAVID.
Can't believe I forgot the biggest 'improvement' - the AF on the 7D is far superior in both speed of lock and accuracy.
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