Cars never in full focus

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jimmy83

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James
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Pretty much all of my motorsport photography the car isnt fully in focus. The front tends to be in focus but the rear doesnt. As a newcomer to motorsport and advice would be appreciated.

8611695690_f4769efdcf_c.jpg
 
Could be a couple of reasons for this. Your shutter seems to be low which is allowing you to do panning shots which adds movement to the photo, that's a good thing, but doesn't fully freeze the subject.

Or you apature is open to wide which means you have a smaller depth of field.

Any chance in supplying the data for this photo and ill take a quick look.

This is a nice photo by the way.

Carl.
 
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CarlEvans said:
Could be a couple of reasons for this. Your shutter seems to be low which is allowing you to do panning shots which adds movement to the photo, that's a good thing, but doesn't fully freeze the subject.

Or you apature is open to wide which means you have a smaller depth of field.

Any chance in supplying the data for this photo and ill take a quick look.

This is a nice photo by the way.

Carl.
Click to expand...

Hi Carl, sure exif reads 1/50 sec f8 105mm ISO 100
 
It's because as you pan different parts of the car are moving at different rates/different direction to the lens. If you were parallel to the car and were moving at the same speed whilst the shutter was open it would all be sharp (well, the car. The background and wheels would be motion blurred still).

EG if your camera moves along line 'x' and subject along 'y' then all of the car would be sharp:
x_____<___x
..........|
y_____<___y

however;

Because you are not moving directly parallel and at the same speed as the car, angles and movement happen and so the parts of the car you are not tracking become subject to motion blur themselves.
......x
.......\
y____<__y

Ignore the dots the indent doesn't work otherwise!
Make sense?

Example in your shot the point you were tracking was the front left wheel.
 
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Hazza said:
It's because as you pan different parts of the car are moving at different rates/different direction to the lens. If you were parallel to the car and were moving at the same speed whilst the shutter was open it would all be sharp (well, the car. The background and wheels would be motion blurred still).

EG if your camera moves along line 'x' and subject along 'y' then all of the car would be in sharp:
x_____<___x
y_____<___y

however;

Because you are not moving directly parallel and at the same speed as the car,
x
y____<__y

Make sense?
Click to expand...

Cheers, yes I understand that. Although isnt there a way round it? Dead side on shots dont look as good if you ask me IMO of course!
 
Hazza is 100% correct! Its because of all the different types of movement going on in the image, besides the main one your perceive (car going right to left)

Hazza said:
Example in your shot the point you were tracking was the front left wheel.
Click to expand...

Actually, not neccessarily, its more likely that this was the one bit of the car that maintained equally distance.

Nothing you can do to fix this, its the nature of the beast :thumbs:
 
Go on then, pull your shirt over your head and run around a bit waving your arms... :thumbs:
 
So how do the guys get cars fully in focus when they use really slow shutter speeds? Like Darren Heath?
 
When you shoot very very fast stuff like f1 you can use a faster shutter speed, which kills the car movement but keeps background blur and wheel blur.

Its a case of the difference in speed between say a touring car and a F1 car... until you try F1 you don't realise just quite how fast the damned things are. You can probably used 1/400 or even faster on those puppies!

Same to some degree with superbikes or motoGP :thumbs:

Alternatively, when you make the subject small in the frame, the critical sharpness of the subject becomes less important - you can get away with murder when the car is only 50 pixels wide!
 
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I wouldnt get hung up on getting every inch of the car sharp, your photo has shown a great sense of movement and action.
 
Try bumping the shutter to 1/80th, you'll still get the motion, but the car might be a bit more sharp.

It's just the nature of photography though, as already explained.
 
I intentionally put a little demo of this together many years ago, same car, same speed, same focal length, the only variable was shutter speed...

1/250th


British Touring Cars by Harry_S, on Flickr

1/60th


British Touring Cars by Harry_S, on Flickr

You can, with practice, learn to get the bit you want in focus with slow shutter speeds when a car isn't parallel to you. I've never been able to explain exactly how, but you do get a feel for what you're going to get after practicing for years. For tin tops etc I tend to try and keep the front end sharp, for single seaters I usually aim for the drivers helmet.

This is pretty much my limit for an area of sharpness, 1/15th...


Britcar Seat Leon Cupra by Harry_S, on Flickr

If a car is completely parallel to you you can push it much, much further until you start to lose focus, compare the 1/50th shot below where the whole car is sharp with the second Astra shot at 1/60th above...

1/50th


Porsche Club Day - Castle Combe by Harry_S, on Flickr
 
Good example, great explanation!
 
Brilliant thread thanks. Been havering same problem with mountain bikes the rider is focused but bike and wheels not.
Do mind if I post a picture to get sone advice on your thread?
 
Tucksy81 said:
8638564700_b23e39ed9a_c.jpg
Click to expand...

Increase the shutter speed if you want to get the whole bike sharp. A syou can see from the briliant comparison what difference the shutter speeds make.
I have to be honest though I like it and the only thing I would say is that it is to change your focus point so the subject isnt slap bang in the middle.
 
Thanks, guess i could crop it a little but will try changing the shutter speed next time until its sharp (im sure my mate will be sick of that jump by the time ive got it right :D )
 
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