Which shutter speed?

[BERT]

Don't know if this is the best place for this (mods feel free to delete or move). Off to a test day at rockingham and will be taking my first car action shots with my camera which shutter speed is best for this?

Thanks

 

[pearce_jj]

Hello, it depends on your focal length, distance from subject, angle of view and speed of travel (i.e. relative velocity).

There's an interesting (and old!) quote on wikipedia on the subject:

Edward John Wall, in his 1889 A Dictionary of Photography for the Amateur and Professional Photographer, says:

To find how quickly a shutter must act to take an object in motion that there may be a circle of confusion less than 1/100in. in diameter, divide the distance of the object by 100 times the focus of the lens, and divide the rapidity of motion of object in inches per second by the results, when you have the longest duration of exposure in fraction of a second.

Full article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circle_of_confusion

 

[Craikeybaby]

I've heard that Rockingham isn't too good for photography, due to fences, I'm off there for the BTCC next weekend...

 

[captain jack]

You give no info on your kit for the day however if your subject was still you will need a shutter speed of at least (1/focal length) just to avoid camera shake, that is discounting the use of an IS lens. For moving subjects the shutter speed is dependant on your needs & abilities, I would suggest nothing less than 1/500 sec. assuming a lens of around 200mm. If you pan your shots then you can use a significantly slower speed back down to 1/200 (again assuming a 200mm focal length) but you need to be well practiced to do this, but you will get a better impression of speed as the background will be streaked due to your panning of the shot. It very much depends on what you want & the kit your using on the day. For really in depth tech.data do as pearce jj suggests it's a good article but a bit OTT.

 

[andrewc]

Rockingham is pants.

If you are allowed in the paddock and can can get on top of the viewing area on top of the pits, you can get shots along start finish straight or where they come onto the banked oval.

If you're allowed in the paddock there is a place near the tunnel were you can get close to the fence to get them around turn 1. Plus also near the 180 degree Tarzan corner.

Remarkably poor if you sit in the stands though.

For a front 3/4 try around 1/250, for a pan, try 1/125 and work down.

 

[BERT]

Ill be working with a team there so will be in the paddock thanks for your help guys

 

[Craikeybaby]

Rockingham is pants.

If you are allowed in the paddock and can can get on top of the viewing area on top of the pits, you can get shots along start finish straight or where they come onto the banked oval.

If you're allowed in the paddock there is a place near the tunnel were you can get close to the fence to get them around turn 1. Plus also near the 180 degree Tarzan corner.

Remarkably poor if you sit in the stands though.

For a front 3/4 try around 1/250, for a pan, try 1/125 and work down.

That is really useful, from the Rokingham website I believe that grandstand and paddock is always free, will try and find these spots!

 

[BERT]

My weapon of choice is a Casio EX-P505. Its not the best camera in the world but i love it and am impressed with it so far, survived alot on the last outing (mud,dust, water, and being bashed about).

 

[andrewc]

Compacts allow a slightly different technique. I'd start relatively high and gradually work down the shutter speed and keep checking the screen. You want to achieve a car thats in focus with blurred wheels. If panning you also want to achieve a blurred background. Preempting shutter delay will be biggest problem with a compact.

 

[tdodd]

Shutter speed choice depends very much on how you wish to portray the motion of the vehicles in relation to their background, and in the spinning of their wheels, and how fast the vehicles are travelling. There is also consideration of camera shake with long lenses as well. High shutter speeds are really boring, because they freeze motion and make the cars looked like they're parked, which they might as well be. The key to good sports shots is having a slow enough shutter to create the impression of motion in your static photo. You also need to hone your skills at panning.

I haven't shot much motorsport but here's an example of one of my better shots, taken at Brands Hatch. The exif data is included but here are the highlights....

Canon 30D, Canon 100-400 @ 400mm, 100 ISO, 1/160, f/8.

Here's another, taken at my first ever motorsport event (with a DSLR), at Donington. This is cropped, as I only had a 17-85 lens at the time and 85mm did not really get me close enough. Exif....

Canon 30D, Canon 17-85 @ 85mm, 100 ISO, 1/125, f/13. The only reason for f/13 was to give me the slow shutter speed needed to emphasise motion, because the cars were not travelling very fast at this point in the track.