Indoor racing photos - how can it be done well?

[F1END]

I really struggled recently at the Area51 race with a Canon 400D with a Sigma 18-200 lens. The lens goes to F3.5 at 18mm, which was OK (ish), but as soon as I zoom in to 200mm, the aperture shoots to F6.3, which is just too small. I'm a designer primarily, but know a bit about photography.

It's more about the lens than the Camera, although the top-end professional Canons (1D and 5D) have a much larger sensor, so allow more light in. A friend of mine who is a professional photographer did some testing with me with his 5D, swapping lenses and doing test shots in controlled lighting conditions. My 400D still did better with his professional lens than his 5D with my crappy lens, but his 5D was so much better with my lens than my camera was.

I'd like to know what the spec of that huge lens you were using at Area51 was Jimmy. I know you use a Nikon, but there's probably a similar spec for a Canon.

I'd love to see a specific article from you on indoor RC photography.

Also, I have sent you a PM about getting hold of your original photos for Area51.

[toooldskool]

Originally Posted by JCJC

Always eBay , the 350 is a bit old now, 400's are going cheap. 1000's 450's and the newer 1100d would be better buys if you can find the extra dosh. 2 eBay sellers to look at would be Canon UK and AllDigital. Canon Uk stuff is like new, but mostly later models, AllDigital have some 350's but are body only. Digigood have some good price current models, may be imported.

Thanks JCJCfor info- bought a 1000d from Alldigital- Sorry Mark, I got all twitchy and couldn't wait

[JCJC]

Hope you enjoy it, 1000d's & 450d's are a step up from the 350 & 400's, the live view can be nice. Had a 1100d off AllDigital couple of weeks ago, like new and a sweet camera. Lots of buttons and settings to play with .

[Garry]

A 1000D is what I have and its a great tool to start off with. Just getting to know the basics is hard enough with a DSLR but theres plenty of guides and tips on the web which are specific to this camera.

[carborush]

I wouldn't worry to much about the depth of field with the lower values in Fstop
the further away from the lens de larger the depth of field becomes
this is only an issue when you're shooting from a very short distance
if you're shooting a 50m f1.8 orso out on the track the distance should be long enough to get good results
+ 'isolating' a jumping car surrounded with blur from the depth of field can make a great shot !

to my experience 50mm is a bit to small for RC racing to get good full frame shots from the cars it would be better to go with 24-70mm 2.8f or 70-200 2.8f however they are very expensive lenses but they are sharp as hell and keep the low 2.8f when you zoom in

I would say, invest in the lens not the body, they will make your pictures much better then getting the next new megapixel body

[Pops]

you'll note with this method that A finalists are easier to shoot, because their line is more predictable.

[Garry]

Got the Canon EF 50mm F/1.8 1.8 II that Jimmy linked to (thanks boss!), had a bit of a play with it last night at a club night. Can't remember what settings I used but it was either F/1.8 or F/2, so I think the shutter speed was too low as was the ISO (using it in full Manual mode).

[Cruise]

You used F1,8 Iso 800 and 1/125

so you can`t go up in F the Canon 1000 can ISO 1600 but I doubt that the Color noise will be acceptable. the sweet spot for rc car photos is about 1/400to 1/800.

For comparison: Canon 350D EF-S 55-250 EX430 in High speed mode, F5, ISO1600, 1/320

Cruise

[mole2k]

Indoors is hard and you pretty much have to accept that you will get some noise unless you can afford really high spec gear. A noisy shot is better than a blurry shot though!

Shooting in RAW can help you in post to reduce the colour noise and clean up the image a bit more.


1/400th Sec, ISO 400, 50mm, F2


1/125th sec, ISO200, 50mm, F2


1/250th sec, ISO400, 50mm, F2


1/250th sec, ISO400, 50mm, F2

Those above where all shot in Clogher Valley MCC which has relatively good lighting for an indoor venue thus allowing lower iso's when you stop down to f2.


1/200th sec, ISO1600, 10mm, F4


1/400th sec, ISO1600, 94mm, F4


1/200th sec, ISO1600, 10mm, F4

The last 3 shots where taken in the Naul in Dublin, the lighting is similar to CVMCC but as the track is much bigger access is more restrictive meaning the 50mm would not work out as well as it does indoors on the smaller track. To combat this I used my 10mm to take wide field shots showing a car and the track as a whole to help give some context. The one close up shot of the car displays quite a bit of noise but with my 70-200 f4L that was sadly unavoidable due to simply there not being enough light/my camera not being sensitive enough to light/my lens not having a large enough aperature. A noisy picture is still better than none at all though.