starting to panic a bit...

[inkjunkie]

Owner of the local drag strip talked to me about being trackside with my camera this coming year, he is after a larger Social Media presence. I normally sit in the stands. I am excited about this. Up to about a week ago I was fairly confident I was going to do well....but with the results of my latest few rounds of shooting (my dogs playing/running) I am beginning to panic some. Have a 5D Mark IV and will be using my 20-200L f/2.8 lens. Was planning on shooting  Manual at f/5.6 until it started to get dark then try shooting wide open, adjusting the ISO as need be. Couldn't sleep one night...and made the mistake of reading a few different blogs about shooting motorsports. One of them mentioned shooting in AV mode, which made 0 sense. Another blog mentioned shooting in TV, keeping the shutter speed fast enough to avoid the lens from going wide open to keep the DOF deep, if that is what you desire. Have only shot in TV a few times. Have been experimenting, thanks to my pups, with it. I think I have a basic understanding of how it works. A bit confused over it but I still have some time to iron things out. I will not be following the vehicles, I will be down track a short distance from the starting line and having the cars coming at me. Which "case" should I be using?

Any general guide lines I should follow in regards to shutter settings and ISO?

Any and all advice will be appreciated.

[wq9nsc]

The first thing is to get some practice shots to test your setup.  He probably has some "test and tune" nights prior to the opening session so go down and experiment with different combinations of the exposure triangle to see what yields the best results.  And you don't have to actually have a race to test your setup.  If the owner will give you access to the track and turn on the standard lighting then park your own car just past the starting tree and take some shots to figure out the best combination of aperture, shutter speed, and ISO that are achievable under the available lighting conditions keeping in mind that you are going to have to use fast shutter speeds for this sport AND the wider you open the aperture the more pressure there is on the AF system to get it right.  Make sure that your lens is perfectly dialed in at the usual focal length, distance, and lighting for this event using the AFMA setup.

I shot indoor soccer under poor lighting for the first time this season and I found what worked most consistently for me was to run in full manual mode.  I use a 70-200 F2.8 often with the 1.4X (yielding a F4.0 lens) and for soccer I was either at 1/500, F2.8, 10,000 or 1/500, F4.0, 20,000.  There are some individual shots that would have been better with faster shutter speed and a corresponding increase in ISO but those were so few that staying in full manual made the most sense.  You will likely find that similar lighting issues at the strip will throw off attempts to use any of the paremeters set to auto since any intermittent light or reflection may change exposure values to something you don't want.  

It took me a couple of games before I felt confident that I had chosen the best setup because the amount of noise reduction vs detail loss that you want to choose in processing is another part of this equation AND you need to have a good idea how large of an image display the owner wants to use.  An image that looks great on the quick review on your LCD display, even with magnification, is likely to show far more imperfections when you look at the image on a large monitor.

Once you think you have the setup make sure to check the exposure metering in the veiwfinder throughout the event because conditions do change (i.e. when the air begins to haze up from fuel and tire smoke changing lighting conditions).

For my 1DX M2 Case 4 is the recommended mode for soccer and motor sports and is the one I would try first.  Realize that at the start the rate of velocity change is tremendous and it will also be difficult for you to hold the focus on a particular point on the vehicle until you get experience with the events.  I use a single point with expansion but I have a feeling a single point with no expansion may be the best setup for drag racing but testing will show what works best.

And make sure you are on a safe point on the track!  Things go wrong very quickly in racing and you don't want the last thing you ever see to be through your viewfinder.  Although every photographer wants to be in the optimal location for photograhy when a car breaks or goes out of control parts are ejected at high velocity and of course fire is another concern.  

Good luck and have fun.

[cicopo]

Some pretty good advice above. I haven't shot drag racing since my days with a manual focus film camera (Canon A 1's) nor any other motorsports in the last 10 years but I do shoot action & have tried doing it is several ways. The most important thing to remember is that you need to experiment to find the settings that work for you in the environment you'll be shooting in. I personally prefer Tv & Exposure Compensation to suit the changes in lighting at the day goes by. My article on what I shoot may be of some help but practice & more practice is the key & try every method available from Auto ISO thru Tv, Av & M.

My article is here.   http://www.rccanada.ca/rccforum/showthread.php?t=147971

[inkjunkie]

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@cicopowrote:

Some pretty good advice above. I haven't shot drag racing since my days with a manual focus film camera (Canon A 1's) nor any other motorsports in the last 10 years but I do shoot action & have tried doing it is several ways. The most important thing to remember is that you need to experiment to find the settings that work for you in the environment you'll be shooting in. I personally prefer Tv & Exposure Compensation to suit the changes in lighting at the day goes by. My article on what I shoot may be of some help but practice & more practice is the key & try every method available from Auto ISO thru Tv, Av & M.

My article is here.   http://www.rccanada.ca/rccforum/showthread.php?t=147971

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Thank You for the link....

[inkjunkie]

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@wq9nscwrote:

The first thing is to get some practice shots to test your setup.  He probably has some "test and tune" nights prior to the opening session so go down and experiment with different combinations of the exposure triangle to see what yields the best results.  And you don't have to actually have a race to test your setup.  If the owner will give you access to the track and turn on the standard lighting then park your own car just past the starting tree and take some shots to figure out the best combination of aperture, shutter speed, and ISO that are achievable under the available lighting conditions keeping in mind that you are going to have to use fast shutter speeds for this sport AND the wider you open the aperture the more pressure there is on the AF system to get it right.  Make sure that your lens is perfectly dialed in at the usual focal length, distance, and lighting for this event using the AFMA setup.

I shot indoor soccer under poor lighting for the first time this season and I found what worked most consistently for me was to run in full manual mode.  I use a 70-200 F2.8 often with the 1.4X (yielding a F4.0 lens) and for soccer I was either at 1/500, F2.8, 10,000 or 1/500, F4.0, 20,000.  There are some individual shots that would have been better with faster shutter speed and a corresponding increase in ISO but those were so few that staying in full manual made the most sense.  You will likely find that similar lighting issues at the strip will throw off attempts to use any of the paremeters set to auto since any intermittent light or reflection may change exposure values to something you don't want.  

It took me a couple of games before I felt confident that I had chosen the best setup because the amount of noise reduction vs detail loss that you want to choose in processing is another part of this equation AND you need to have a good idea how large of an image display the owner wants to use.  An image that looks great on the quick review on your LCD display, even with magnification, is likely to show far more imperfections when you look at the image on a large monitor.

Once you think you have the setup make sure to check the exposure metering in the veiwfinder throughout the event because conditions do change (i.e. when the air begins to haze up from fuel and tire smoke changing lighting conditions).

For my 1DX M2 Case 4 is the recommended mode for soccer and motor sports and is the one I would try first.  Realize that at the start the rate of velocity change is tremendous and it will also be difficult for you to hold the focus on a particular point on the vehicle until you get experience with the events.  I use a single point with expansion but I have a feeling a single point with no expansion may be the best setup for drag racing but testing will show what works best.

And make sure you are on a safe point on the track!  Things go wrong very quickly in racing and you don't want the last thing you ever see to be through your viewfinder.  Although every photographer wants to be in the optimal location for photograhy when a car breaks or goes out of control parts are ejected at high velocity and of course fire is another concern.  

Good luck and have fun.

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I am going to the chassis cert day next month, no racing BUT there will be a class on how the tree works so I may get a chance to get a bit of practice in. There is test and tune and a Friday Night Under the Lights event before the first points race so I will get a chance to practice. Thanks for the AFMA idea. Did not even think about it.

Last year I was in the stands until the last event, I was very unprepared for it. Really looking forward to this year, but like I said I am freaking out a bit. I really do need to get my time behind the lens. I have a very basic understanding of the Mark IV. Spent most of today watching videos and reading about the focus system of it. Hoping to try and put it to use tomorrow with my dogs...but if we get the weather we are supposed to probably not going to happen.

Thanks for your input.

[inkjunkie]

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@wq9nscwrote:

The first thing is to get some practice shots to test your setup.  He probably has some "test and tune" nights prior to the opening session so go down and experiment with different combinations of the exposure triangle to see what yields the best results.  And you don't have to actually have a race to test your setup.  If the owner will give you access to the track and turn on the standard lighting then park your own car just past the starting tree and take some shots to figure out the best combination of aperture, shutter speed, and ISO that are achievable under the available lighting conditions keeping in mind that you are going to have to use fast shutter speeds for this sport AND the wider you open the aperture the more pressure there is on the AF system to get it right.  Make sure that your lens is perfectly dialed in at the usual focal length, distance, and lighting for this event using the AFMA setup.

I shot indoor soccer under poor lighting for the first time this season and I found what worked most consistently for me was to run in full manual mode.  I use a 70-200 F2.8 often with the 1.4X (yielding a F4.0 lens) and for soccer I was either at 1/500, F2.8, 10,000 or 1/500, F4.0, 20,000.  There are some individual shots that would have been better with faster shutter speed and a corresponding increase in ISO but those were so few that staying in full manual made the most sense.  You will likely find that similar lighting issues at the strip will throw off attempts to use any of the paremeters set to auto since any intermittent light or reflection may change exposure values to something you don't want.  

It took me a couple of games before I felt confident that I had chosen the best setup because the amount of noise reduction vs detail loss that you want to choose in processing is another part of this equation AND you need to have a good idea how large of an image display the owner wants to use.  An image that looks great on the quick review on your LCD display, even with magnification, is likely to show far more imperfections when you look at the image on a large monitor.

Once you think you have the setup make sure to check the exposure metering in the veiwfinder throughout the event because conditions do change (i.e. when the air begins to haze up from fuel and tire smoke changing lighting conditions).

For my 1DX M2 Case 4 is the recommended mode for soccer and motor sports and is the one I would try first.  Realize that at the start the rate of velocity change is tremendous and it will also be difficult for you to hold the focus on a particular point on the vehicle until you get experience with the events.  I use a single point with expansion but I have a feeling a single point with no expansion may be the best setup for drag racing but testing will show what works best.

And make sure you are on a safe point on the track!  Things go wrong very quickly in racing and you don't want the last thing you ever see to be through your viewfinder.  Although every photographer wants to be in the optimal location for photograhy when a car breaks or goes out of control parts are ejected at high velocity and of course fire is another concern.  

Good luck and have fun.

Question about the AFMA. Guessing that I won't have any problems adjusting the 5D Mark IV to either one of my Sigma ART lenses? I have a 2x Extender that I was going to use, if need by, with my 70-200L lens. Will I need/be able to adjust the camera to just the 70-200 both alone and with the extender? 

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[inkjunkie]

Have a question about the 3 custom settings. I am guessing that when I set one  up I need to choose a certain camera mode, TV for example. If this is correct what do I need to do if I want to shoot in say Manual Mode. Do I simply hit the "Q" button and change mode thru the menu on the LCD screen or do I need to use the control dial and then make all the necessary adjustments in the various menus? Hopefully my wording makes sense...Thanks again for the help...

[TCampbell]

To establish the Custom mode, you begin by ignoring the C1, C2, C3 position... just set the camera as you intend to use it (e.g. if you plan to use Tv mode, then turn the mode dial to Tv... set all the camera settings to behave the way you want.

When you've got everything set... press Menu, then navigate to the yellow 'wrench' tab #5... you should see a row that says "Custom shooting mode (C1-C3)".  Pick that.

On the next screen pick "Register settings"

On the next screen pick one of the custom modes (C1, C2, or C3).  

On the next screen it will ask you to confirm that you want to "Register camera settings to Custom shooting mode __" and you would confirm by hitting "OK".

You can now change the camera to something completely different... and then register that to a different custom shooting mode.

Suppose you were in Av mode when you "registered" the camera settings to custom mode "C1".  You'll find that when you turn the mode dial to C1, the upper left corner of the LCD screen with the current camera settings (that would normally tell you if you are in M, Tv, Av, P, etc.) will instead read "C1" with a smaller "Tv" subscript to remind you that this custom mode was registered when you were in Tv mode.

Once you switch into the custom mode, all camera settings will change to whatever you registered... but you aren't locked in.  Suppose that when you "registered" the mode, you had High-speed burst turned on and ISO was set to ISO 800 (I'm just making stuff up.)    Change the camera to something else... then switch into the custom mode and you'll see it returns to whatever you had set at the time you "registered" the mode.

Even with the camera in C1 mode... you can still change those settings.  Suppose you change the ISO from 800 to 1600... you'll see the change works.  But rotate the mode dial OUT of the "C1" mode ... say over to Manual... then return the mode dial back to C1... and you'll see the camera restores it back to the original ISO 800.  

Basically when you turn the mode dial to a custom mode, the camera settings will change to whatever settings you established when you "registered" the mode.... but you can make changes as needed while shooting.  To revert back to original setttings... just leave the mode and return to it.

This is a lot easier than having to remember that you plan to swtich to Tv, you plan to switch ti AI Servo, you plan to eanble High-speed burst, you plan to change the AF point selection area, you plan to change the intelligent tracking AF case... etc, etc.   and you're trying to remember to change at least a half-dozen (if not more) settings.  

[cicopo]

A word of caution which may apply here (not familiar with that body). When I used Custom modes any EC changes went away EVERY time the camera went into sleep mode. I hadn't expected that & it took a while to realize it was happening.

[RobertTheFat]

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@cicopowrote:

A word of caution which may apply here (not familiar with that body). When I used Custom modes any EC changes went away EVERY time the camera went into sleep mode. I hadn't expected that & it took a while to realize it was happening.

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Yes, if you wanted a change to persist, you had to re-save the custom mode. I think some recent cameras let you specify that changes be automatically saved.