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Camera advice for action

G

Gjr1966

Member
I’m keen to take some good photos of my greyhound at speed and motorbike racing. I have a Sony rx100v but so far not produced anything particularly good. That could be me or the camera! I’d prefer something not too bulky that I can carry about, but doesn’t have to be so small like the Sony.
Thanks

p.s. Some lovely photos on here btw. I’ve been a daily viewer for some time.
 
Gjr1966 said:
I’m keen to take some good photos of my greyhound at speed and motorbike racing. I have a Sony rx100v but so far not produced anything particularly good. That could be me or the camera! I’d prefer something not too bulky that I can carry about, but doesn’t have to be so small like the Sony.
Thanks

p.s. Some lovely photos on here btw. I’ve been a daily viewer for some time.
Click to expand...

This depends if you are looking for panning type shots or freeze the action type shots.

Panning doesn't actually put that much strain on a camera, you effectively run it in manual mode with a shutter speed of say 1/60th of a second (could be anything from 1/15th to 1/250th depending on what you are photographing), and then set the aperture so that the image is exposed correctly. Then put the camera in a burst mode, and hold the shutter button down as you pan the target (as it moves across your field of view), You may well get blackout on the rear screen as most 'mirrorless designs' black the image during this type of shooting, but the images will still be ok. To improve the hit rate, pre-focussing and setting the camera to manual focus will help, as the AF system on your type of camera won't be super zippy.

If you want to freeze the action, unless you can prefocus, you need fast AF systems, or AF systems that track the objects in the field of view. Here the DSLR still reigns supreme unless you have deep pockets for something like a Sony A9.

I'd start with panning, Panning bikes will be easier than the greyhound as they are a lot more predictable (ie should be on the same part of the circuit each lap).

Hope that helps

Panned TVR Tuscan (1/125th of a second)

160917 Oulton Park TVR Tuscan Speed Six by David Yeoman, on Flickr
 
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Gjr1966 said:
Thanks very much! Will give panning a try. Your TVR photo captures the motion very well. Lovely photo.
Click to expand...

Great!!

Remember as well, that not all the motorbike may be sharp (The TVR is sharp at the front but not at the back), because depending on where you stand, and the nature of the circuit, some parts of the vehicle may be moving faster in relation to you than others. Also the resultant shots often look better if the vehicle is moving into space, rather than leaving where they have been in the image.

Have fun with it and don't forget to post your results here.
 
Nice challenge to photo the greyhound in flight! My D7200 / 70-300m VR AF lens did a decent job but was a just little slow for 'straight to the camera' acton and usually the head was slightly in front of the focus plain with movement towards the camera.

Bounding by Ian123_running, on Flickr

The prime lens (300mm PF f/4) I now have is definitely quicker and reduces the problem.
 
Panning - cropped image taken with just a standard 35mm lens on D7200 but i usually use a longer focal length. I should probably have used a shorter shutter speed (it was a dull day and this was 1/80th/ f/4.5) - I quite like the blur but this is perhaps a little TOO blurred. This girl was QUICK !

Hera running by Ian123_running, on Flickr

'Dogs in flight' are fun - it helps to have someone to throw balls or whatever. I don't know much about camera types but I'd say as a minimum you'd want a longer than standard lens and a good degree of control over shutter speed and aperture, and fast autofocus that you know how to use (continuous vs single focus etc). I still have a lot to learn here. Good lighting conditions really help, and know your equipment and practice / try things out.
 
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