Canadian GP/ Camera Help

[mclaren_crazy]

This thread is two-fold so I will start with the much simpler aspect of it. Is anyone going to the Canadian GP this year? I am going and its my first major sporting event and heavily my favorite sport in general. We are going to be sitting right in the middle of the hairpin last turn so I am excited.

The second part of this thread is to find out if anyone can give me tips on shooting these cars. I am going to be seeing the cars coming at a right angle and from the little practice I have had trying this it is very hard. If anyone has suggestions for setting for shutter speed, aperture etc. they would be greatly appreciated. The camera I am going to be using is either a Nikon D70s or a D200.

For those who like visuals, I will be sitting in the section labelled silver 15

[RacingManiac]

Good spot, if you have a long-ish lens you can get decent pics from there(a 70-200mm 2.8 will be good, though may be too short, a 300 f4 or 300 f2.8 will get you really nice shot there), FYI it is also the spot where the car travels the slowest, so you should be golden with some practice...

If you want to get a head-on shot, you need fast shutter speed(faster than 1/1000sec) to be able to freeze frame and capture the car as they apporach the hairpin. If your camera can track and continous focus the object fast enough you can just follow the car and shoot the pic. If your camera can't do that, try to "pre-frame" the car. ie, pick a spot on the track and try to compose your shot. Focus the camera on that spot first by half-pressing the shutter and hold. Then when you hear car coming(and you will), follow the car(while still half-press the shutter to maintain the pre-focus) and when it gets to that spot you fully depress the shutter for the capture....

For a profile shot with blurred background, you need to use slower shutter speed(and to avoid over exposure you need very tiny aperture). Shoot in shutter priority and at shutter speed 1/240 to as slow as 1/100. Faster it is the easiest it is. But less blurry background it gets. Also to note, the slower the speed your camera shake might be a factor.....(1/100 at the last chicane SupercarFreak.Net Gallery :: 2006 Canadian GP :: 46 )

My album from my 2006 trip there:
SupercarFreak.Net Gallery :: 2006 Canadian GP

To note the first part of the album were from the hairpin. I did not have a stand seat so I am shooting from the top of the stand for the rowing basin. I do however had access to the closed area at the last chicane, and was shooting over the fence on top of a forklift.....

Read the manual beforehand too....its always better to know the camera before you use it...

[mclaren_crazy]

thanks that sounds like it could be really helpful

[NSXType-R]

Yeah, I've been wondering about how to shoot cars in motion, settings wise, at least.

This thread helped me with it. I'll try it out later on, while on the overpass at a highway.