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Posted by Peggy on March 10, 2000 at 13:11:07:
and I would like to photograph a IRL car race from the stands I need a telephoto lens but I have no idea what lens would be a good one. I want to get some good, clear photos and I know that speed is an issue with telephoto lenses. Can someone offer some suggestions of a good lens for me. I also shoot equestrian events, so I also need a nice telephoto lens for that.
Thank you. You can e-mail me if that would be easier. Peggy
Editor's Note: The following two responses have been appended to this message:
Posted by Doug Clifford on March 11, 2000 at 20:16:11:
The Minolta XT si is an autofocus camera, which means you'll have to buy an autofocus telephoto lens. It is true that some autofocus lenses don't focus fast on moving objects. Ways to minimize this include using a smaller aperture opening (f8, f11) to gain some depth-of-field (increasing the area in front of and behind the subject which will be in focus.) I'd recommend for all around use buying a 70-210 telephoto lens because longer focal length lenses are more expensive and tend to have smaller maximum apertures, making it difficult to use them in dim light without a tripod. You'll have to use fast film (ISO 400) and the slowest hand-held shutter speed should be 1/250 of a second. The rule for determining slowest hand held shutter speed is 1/focal length of the the lens. In this case 1/210 - the closest is 1/250 of second. Personally I think 1/500 of a second is going to be needed for freezing moving cars and horses, perhaps even faster speeds like 1/1000 of a second. There is a technique which you can learn to photograph moving objects in races at slower shutter speeds; the technique is called panning. First you prefocus and lock your focus setting at the place where you plan to take the photograph, then you pan up the track to where the cars are and follow them with your eye until they pass the spot where you've planned to take the shot, snap the shutter and keep moving smoothly until the viewfinder opens up again; panning is like a golf swing - you follow through. You might be able to take some nice action shots at 1/125 of a second when panning - the subject will be sharp and the background will be blurred.
Posted by John Shafer on March 12, 2000 at 10:53:17:
Doug gave you some great advice and covered most of the basics. I shoot motorcycle and bicycle racing and can add a little more.
Shooting an IRL race from the stands probably means that you'll be pretty far away. A 200mm lens is a good purchase to make, but you may still be disappointed with the size of the cars in your final images. Unless I can get really close to the track, I shoot motorcycles with a minimum 300mm lens. Motorcycles are much smaller than cars, but I'm usually pretty close. A good 300mm lens can cost quite a bit. I suggest looking for a good pro camera shop to try and rent a long lens. You're at a disadvantage with Minolta because most rental equipment is Canon and Nikon.
Technique-wise I have one important thing to add. Plan your shot. The cars are moving so fast, and the focus can't keep up. The only sure way to get good shots is to pick where you're going to release the shutter and pre-focus on the spot. Don't rely on the autofocus to keep your subject in focus. Use a small aperture and the autofocus to give you some cushion space around the spot you've pre-focused on. The autofocus will not keep up with an accelerating race car!
Also- experiment a lot. Try shooting a 1/125, 1/1000 and shutter speeds in between. See what happens. Definitely try to pan with the cars. Panning gives you a much higher likelihood of actually getting the whole car in the frame. Without panning you'll likely find that a lot of your shots have the main car or cars chopped in the middle.
Good luck and have fun. Don't expect too much of your first try at race photography. It takes a lot of practice. Consider it an experiment. I f you can go more than one day and get film processed and printed at night- do it. That will give you the opportunity to review your technique and mistakes and tune them up for race day.
John Shafer PhotographyREVIEW.com
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