Contax 645 for a Bike Race??

[charlesp]

I have a chance to photograph a short circuit (i.e. fast) bike race

this Sunday. I only have a C645 and have never tried to

photograph a fast action sport. Any suggestions?

Tripod+Panhead? Handheld? Monopod? 400/800 film?

Thanks all.

[brunom]

Charles

 

My honest opinion is that this is exactly the sort of photographic situation where the use of either of the Nikon/Canon duopoly makes great sense.

 

Regards

 

Bruno

[bjm]

Using a Canon/Nikon certainly would be easier. But I'd bet the Contax 645 will get you better images. Depending on the weather, I think that 400 asa film would be useful -- to ensure that you can get to the faster action-stopping shutter speeds. If you want blur you might get away with 100 speed film. Take an extra back or 2 with you to swap film as needed. I would think you would have to be fairly close to the action because you don't have a lot of long lenses with the 645's. Take the fast 80/f2 and the 140/f2.8 lenses and if you're going to be close enough the 45/f2.8. Those great lenses are also heavy, and it take more time for them to autofocus than the light weight Canon/Nikon lenses. So with such fst action, you might want to manually focus or pre-focus the lenses. A tripod/monopod might come in handy (if only to the take the weight of the camera off you from time to time). A slightly speed-blurred image of a cyclist taken with the Zeiss 140/f2.8 wide open could be magnificent.

[del_gray]

In a circuit race you will be able to see the racers go around and come back to the same spot many times. This will allow you to anticipate the action and prefocus on a spot where the bikes will be. When the racers move to the spot you are ready to shoot. Try panning along with them as well to blur the bckground but keep the riders sharp. Practice a few times first to get the right timing - they move much faster than it looks. If you are allowed to move around the course, choose a spot likely to produce some action, like a steep hill, a sharp corner, a sudden narrowing in the road, or (obviously) the finish line. Focus a few shots on the riders faces - they suffer a great deal during a hard race and it shows quite dramatically in their expressions at crunch time. I'd use a monopod to allow maximum freedom of movement yet provide a more stable platform. Have fun.

[charlesp]

Thanks everyone. I just checked out the course and discovered there's a

gruesomely steep hill. I remember as an old roadie how sometimes my face

worked as hard as my legs on a hill like that. I think I'll try that spot as well as

on the steep descent and try the blurred b/g idea. Thanks much!

[charlesp]

I meant to ask - does UC 400 sound like the right film? I always scan & print

the keepers.

Cheers.

[stwrtertbsratbs5]

What is the right film? It depends on your tastes. Some folks love Velvia, but I hate it. I prefer more muted colors. Purely personal preference. What do you prefer? High saturation?

 

And good luck with the shoot. The Contax 645 is an excellent camera and I'm sure you'll do fine if you prefocus and anticipate.

 

Robert

[bjm]

I was going to suggest Kodak UC 400. Wasn't sure, though, if you wanted to do slides. I think it would work nicely.

[robbie_caswell]

Check out my gallery.

 

Those panning shots were done with my F5 and Kodak 400UC in mid afternoon for the daylight shots. I estimate he was traveling 30mph. I shot about 10 rolls of film and slowly discovered a few things. High shutter speed froze the subject and gave little, if any signs of movement which I found boring (Shot 1 in my gallery w/Fuji Superia I think). All others were taken with Kodak 400UC I'm sure of...

 

The best I got was the panning shots and I eventually found that shooting in Shutter priority at 125 and panning obviously gave movement in the background, but also if you look at the wheels you see movement there as well, as they are turning.

 

I hope that helps.

 

Post some pics and tell us how/why/what you tried.

[dennisbarnett]

Several years ago, while travelling in a coastal town in Spain, I was lucky enough to have an international bike race near my hotel along the water. I hid in a large bush on a curve, where I was about six feet away from the riders as they made the turn. I got some amazing shots just by prefocusing on their faces. I used a Contax 645, which was perfect because I was able to crop in on some of the wasted space around the bikers and still get great resolution from enlargements.

[bobmichaels]

Remember that 20 mph is 30 feet per second. So 1/30th will give you 1 foot of subject movement which is a nice subject blur. Shoot some at 1/60th and more at 1/15th just for variety.

 

My best shots in crits have been just inside a tight turn with a wide angle shooting at 1/30 with the camera hand held steady and a blur of recognizable riders coming by.

 

But I always plan on shooting around 100 frames to get one or two really good shots. Therefore I go back to shooting 35mm from a cost factor.

 

Just do something different to insure you don't end up with boring photos that look like a million others. And bring lots of film. Sports photography means editing out 98-99% of what you shoot. You have to shoot when you anticipate action. If it wait for it to happen, it's over by the time you fire the shutter.