mark_litherland1

Thanks All.

Maury, I think you have a point about the DoF lagging the car and maybe there is 50' there. I'm loathed to go back to the 'Pre-focus and

wait until the car gets there' method though. If we have sorted the DoF puzzle, then I need to nail the AI Servo settings for Motorsport. I

usually just use the centre point for AF but it's probably a good time now to widen the options out and see how the camera works with 19

points on the 1D3 and the 61 points of my 5D3.

Also, probably a good time to go through the AI CFn settings of both cameras.

Closest track day is Cadwell on Sunday. Might be a good chance to experiment and see what works.

Cheers

Mark

<p>Agreed the shutter speed is low, I was set up for the panning shots that I took a few seconds after this. They were fine.<br>

But it's possible that you have a point about the front of the car bobbing more than the windscreen. It's not camera shake, otherwise the driver and windscreen wouldn't be so clear. <br>

I need to go out an experiment some more to identify the DoF better. I'll start at 1/1000s and go from there.</p>

<p>Recently, I have been trying my hand at some motorsport photography for fun, but there's obviously something I'm not understanding here.</p>

<p>In this shot the driver is clearly in focus but the front of the car isn't:<br>

<img src="http://www.litherland.me/images/JBB1.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="400" /><br>

Closer<br>

<img src="http://www.litherland.me/images/JBB2.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="400" /></p>

<p>Here's the EXIF data:</p>

<p><img src="http://www.litherland.me/images/EXIF1.png" alt="" width="256" height="275" /></p>

<p>Now I figure that I was about 240ft away and I calculate the DoF to be about 51ft for f10, 400mm on a 1D Mk III<br>

<img src="http://www.litherland.me/images/DoF.PNG" alt="" width="640" height="960" /></p>

<p>There's no way that there's a DoF of >50ft in that shot, even allowing for vagaries of CoC and some miscalculation of distance.<br>

What am I missing?<br>

Thanks</p>

<p>Mark</p>

<p> </p>

<p>I never travel without a flash. Most recently I bought the baby Canon 270 to be lighter, but because it limits shutter speed to 1/200s (no high speed shutter capability) I find myself going back to packing the 430 or the 580 as most of the use is for fill-in where I am probably using natural daylight and wide apertures.<br>

<br /> The downside is that it draws attention to you when you use it and people can become very self conscious. If you use it, be prepared to make the first shot count.<br>

<br /> The opposite is also true that it can set you apart from being just another pesky tourist grabbing sneaky shots. If you behave like a pro, people generally treat you like a pro. A perfect 'local' shot for me is when I take one shot with the flash, show it to them and then ask if I can take another. The level of engagement is then very different.<br>

<br /> The attached shot is not actually mine, but is my wife's and she uses the same approach. She's much better at it than me though :)</p><div></div>

<p>+1 for being very safe.<br>

I spent several days up and down the strip with 2 x 5Ds with a 24-70 on one and the 100-400 on the other. The 100-400 is a big lens and it got regular attention from the casino security guards. They couldn't have been more polite though enquiring about what I was intending to photograph with the lenses, reminding me that I couldn't photograph in the gaming halls and asking me gently to be careful not to give any other customers the impression that I might be photographing them. All very reasonable and a friendly approach.</p>

<p>My 16Gb cards get just under 400 RAW shots on them and that's about the same as a full day's sheeting for me. So I generally have just one spare 16Gb card in my pocket.</p>

<p>In the SD slot I have an 8Gb Eye-Fi card that gets the JPGs. This then buzzes them over to the iPad when I stop for a cup of tea. I have found this very useful for near immediate feedback and have often gone back to a spot to reshoot. </p>

<p>I think it's a constraint of the iPad 1 though that I cannot use the large JPGs with any of the editing tools. Not a deal-breaker, just means that I need to shoot medium JPGs only if I want to play about a bit on the iPad with cropping or similar.</p>

<p>Mark</p>

<p>Thanks guys - really helpful input there. The deal is done though and the camera was bought at the end of today....<br>

...it's the 1D MkIII for these reasons:<br>

- she handled the 1D MkIIN, the 7D and the 1D MkIII and she loved the last one. The 7D felt too much like a prosumer camera like the 5D, did not have the confidence feel of a 1D<br>

- the 1D2N felt like a previous generation camera to the 1D3<br>

- The 1D3 felt lighter than the 1D2N (I know it was, but it just felt lighter)<br>

- the AI servo on the MkIII seemed quicker and tracked best.<br>

- the 1D3 took a 1.4x TC on the 400mm 5.6 very well. AI Servo was still very good although it was central sensor only (much discussion about the 640mm/f5.6 equiv on a 1.6x 7D vs the 728mm/f8 equiv on the 1D3)<br>

- the 1D3 we looked at seemed immaculate at a reasonable price (£1449)<br>

- I haggled a further £75 off for buying the 1.4x TC at the same time :)<br>

In short, she loved it, had always wanted a 1D and now it was within reach and we don't need any more glass (not the stuff we can afford anyway - the list: 17-40mm f4L, 24-70 f2.8L, 50mm f1.4, 85mm f1.2L, 70-200mm f4L, 70-200mm f2.8L IS, 100-400mm f4-5.6L IS, 400mm f5.6L now incl 1.4x TC)<br>

Thanks again, really helped us get to what I think was the right decision.</p>

<p>Mark</p>

<p>...also the double cards.</p>

<p>M</p>

<p>Thanks Jamie - but also because the 1D has a few other features; rain is always an issue on UK motor circuits and she's been very nervous about the 5D, the 1D should offer a little more protection.<br>

Also, the small LCD window on the back for immediate view of info is attractive to her.</p>

<p>M</p>

<p>It's my wife's birthday soon and she has been doing some great motorsport shots with her 5D and 400mm f5.6L; but she's getting a little frustrated with the AF tracking on the 5D not keeping up with the cars.</p>

<p>My thoughts are to buy her a new body (camera that is) and I'm looking at used 1D IIn or III. As a comparison the prices are 700GBP for the IIN in 'Good' Condition or 1550GBP for the III in 'Very Good' condition.<br>

Weight is also a consideration and the III is marginally lighter.<br>

The AF tracking issues on the III concern me and I am tempted by the fact that IIN seems to have a great reputation and it's 850GBP cheaper.<br>

Any input appreciated.</p>

<p>Thanks</p>

<p>Mark</p>

I think my head is about to explode trying to work this out, but I think I'm

there now and it seems quite simple looking back.

Most of my photography is landscape and I have had 2 x 10Ds (wife is also a

keen photographer and we share) for a few years now and they have been great.

I have avoided the upgrade path of 20,30 and 40D but when the 5D came along

there was enough to justify the leap and I am not disappointed. The second

body was bought less than 2 weeks after the first.

However, we are both keen aviators and also visit the airshows with the 100-

400L IS.

The key point here is that most of the shots I take are cropped to fill the

frame and to cut straight to the punchline - my calculations show that there

are more pixels per sq cm on the 10D sensor than the 5D.

I appreciate that there is more to the camera than this, but for raw resolution

then it strikes me that for airshow work the 10D remains better suited.

I'm new to the FF vs APS-C format arguments and understand that the benefits of

the higher sensor resolution are negated when you need to enlarge the image to

a similar size, but when you're cropping anyway then the APS-C format seems to

offer more.

For everything else - it's the 5D

Mark