How to photograph motor racing with a D3100

Moose

This comment was converted into it's own thread. I though it would be helpful for others to see, read and enjoy...

@abdulity: Hey Moose, Which settings should I use to capture speeding cars?

@Moose: I would shoot in Shutter priority (S on the mode dial) and select a shutter speed around 1/250 to 1/2000 to freeze the car. I wouldn't worry about controlling ISO, especially when shooting fast action outdoors. The light may change due to clouds or shade and you don't want to be left with underexposed or overexposed images.

To help with focusing, enable Continuous Servo AF (AF-C). This will allow you to continuously focus on a moving subject by half pressing the shutter.

In addition to the settings mentioned above, be sure to use burst mode (the little switch next to the mode dial). In burst mode, you'll be able to capture a series of shots at 3 frames per second. This will allow you to capture intense moments as the cars circle the track or speed down a street.

For a little extra drama, you could experiment with panning. Just lower your shutter speed (start with 1/15 and work your way down) and pan or follow the car with your camera. When you press the shutter, continue following the car with your camera. This will keep the car in focus, with everything else blurred out due to motion.

Happy shooting! :)

Kevthetoad

I'm off to the Isle of Man TT next year and I want to get a long lens to get some good clear close ups, potentially at speed.

I'm using a D3100 with a Nikkor AF-S zoom 18-55mm for everyday, and a Nikkor AF-S zoom 55-200mm for longer shots. I confess I'm not happy with the clarity of the finished shot with the longer lens. I'm sure I used to get much sharper pictures with my old Ricoh 35mm SLR. I also don't see a difference (except in file size) between the jpg finse settings and the RAW files.

Any suggestions?

bandaidmd

You shouldn't see any difference between raw and jpeg fine. The raw file will not be degraded if you use post prosessing software (photoshop). The jpeg file undergoes some degradation everytime you make a change. It's like when you make a copy of a copy of a copy it will never be as good as the original.