XC Cycling Settings
Discussion
Need some advice,
I am very much a novice at photography, and on Sunday I want to take some shots of me and my friend riding an XC course in South Wales. As a rough ball park figure, what sort of settings (e.g. shutter speed) should I be using? The terrain will mostly be forest.
The camera is a Panasonic DMC-FZ18 (Lumiux)
I am very much a novice at photography, and on Sunday I want to take some shots of me and my friend riding an XC course in South Wales. As a rough ball park figure, what sort of settings (e.g. shutter speed) should I be using? The terrain will mostly be forest.
The camera is a Panasonic DMC-FZ18 (Lumiux)
Hmmm; fast shutter speeds in a forest, where I suspect it could be a bit dim!
You're probably looking at a bit of a compromise here, to get a decent enough shutter speed to "freeze" the action without resorting to maximum ISO settings and therefore reduced image quality.
The only similar stuff I've done is shooting indoor polo. I've found that 1/400th second or faster is required to reduce motion blur, but have had to resort to ISO 1600 at times to get that. Something like NeatImage, NoiseNinja or the noise reduction facilities on Photoshop and the like can help with this though.
Other options; go for slower speeds to deliberately get a "blurred" effect with some shots. If there are open clearings with better light, then you've got fewer problems. If this is competition, then I assume that flash is not an option.
I'm not familiar with the details of your camera, but if you're going for maximum shutter speed you might as well use Av (Aperture Priority) mode with the aperture set as wide as it will go. Adjust the ISO setting and see what sort of shutter speeds you are getting. Don't worry too much if you have to resport to maximum ISO settings. It's better (I reckon) to get a grainy in-focus shot than a nice "clean" one that's out of focus.
You're probably looking at a bit of a compromise here, to get a decent enough shutter speed to "freeze" the action without resorting to maximum ISO settings and therefore reduced image quality.
The only similar stuff I've done is shooting indoor polo. I've found that 1/400th second or faster is required to reduce motion blur, but have had to resort to ISO 1600 at times to get that. Something like NeatImage, NoiseNinja or the noise reduction facilities on Photoshop and the like can help with this though.
Other options; go for slower speeds to deliberately get a "blurred" effect with some shots. If there are open clearings with better light, then you've got fewer problems. If this is competition, then I assume that flash is not an option.
I'm not familiar with the details of your camera, but if you're going for maximum shutter speed you might as well use Av (Aperture Priority) mode with the aperture set as wide as it will go. Adjust the ISO setting and see what sort of shutter speeds you are getting. Don't worry too much if you have to resport to maximum ISO settings. It's better (I reckon) to get a grainy in-focus shot than a nice "clean" one that's out of focus.
With cycling (and many other action sports)whilst having a fast shutter speed freezes the action and gives a nice sharp image it can take away the sense of movement that you are actualyl trying to convey.
I'd have a play using the panning technique and see if you can get a sharp enough image whilst still getting some background blur, say start ata shutter speed of 1/125 and work down/up from there depending upon how much blur you want.
other optino in the woods and hence maybe not so much light is to use a fill flash to give abit more light. not sur eon the Lumix if you can set it to "rear curtain" or "slow" so that it fires at the end of the shutter cycle and not at the beginning but if you can and combine this with the panning you can get a nice effect.
chris
I'd have a play using the panning technique and see if you can get a sharp enough image whilst still getting some background blur, say start ata shutter speed of 1/125 and work down/up from there depending upon how much blur you want.
other optino in the woods and hence maybe not so much light is to use a fill flash to give abit more light. not sur eon the Lumix if you can set it to "rear curtain" or "slow" so that it fires at the end of the shutter cycle and not at the beginning but if you can and combine this with the panning you can get a nice effect.
chris
Gassing Station | Photography & Video | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff