First hillclimb with the 40D picture heavy.

[BlueMR2]

Just trying out a demo of Aperture so lets find out how it goes.

[M-J-B]

I'm not the right guy to C&C but it looked like a bloody good day - thanks for sharing

[muppetdave]

Looks like a great day out, but a great deal of them did look slightly soft/oof I'm sorry to say. Hope you had fun in any case!

[BlueMR2]

Some of them are very large crops with a not completely sharp image.

I often don't take photos much over winter so i have 6 months of not panning, so it takes a little while to get going again, that's why i popped down to the practice day.

That together with a new heavier camera and getting used to the controls in different locations was one of the reasons i went down as i had only had the camera 2 days at the time.

I usually use the centre AF point only so certain sections can be out of focus due to using F4 and it possibly focusing on the rear wing or side when the car is angled. I also have a habit of zooming whilst panning and the camera seems to have problems keeping focus in servo mode whilst doing this as it doesn't seem to move subtly enough.

Together with getting used to the extra fps so less mirror down time to follow the subject and it will take a meet or 2 to get used to it and get back to panning ok.

Not sure how all the controls of Aperture work either.

Should have better smoothness after a few events. the monopod can be a bit awkward as well but saves the arms t the start of the season .

Its abit crazy how fast the 40D devours memory though. 25% more MP but about 50% more memory useage. Lost a few hundred photos per event right there, not to mention being able to get 3 times as many shots per car. I can use my 12GB in a couple of hours on a busy day now .

[4hero]

Not a bad bunch of shots for having a break over winter. I know exactly what you mean about getting some practice in, I went to knockhill a couple of weeks back and all the shots were crap

The 40D should have no problems focusing, what lens are you using?

I would ditch the monopod, I got a manfrotto one a while back and only used it once. More trouble than it's worth in my opinion (and limits the flow of the camera while panning).

F4 could be the problem also, any need for it being so low? I tend to shoot around f9+ while doing motorsport stuff with the 40D and 350D with the 70-200 f2.8IS and 100-400 on.

A few random examples with my 40D (just for comparison of exif).

40D, 1/125 sec, f9, ISO100


40D, 1/100 sec, f9, ISO100


40D, 1/125 sec, f11, ISO100


40D, 1/125 sec, f7.1, ISO200


40D, 1/160sec, f11, ISO200


40D, 1/40sec, f18, ISO100


As for storage, get yourself a cheap netbook and chuck it in the bag (they are tiny, and light). Extremely useful when you run out of memory cards. Remember and charge the netbook up though

[BlueMR2]

They look good.

I usually have the camera set up but with it being new and packing the 350d in its box ready to sell, i kind of forgot what settings i used, so i'll probably go to 6.3 or 7.1 iirc or so for the aperture that has worked well in the past.

I use a 70-200mm F4L.

I think its just a matter of using a smaller aperture and getting smoother, which will hopefully come along after a couple of sessions. Maybe use the 7 day shop monopod a bit less as well , that's more to take the weight inbetween the shots really.

[havoc]

I like the composition of the close-ups, and most of the panning shots, so positioning and framing is good.

But I'd use shutter-priority for the motion shots, not aperture-priority. Using Tv and set to the right 'speed' whilst panning will blur the background far more effectively than a low aperture, AND will give you a better chance of having the target in focus.

[BlueMR2]

Thanks for that, i might try setting different shutter speeds next time and then find out what gives the best results.

[Felters]

The pictures look a bit "static". What shutter speeds did you use? I'd try a slower speed and a bit more panning. Somewhere between 1/60 and 1/125 if they're going past you. Rather faster if they're coming head on at you.

This was shot at 1/60th. Admittedly I was close up and a focal legth of 40mm does make panning easier.

[BlueMR2]

Its all about getting used to it again. Although the drivers can help.



The Lens gave pretty good results on the 350d previously.