Indoor racing photos - how can it be done well?

[Garry]

How is it possible to take a halfway decent, non-blurry mess when shooting in low/poor light indoors? I'm still learning but can't use a flash (I don't want to distract the drivers).

I've got a Canon 1000D, I shot mostly in Av, I was fiddling with the settings and modes all evening to work out what made an improvement and what didn't, swapping between a long lens and a short one. I seemed to get my best shots with lowest F-stop (f5.6 with the kit 18-55mm lens, and f4.5 with a Tamron A17e 70-300mm lens). ISO was as high as possible (ISO 1600).

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?s...1&l=565b6dfacb

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Also, what do you do? Fill the frame with the car or leave it zoomed out ( a bit or a lot) and crop later?

[raymondkerr]

it is very difficult to be honest, F5.6 isn't quick enough and won't let in enough light, ideally you'd be looking to use a lens with an aperture of F2.8 or lower, but theses are very expensive. You could try a prime lens either a 1.8 or 1.4 35/50mm but then you'll have to move about a lot to get decent shots in frame, not having any zoom.

try messing about in manual mode, turn your shutter speed up as far as you can, and use the flash. It is difficult to pan and shoot with low light indoors, especially when the cars are going so fast. Also make sure your ISO is at least 1600 or higher if your camera will allow.

[Pops]

hi, Had the same sort of issues at our club! You need a lense with a low F number(fast) to allow the max light onto the sensor,this will also allow you to use a faster shutter speed making the images sharper. Check out Jimmy's thread on photography its all explained very well. You can pick up a 50mm, f1.8 lense for around 80 pounds on ebay.One of the guys at club has one and it makes a massive difference..It all gets a bit expensive after that though!
Dave

[Pops]

Reviews and articles..photo tips and tricks

[Ian_lawton]

can i ask if your using a tripod?

[jimmy]

A really good lens for indoor action as has been mentioned is a 50mm f1.8 - it's a cheap lens for canon, you can probably get one for about 50-60 quid or there abouts. Even if you stop it down to around F2 it's still bringing in lots of light and it'll be a lot easier to get some decent shutter speeds indoors.

The problem with using such a big aperture is getting things in focus because it can be a very shallow depth of field indeed. I think it's the best investment for taking shots indoors though as it's cheap and you can get awesome shots with it.

[Garry]

Thanks a lot guys. Really apprieciate the help. I've read Jimmy's guides (bookmarked now, I should have paid attention this summer on that project ), I'll be on the hunt for a 50mm prime lens now. Funny as I have a non-RC mate who I described about what I was trying to shoot and she recomended a prime lens too, shame her equipment is Nikon though or I'd have pinched it once in a while!.

Its taken a while to work out the effects of ISO, aperture and shutter speed in real-world situations, its easy to read on the laptop then try to remember when trackside. It has helped when trying to shoot full-size motorsport too, but the guides for those aren't really applicable to our stuff, especially when indoors.

Do drivers get annoyed with flash on? I try to avoid it where possible.