Shooting RC Cars

[scorpio_e]

Any advice ? WOW these things move fast !!!!!!
My first attempt was NOT impressive.

[rdenney]

Any advice ? WOW these things move fast !!!!!!
My first attempt was NOT impressive.
Get low. No, lower. I'm thinking the prone position is about right. That will give you sky and distant landscape as a background. More importantly, if they are catching any air you'll be looking up at them.

Also, pan the camera to follow the car. Keep the camera moving as you press the shutte,r imagining that you still pointing at the car. When the mirror returns, it should still be in the frame. If it's still too fast, then find a spot where you are looking into the front of the cars as they come at you. That will require a bit longer lens, but you won't have motion issues. Use Ai-servo autofocus when panning, or manual focus (prefocused on the spot).

Rick "trying to keep subjects at eye level" Denney

[JDB]

Are you trying to shoot at a race, or trying to shoot a buddy's car while bashing?

[Jeffro250]

Check out my RC gallery...

http://photosbyjerrfy.zenfolio.com/p646842993/

All those were shot with a Nikon D80 and a Sigma 50-500

Not the best shots in the world but there are a few good ones in there. Best advice i can give is shoot in Av with the lowest aperture number possible to keep your shutter speeds as high as possible, focus to servo on the center focus point and hold that shutter down till you fill the buffer. I probably shot 400 pictures and got a small amount of keepers in that bunch because they are just so fast. Their quite frustrating to shoot but they can be alot of fun once you get a good technique going and figure out what works for you.

[gravy graffix]

if you truly want a good shot... you have to take a min to think about things...
like:

position of sun
what will be in the back ground
will you be blocking vision from dr stand
are you gonna get hurt... ( lol probably)
get low, no one wants to see a shot from a standing position...

geting good shots usually ends up being the A main drivers... they are more predictable, staying in the groove, and im more likely to put my-self out there to get that shot as i trust them since i been running with them for years.

once you get your spot, pick your focus point... weather its a clump or rock.... that is where you will be taking the shot. this is where having the focus on the * or af-on (40d) can really help... lock focus and let off... then pan back and follow the car till you hit your mark. I dont spray as DOF is so short you might get 2 in focus...at best.

for jumping shots, i imagine a car in the air, watch for whats in the BG, then if i was to hang a plumb bob from the car in the air, i will focus on the ground at that point... this is totally trial and error here, it may take some chimping to get it right. follow the car in the VF and in mine i car "WATCH" the car come into focus as it flies thru the air...


jumping shots are a lil boring... we racers like to see the susp. working in the corners...

out door and indoor shots for my local track
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v727/xb8slim/lh/


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v727/xb8slim/lh/IMG_6600.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v727/xb8slim/lh/IMG_6564.jpg

[gravy graffix]

oh 2 more things...

try to get a front 3/4 shot like the 2 above... straight on is ok but none from behind... no one can tell who's it is.

and i do occasionally use AI servo if im folowing them coming at me on the straight, and since i got the 40d its so fast i had some luck there...

800 shutter and up for out door.... 400-500 indoor with a 2.0 f/stop


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v727/xb8slim/samples/113.jpg

[scorpio_e]

Thanks for all of the suggestions. I tried burst mode with the Xti and hoped to catch it in the air. I was inspired by Gravy and wanted to see what I could do. There is another race in a few weeks so I hope to try your suggestions.

Thanks again to all who replied. Hope I can post some good shots:)

[rdenney]

Heh. I can see that cars have changed since I raced an Associated RC-10 and a Tamiya Grasshopper!

Rick "who still has that RC-10 in a box somewhere" Denney

[SkipD]

I tried burst mode with the Xti and hoped to catch it in the air.My firm opinion (based on experience) is that you should - at least while learning - forget the "machine-gun" mode and concentrate on your shutter release timing to catch the action where you envision it.

When photographing car racing years ago (Formula 1, hill climbs, motocross, drag racing, etc.), I used purely manual 35mm film cameras. I would often focus on a part of the track that I knew was where interesting activity happened all the time. I would then follow a race car/bike into that location and time my use of the shutter button to record the action as it happened. The meant that I had to be predictive in my actions.

Get used to doing things manually, then progress to automation.

I still use manual exposure control most of the time, as it is far superior to a camera's guessing what I want. This is especially true when the subject's color and reflectivity changes with virtually every shot even though I may be aiming at the same place for a whole series of shots.

[PhotosGuy]

I agree with Skip. Here's why: This shows how the subject can affect the exposure & why manual keeps me worry free: Post #47 (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showpost.php?p=5191658&postcount=47)

First set the f-stop & shutter speed you need. Then adjust the ISO. Need an exposure crutch? (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=89123)