Whats your preferance?

[Lukey347]

Whats your preferance when shooting motorsport, do you shoot full manual or in shutter priorty?
Just trying to find out whats better and what other people do.

[Simon Harrison]

It depends entirely on the conditions, how quickly the light is changing and whether the cars are running with headlamps on.

In short, I don't have a preference. Instead I set the camera up to best match the conditions that I am faced with.

Simon.

[GSH]

Sports mode. *whistles*

[KennyG]

When you are photographing racing cars at speed and wish to convey the image of motion, then of course shutter speed is the priority. This can be done either in Tv or M and I agree with Simon, the choice of which mode depends on the conditions.

[Lukey347]

Yeah I know about Tv mode, this is, what do you choose TV mode or full manual.

I'm just trying to get better at it. I've been shooting in full manula lately and wonder if it was worth it. Or if there were any advantages of shooting full manual over shutter prioirty or vise-versa.

[328somewhere]

No one can tell you what is going to be best for you. They can give suggestions and tips but there are too many variables. Best advice is to try them all and practice as much as possible. This will do two things. 1. Help you learn the settings and functions. 2. Understand what your equipment is capable of and make it easier to decide what you need when it comes time to upgrade. By then you will not have to ask "what lens or body to buy?" you will all ready know. Not to say it is a bad thing to ask for advice because some times those choices seem impossible. Good luck and shoot a million.

[Simon Harrison]

Yeah I know about Tv mode, this is, what do you choose TV mode or full manual.

I'm just trying to get better at it. I've been shooting in full manula lately and wonder if it was worth it. Or if there were any advantages of shooting full manual over shutter prioirty or vise-versa.

I refer you to my first post on this thread above.......

[Lukey347]

No one can tell you what is going to be best for you. They can give suggestions and tips but there are too many variables. Best advice is to try them all and practice as much as possible. This will do two things. 1. Help you learn the settings and functions. 2. Understand what your equipment is capable of and make it easier to decide what you need when it comes time to upgrade. By then you will not have to ask "what lens or body to buy?" you will all ready know. Not to say it is a bad thing to ask for advice because some times those choices seem impossible. Good luck and shoot a million.

Cheers.
Been practicing, but since I've never had any formal training (mainly teaching myself) I have to ask, what sometimes my seem like stupid questions.
Purchased a 70-200 f4L the other week (and use it with a 450D body) and have only had one chance to test it once. Was in full manual.
Twilight drift practice here in South Australia.
These are some of the results.

http://i701.photobucket.com/albums/ww13/LTerbeekephotos/Mallala%20Drift%20Prac%20140810/IMG_9421.jpg
http://i701.photobucket.com/albums/ww13/LTerbeekephotos/Mallala%20Drift%20Prac%20140810/IMG_9239.jpg

[328somewhere]

Pics look pretty good. Its never bad to ask for help, its just difficult to give good answers without a lot of information. So here is just a tiny bit more.
Selecting a mode can be as difficult as selecting a lens in certain situations. In many cases manual could produce the best results but not always. Like mentioned before if lighting condition are constantly changing AV/TV or even P might become a better option. Many times the camera can adjust faster than you can which can be a huge advantage. For certain things I prefer AV over TV because of the DOF (depth of field) control. For many other applications TV becomes the mode of choice for making subjects appear in motion (panning) or to keep the SS high enough to be able to shoot multiple frames. For me mode P usually only gets used under extreme laziness conditions/test/ or letting someone try out the camera. Now for the one you seem to like, Manual. Typically I use manual mode for portraits/weddings or non time critical stuff, normally having something to do with flash or creating a certain look. Being able to control all aspects of exposure while using a flash is critical. Fill flash seems to be the greatest example. When used correctly it can make a boring photo pop, but used incorrectly it can ruin what could have been an award winning photograph.
Those are a few basic theories I give to people who are looking to learn but don't quite have all the basics down yet. In this forum is enough knowledge for you to understand how to shoot in almost any condition and any event. So take my advice with a grain of salt or put it to good use. Either way keep practicing and shoot a million.

[Lukey347]

Cheers for the advice.
I think TV mode/shutter priority will be the way to go. I manily shoot motorsport (most of the being drift). Manual is good, but after reading that i realise how often i'm chasing a good enough setting.

[gdrMatt]

85% manual, 15% Av, 5% Tv..

[35mmNewbie]

I go between Tv and M im in Manual 99% of the time tho.

[Goodluck]

Tv mode checking ISO as the sun changes throughout the day.

[sigma pi]

good shots

[Ingsy]

I've started to try out M as I go fed up with shots of a black car coming out completely differently than a shot taken 2 minutes later of a white car - the camera trying to pick the best exposure for me.

Now, when weather, and so lighting, conditions are stable, I meter off of the track surface to get my rough settings, and go from there. Then if I have a shot of a white car followed by a shot of a black car I don't have completely different coloured tracks and backgrounds.

[gdrMatt]

i meter off the grass... it's a mid-tone color and slightly reflective..

[Lukey347]

I've found that if i shoot in TV (shutter priority) that I'm not getting enough light into my photo's with a filter and hood on, so full manual is my preferances now after a few more events with my new lense.

[Jim M]

No matter what mode you are in, you still have to use your head. I shoot Tv and P most of the time. The light changes too dramatically around here to shoot reliably on M most of the time, although I do it when called for. I shoot drag racing, so the conditions and requirements are different. I'm generally trying to keep my shutter speed above 1/1,000 in daylight to capture the starting line burst while road race and circle track photographers are trying to go the other direction. A wise old photographer once told me, and it's true in my opinion, that more pictures are ruined from a shutter speed that is too slow than a depth of field that is too shallow. It isn't always true, but he was generally right, at least for what I do.

Regardless, pay attention to aperture and shutter speed no matter what mode you are in. When either falls outside of the range that is acceptable to you, then change something. For me, that something is usually ISO.

When shooting M, the black car vs. white car still isn't automatically resolved. You can lose loose detail in the shadows of a black car and burn highlights on white cars if you aren't careful. You still have to compensate a little to make sure the subject is within the range of sensitivity of the sensor. Shooting RAW format helps, but I can't afford the storage space for the file size nor the post processing time for the volume of images I shoot any more.

I see this is another rambling post. I should never try to type the morning after a hard day and night at the track.

[Jim M]

I've found that if i shoot in TV (shutter priority) that I'm not getting enough light into my photo's with a filter and hood on, so full manual is my preferances now after a few more events with my new lense.
A hood and clear filter shouldn't make any difference to exposure. What is probably at play is having the aperture needed for the shutter speed chosen being beyond the maximum aperture the lens can provide. As I said in my earlier post, you still have to pay attention to what is going on when you use an automatic mode. Manual requires that you pay more attention to those kinds of things.

A hood won't make any difference in the amount of light reaching the sensor and if you are talking about a UV filter, that won't either. However, if you are having the control you need on manual, then that is the mode for you.

My opinion on hoods and UV filters – hoods are essential equipment, but UV filters should only be used to filter UV if you need to do so. If you want to get rid of "green ghosts" from reflected/refracted headlights and specular highlights, get rid of the UV filter. I've got them, but things have to get pretty nasty before I'll stick one on a lens. Hoods control stray light that bounces around on the lens glass to produce flare. I can't believe how many people shoot without them. They really improve things when shooting toward the light source.

[Lukey347]

Yeah I've just learnt about the green ghosts caused by filters. One of the tracks I shoot at regualy has alot of dirt/small rocks on the edge so I use a filter to save the lens.
Once I started using a hood I was amazed at the results.

[PhotosGuy]

Cheers for the advice.
I think TV mode/shutter priority will be the way to go. I manily shoot motorsport (most of the being drift). Manual is good, but after reading that i realise how often i'm chasing a good enough setting. I'm going to disagree. A black car will give you a different exposure from a white car & you're going to be chasing your tail setting EC. Even if I'm shooting in sunlight with clouds passing over, manual is just faster & better for me: Need an exposure crutch? (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=89123)

[Jim M]

As I said earlier, whatever mode you use, you still have to use your head. I've been through enough DSLRs now that I know that they don't all react the same, even the format used for saving images. My old 10D gave the prettiest digital images shooting JPEGs of any digital I've owned. It was just too slow for my type of shooting and I wore it out as well. My 30D just wanted raw images. I shot raw for as long as it was my main camera. My 50D does a good enough job with JPEGs that I'm back to shooting JPEGs and only shoot raw when I need insurance or the light is extra tricky. All of these needed different exposure tricks and had different biases. In manual, a black car tends be too black and a white car too white if some sort of exposure adjustment isn't used. Just the opposite takes place on Tv, Av, or P. You just can't shut down your brain no matter which mode you use.

[cdi]

over the past for years i have photographed many different types of motorsports. from monster trucks to sprint cars. i have found for arenas and stadiums i tend to shoot strictly manual so i can keep the exposure of my photos uniform, but recently i started to use tv and av mode when im shooting sprint cars. i find it frustrating when im photographing a practice session and the sun comes out from behind the clouds and goes back behind them. for this instance i will use av mode. when im photographing a mud pack session, practice session or qualifying session for dirt sprint cars i will use tv mode. once the sun goes down and my shutter drops below 1/100th switch to manual mode set my aperture wide open and my shutter speed anywhere from 1/125th to 1/250th.

personally i think it just depends on the type of motorsport you are photographing and lighting situation, if its daytime or under lights.