What Settings Do You Use?

i know, i know. i make alot of these threads. i'm a sponge, ok?

theres a 80% chance i'll be going to phillip island next month to photograph the V8 supercars grand finale (YAY!)

now, i'll only have my 300D, 18-55mm, and tripod.

i'm guessing i'd use Av mode, and watch until the shutter stays above 1/200, no matter what aperture, the smaller the better? (higher number).

it SHOULD be a sunny day, if not overcast.

so would these do?

Av f/7 or 10 or 22 or 36
shutter: 200 or higher - whats the best?
ISO: 400 - higher for a faster shutter?

ok, forget those.. i just proved to myself that i'm really, really unsure. haha

how close can you get to the cars when you have a media pass?


one last thing, just to make this thread worthwhile - i MIGHT be able to get an early christmas present, so what would i get to help these types of shots for say, 400AU dollars?

It all depends what kind of shots you're going to be going for. If you're going for shots where the car is in focus and everything else is blurred, then you want to use a lower F-number (ie. 4.5 I think is the lowest for the 18-55 lens). Since you mentioend AV mode and not manual mode, then the shutter will be auto set by the camera (it's mettering tells it that it needs to be set to for proper exposure). Typically, with low f-numbers you will have quite fast shutter speeds (on a bright sunny day that is).

However, if you want a feel of motion, you may want to try for a shutter speed that is as low as you can go, that will still keep the car in focus, and blur the wheels for example. For this you will likely need to experiment to see how low need to get your shutter speed to get this effect, as it will vary on the type/amount of light coming in.

So, I guess my suggestion is to play around with many types of settings. Try one round in AV mode with low f-number, then next round go a few stops higher, next round go a few more higher, etc. Every once in a while review and zoom in on your pics in your LCD and see how they look (sharpness, blur, etc.). Once you get what you like, stick with it.

If you want to go 100% manual, then I'm not the person to ask, as I mainly use AV/TV/P modes to get my desired effects (I'm not comfortable enough with manual metering)

P.S. Forgot to mention shoot tons of pics. Try not to delete many (except if they're obviously trash). Some times pics you think were bad may actually have been good shots. Rule of thumb for me is, when I go to a sporting event, if I get 10 keepers out of all the shots I took I'm happy (by keepers I mean shots that I would like to have framed).

It all depends what you want to do. I usually try to keep lens as open as possible. That usually means f2.8. With this you keep background (sometimes you can't really choose if there will be wires or nice blue sky for background) as much out of focus as possible. Also you get faster times which means less chances for blured photos. When it comes to iso it all depends on condition, but I would say my average iso for outside is from 200 to 800, and for indoor mostly 800 or even 1250 to 1600. Of course it all depends what kinda shoot you are after. If you want sharp "frozen" subject go with suggestion above, if you are in for panning, set longer times (lens stoped down, lower iso...).
How close can you come? Depends on event. No idea about V8 Supercars, but for that what I'm shooting it ranges from being on track (half a meter from competitor) to sitting behind commercial "wall" few meters off court. But with car racing I doubt you would be really close. And another suggestion... leave tripod at home. If you need to have support (with lens which you mentioned you sure won't need it), get monopod. Tripod is last thing you want to carry around race track... believe me

Leave the tripod at home... all the pros and most of the amateurs will point at you and laugh. Tripods and motorsports do not mix.

Put the camera in TV mode, select 1/320th or so for shutter speed for head on / three quarters shots. Select 1/200th or so for pans. Adjust your ISO to try and keep aperture to around f/8 or smaller if you can. Remember to track the cars and follow through.

In terms of buying something, a quick-ish 300mm zoom with decent AF speed is helpful. The Canon EF 100-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM is about the best budget choice. Dunno what that works out to in AUS$

Have fun.

I would love to see V8's, they look and sound awesome. Flame for fun too

You could really do with a longer lens, but that's not to say you can't get some nice shots I would also go with TV mode,. The problem with the camera setting the shutter speed for you is that if it's too fast you run the risk of cars looking 'parked' (not showing movement - i.e background / wheels blurred).

Your lens is ideal for close up work though so I would try to walk around the pits if you can and take some close ups of the cars being prepared to race, and maybe some gridgirls

thanks guys, i think i've the general idea uptop in my head.