What camera body and lens would benefit me the most?

Timmay wrote in post #14390399
That all depends on where he's going to be shooting from.

What kind of racing are you shooting? Drags? NASCAR? Street courses? Do you have track access, or are you shooting from a grandstand or observation area somewhere?

I am by NO means a pro, but I have shot several ALMS races with full credentials, which gets you the photo vest and track access. With track access, my 70-200 L works just fine, and among the other photogs that are there, that's a fairly common lens. I have the f4 IS, as that's all I could afford, but plenty of other guys use the f2.8 IS. Sure, longer lenses would be nice for some types of shots, but if you have decent access, you can usually move around and find something that works.

If I couldn't get that kind of access, the types of shots I could get with the 70-200 would be more limited, but not impossible. I will say that with the portions of the endurance races that are at night I would have liked to have the extra stop of the f2.8, but the f4 worked just fine as well, and I came away with some stuff that I'm happy with, especially for where my skill level is right now.

As far as what camera body to use, I just upgraded from a Rebel XSi to a 7D, which should be here on Tuesday. From my research, the autofocus system on the 7D seems pretty nice for this kind of work.

OP, can you fill us in more on your situation?

I mainly do drag racing, autocross, and street courses. I do not have track access which means most of the time I will be shooting from the observation area or along the outside fences. My situation is this, I got hired to photograph the Local auto show back in january and didn't have too much money to spare so I picked myself up a T3 with the 18-55mm kit lens. It worked great for me until I started to learn more about photography and my understanding of photography grew. The T3 just seems to be limiting in a few ways...I do not know too much about different bodies, or lenses but taking photos at night with the T3 is horrendous. I am not sure if it is the lens I am using or just the body itself.

mustang0672 wrote in post #14390357
I think you guys have me sold on the 300mm f/4. ....now which camera body to go along with it? 700-1500$ range? New or used in that price range? What would benefit me the most.

Used or refurbished 7D would be my suggestion for the auto races.

I would go with a 7D and the 70-300L. The AF is fast and accurate with this combo and I love how compact the 70-300L is compared to other L telephoto lenses.

200 2.8 prime with a 1.4 TC maybe?
320MM equivalent at 2.8 when light is low.
Roughly 440 4.0 when the light is a little better.
The one I rented a few years ago for my 40D was awesome. Didn't use a TC with it unfortunately. Other uses took me in a different camera choice.
If I stayed with Canon, this lens would be a must have on a cropped body. Somewhat small, fast on aperture and focus speed and a sweet price for the bang you get.
I still love my 40D and 24-105, I only keep it though for the other half, she hates the weight of my Olympus stuff. About all I would have needed was an 85 1.8 and the 200 2.8 prime to set me alright.
Give it a look. A very understated Canon Gem.

Dave.......

mustang0672 wrote in post #14390444
I mainly do drag racing, autocross, and street courses. I do not have track access which means most of the time I will be shooting from the observation area or along the outside fences.

In that case, a longer lens and or teleconverter would probably serve you well. Primes are nice, if you can choose where you shoot from, and a lot of the pros at a given race will be using them, but pros have a LOT more freedom in where they get to stand to set up for a shot than someone shooting from the stands or observation areas does. Given this, I would probably choose a good zoom over a prime, because it will give you more flexibility in composition since you'll have a limited number of places to stand.

I hear you. Like I mentioned earlier, I am currently using an XSi body. The Rebel line does have some limitations when compared to the xD or xxD lines, (particularly in the Autofocus systems, for one thing...) but they can still be usable.

For example, at this year's 12 Hours of Sebring, I was able to get some good shots with my XSi and 70-200mm f4 L IS. Like I said, I had track access, so that helped, but if you're careful with where you go, at most tracks there are places where you can get *almost* as close as the pros do. I am upgrading to a 7D body now, but I'm a little glad that I didn't have one when I started out. It forced me to learn decent technique and really think about what I was doing, in order to get good shots. Now that I have some practice, I've started to feel out what the limitations of my current camera are, and I'm more ready to take advantage of the 7D.

For example, I got all of these images with that body / lens combo:

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It could honestly be a combination of the two. Can you post any pictures of what you're talking about (maybe with exif data)? We might be able to help you out.

-Tim

Timmay wrote in post #14392206
In that case, a longer lens and or teleconverter would probably serve you well. Primes are nice, if you can choose where you shoot from, and a lot of the pros at a given race will be using them, but pros have a LOT more freedom in where they get to stand to set up for a shot than someone shooting from the stands or observation areas does. Given this, I would probably choose a good zoom over a prime, because it will give you more flexibility in composition since you'll have a limited number of places to stand.

I hear you. Like I mentioned earlier, I am currently using an XSi body. The Rebel line does have some limitations when compared to the xD or xxD lines, (particularly in the Autofocus systems, for one thing...) but they can still be usable.

For example, at this year's 12 Hours of Sebring, I was able to get some good shots with my XSi and 70-200mm f4 L IS. Like I said, I had track access, so that helped, but if you're careful with where you go, at most tracks there are places where you can get *almost* as close as the pros do. I am upgrading to a 7D body now, but I'm a little glad that I didn't have one when I started out. It forced me to learn decent technique and really think about what I was doing, in order to get good shots. Now that I have some practice, I've started to feel out what the limitations of my current camera are, and I'm more ready to take advantage of the 7D.

For example, I got all of these images with that body / lens combo:

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This one was on the Audi test day on Monday after the race, and I was up in a TV tower IIRC, so it's not the best example because I had special access, but it's a good shot and demonstrates what even the low end bodies can do.

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This was also on the test day, but it was shot from right inside of Turn 16 (I think) which is a place where spectators can get within a few yards of where I was shooting from.

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Again, the test days, but there is a spectator berm about 15 yards behind where I shot this. With a long enough lens, it's do-able for a spectator.

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Another one from inside of Turn 16. I should have used a slower shutter for this, but again, spectators can get right behind where I was to shoot this. Bring a box or something to stand on to get clear of the top of the spectator fence, and you're set.

These are all from Sebring, but most tracks will have spots where spectators can get good angles on the action. Autocross will be even easier. Make sure you get there early, and speak to the organizers, corner workers, and marshals beforehand. Explain what you're up to, ask if you can get close to the action, ask where they would or wouldn't like you to go, etc. Be cool to them and they'll probably be cool back. Drag racing I have zero experience with, but I'd think that you'll have a choice of capturing stuff either from an oblique angle (more end on) or from a side on, panning perspective.

It could honestly be a combination of the two. Can you post any pictures of what you're talking about (maybe with exif data)? We might be able to help you out.

-Tim

I will post up some pictures later tonight or tomorrow. I am really thinking on either the 70-200 or the 300mm are there any limitations to either? Any drawbacks? . Can anyone recommend a good macro lens for 4-500?

Both are great lenses; it just depends on where you're shooting from and what sort of framing you are trying to get. You have two different flavors of the 70-200s; f/4 and f/2.8, each of those come in IS and non-IS models. The f/4 is significantly smaller and lighter than the f/2.8 models. None of them can cover the 300mm range, without tacking on a 1.4x teleconverter that will also eat one stop on your aperture (f/2.8 -> f/4 or f/4 to f/5.6).

The 300 is quite sharp, fast AF, has IS and is f/4. You'll have to back up to frame your subject if it gets too close, instead of being able to zoom out; but you're not likely to have that problem at the track

As far as a good macro lens, pick up a 100mm f/2.8 (non-L) for around $300; it's CRAZY sharp and good, fast AF for those times you might want to use it for something other than pure macro shooting.

For the track stuff, you'll most likely be outside during the day. If you get the 7D, you'll have amazing ISO ability over the T3 and you should consider the 100-400L. The 300mm f/4L IS is also fantastic, but rather limiting being a prime. It could be too short or too long most of the time. But, again, the 7D being 18MP would be good for cropping is the 300mm is too short.

The 100mm f/2.8 is a great macro for about $550 new and in the $350-400 range used. It's nearly identical to the 100L macro image quality wise.

Although a better camera/lens combo will certainly help, I would suggest also getting a good noise reduction program/add-on (Topaz, Noise Ninja... any of the big names will do). Here's a shot taken with my T1i at ISO 1600 and run thru Topaz.

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