Panning

So I got a chance to shoot the snow mobile race this weekend. Pretty happy with the results. Most everything I took were still shots but fortunately the snow kicking up and the snow dust give somewhat of a sense of speed. I was trying to pan on some shots but I was having trouble getting my shutter down enough. I was using a 70-200 f2.8, shooting wide open with an ISO of 100 and still my shutter speed was holding at around 320. So should I have closed down on the aperature some even though it would increase my DOF or should I have gone to a ND filter? Curious what others have done? My concern with the ND filter is if it would slow down autofocus? Shooting with a 5d3

Thanks!

Even if you increase your DOF by stopping down, the panning will create a lot of blur so it wont matter as much (from my experience)

I'm no expert but I always shoot shutter priority. If it's too bright I'll chuck an ND filter on and have never had an issue with autofocus on my 7D

OK. Thanks guys.

Not sure when I will have a chance to try again, but I will be on the lookout!

I am just starting to go through everything (shot for almost four hours straight) but here is one of the stills that I got.

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …hwoods_photo/12​285274613/

Northwoods Bill wrote in post #16659590
So I got a chance to shoot the snow mobile race this weekend. Pretty happy with the results. Most everything I took were still shots but fortunately the snow kicking up and the snow dust give somewhat of a sense of speed. I was trying to pan on some shots but I was having trouble getting my shutter down enough. I was using a 70-200 f2.8, shooting wide open with an ISO of 100 and still my shutter speed was holding at around 320. So should I have closed down on the aperature some even though it would increase my DOF or should I have gone to a ND filter? Curious what others have done? My concern with the ND filter is if it would slow down autofocus? Shooting with a 5d3

Thanks!

Slow shutter speed panning images with a 70-200mm f/2.8 lens.

Northwoods Bill wrote in post #16659590
So I got a chance to shoot the snow mobile race this weekend. Pretty happy with the results. Most everything I took were still shots but fortunately the snow kicking up and the snow dust give somewhat of a sense of speed. I was trying to pan on some shots but I was having trouble getting my shutter down enough. I was using a 70-200 f2.8, shooting wide open with an ISO of 100 and still my shutter speed was holding at around 320. So should I have closed down on the aperature some even though it would increase my DOF or should I have gone to a ND filter? Curious what others have done? My concern with the ND filter is if it would slow down autofocus? Shooting with a 5d3

Thanks!

With the 5DmkIII you don't need to shoot at 100 ISO. By increasing your ISO to around 400, it will allow you more depth of field. Also mentioned, if you're panning, set the camera to shutter priority. Also, one of the tools that some use when panning, is to use a monopod and track your subject with the camera mounted on one. The one thing that will happen as you go lower with your shutter speed, the number of useable images tends to decrease.

Why recommend shooting at higher ISO when he is trying to slow the shutter down? Unless you like shooting at F/infinate

Use the lowest ISO you can and simply set a shutter speed you want and let aperture take care of itself in (Tv mode) If it's still too bright throw an ND filter on it.


DC fan: Why use ISO 800 then run it at F/32 for your second pic ?

Aperture: f/32.0
Exposure Time: 0.017 s (1/60)
ISO equiv: 800


Why not shoot at ISO 100 and get your aperture around F/11 instead? It was obviously a bright day yet all your shots seem to be at relatively high ISO for what it was you were after, which was slow shutter pans. You certainly didn't need the DOF of F/32 for that shot, and if you did it would have been blurred anyway.

pixelbasher wrote in post #16662090
Why recommend shooting at higher ISO when he is trying to slow the shutter down? Unless you like shooting at F/infinate

Use the lowest ISO you can and simply set a shutter speed you want and let aperture take care of itself in (Tv mode) If it's still too bright throw an ND filter on it.


DC fan: Why use ISO 800 then run it at F/32 for your second pic ?

Aperture: f/32.0
Exposure Time: 0.017 s (1/60)
ISO equiv: 800


Why not shoot at ISO 100 and get your aperture around F/11 instead? It was obviously a bright day yet all your shots seem to be at relatively high ISO for what it was you were after, which was slow shutter pans. You certainly didn't need the DOF of F/32 for that shot, and if you did it would have been blurred anyway.

It's a conspiracy.

Actually, when I was playing with camera settings, I missed by a couple of detents on the control wheel. The interesting point is that the ISO settings didn't make any difference in the actual pictures. Shutter speeds were all that counted.

And, as already noted, in shutter priority, the camera body automatically chooses the aperture. From the look of the images, there was no damage done.

DC Fan wrote in post #16662393
It's a conspiracy.

The interesting point is that the ISO settings didn't make any difference in the actual pictures.

says the full frame shooter

pixelbasher wrote in post #16662090
Why recommend shooting at higher ISO when he is trying to slow the shutter down? Unless you like shooting at F/infinate

The point of shooting at a higher ISO is that it increases your DOF. While a higher ISO will allow more light in, you can usually reduce that with a polarizer. Suggesting that you lower the ISO will only lessen the DOF. Shooting a moving object at f2.8 will yield nearly useless photos when the object is in motion and the shutter speed drops. You simply will not get consistent results with a shallow depth of field and a fast moving object. If you bump up the ISO, and then either use a polarizer, or an ND filter to block out some of the light, by virtue of the higher DOF, anything you place in front of that lens to block light will lessen the DOF, BUT will not be as severe as just lowering the ISO. The OP is also shooting in an environment where there is a vast amount of snow. Do you expose for the snow, or the moving object?

I'm not suggesting he lowers it, he was at 100, I'm suggesting ramping up to 800 then having to stop down to F32 makes no sense. Does he even need to increase the DOF? in fact in the OP comment he was worried about increasing the DOF. If he wants to shoot at 2.8 for his required DOF, and wants to slow it down from his 1/320 he was at, the an ND of your choice is the way to go.

When you are panning like the car shots above all you need is enough to cover the subject and a bit more to reduce the chance of a misfocus due to it being quite thin......that's it, you don't need 3 miles of DOF to pan a car or a snowmobile side on in 99% of situations, unless you are at 200mm and standing 10 ft from it.

One stop on the shutter down to 1/160, one stop of the aperture to F/4 and he's away. If he wants to slow it down even more do it again, 1/80 @ F/5.6 Why shoot at the noisy end of the sensor and the most diffracted end of the lens when you can achieve the same exposure and get the type of shot you want simply using more "sweet spot" settings?

That's the bit I don't get. I understand it achieves more DOF, BUT that's NOT what he asked for.