Advice needed for Motocross shooting...

Hello all, I bought my camera so I can take pics of my soon-to-be born baby and my friends and I riding motocross. Today we got to ride a little bit so I decided to try out my camera (Rebel XSi and EF 50mm 1.8 II) I dont know if it was me not focusing on the rider or the lens but all the pics were blurry. I was using shutter priority (1/2000 and 1/4000 mostly) and auto ISO. Any recommended settings?

Im still learning so Im pretty sure it was me but Im curious what you guys think. And Id like suggestions for my next lens. One that I could use with Moto being the primary subject. Thank you so much in advance!

What f stop were you using? That lens is a little wide, but you need to make do with it for a while. Depending on the light conditions, I like to shoot at f8 and will use the right ISO to get my shutter to 1/800 or faster, depending on how much motion I want to freeze. With your lens, you might want to start using AV and set it to f5.6 or f8 to get better DOF. That might help for now... There are a lot of great moto shooters here and I am sure you will get more help.

And for your next lens, you cant beat the canon 70-200mm. The f4 version is not too crazy price wise and is one of the best overall lenses made. My f2.8 is amazing for just this.

Suggestions for Shooting Outdoor Motorcycle Racing

A mistake I made starting out is not having the center focal point set. (I'm using the same camera.) Set your focal point on the center dot and point it right at their chest when taking the picture.

PeyDay17 wrote in post #9864944
Hello all, I bought my camera so I can take pics of my soon-to-be born baby and my friends and I riding motocross. Today we got to ride a little bit so I decided to try out my camera (Rebel XSi and EF 50mm 1.8 II) I dont know if it was me not focusing on the rider or the lens but all the pics were blurry. I was using shutter priority (1/2000 and 1/4000 mostly) and auto ISO. Any recommended settings?

Im still learning so Im pretty sure it was me but Im curious what you guys think. And Id like suggestions for my next lens. One that I could use with Moto being the primary subject. Thank you so much in advance!

Unless you like getting really close to flying bikes and roostertails of dirt, longer lenses are more useful.

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Setting advice would be above 500 shutter speed to stop motion. ISO is dependent on lighting conditions. Aperture is dependent on personal preference, what your lens is capable of and shooting conditions. But the best advice is practice, practice and more practice.

Equipment recommendation for you as a beginner. I would recommend the EF-s 55-250mm F4-5.6 IS lens. It is reasonably priced around 200 dollars with a fast enough focus speed to get you started. The image stabilization will help while you learn to hold the camera properly and the range the lens covers will help when your not quite in the correct position. Also keeping you a safe distance from the track. Another great lens for you would be the EF-s 17-55mm f3.5-5.6 IS. Those two would cover 17-250mm and give you a good base to start from not only for motocross but photography in general. Not to mention they can be had for around 300 for the pair, a savings of around 200 when compared with the EF 70-200mm F4L. They are not the best or toughest lenses but they are capable of producing quality images and sampling a wide range of focal lengths.

the biggest advice i can give you is talking to the people running the event and GET ON THE TRACK! its much much much easier to get a killer shot while your on the track finding all the crazy angles and cool spots to get the job done. get out there with a long lens so your not right on the track and just get some cool angles.

sweeney208 wrote in post #10714878
the biggest advice i can give you is talking to the people running the event and GET ON THE TRACK! its much much much easier to get a killer shot while your on the track finding all the crazy angles and cool spots to get the job done. get out there with a long lens so your not right on the track and just get some cool angles.

Wow! This thread came back to life!? I was hoping it would be buried...I'm kinda embarrassed by it! Lol! Shutter speed in my original post is ridiculous.

I now have the 18-55 and 55-250. I will be shooting the peoria TT in a week so I'm pumped to practice my panning skills!!

Thanks for the responses.

This might be a stupid question, but are you using AI Servo?

First time poster and now have a 70-200 F4 L. Comments would be appreciated. I do realize that i can frame the photo better.
still learning how to post pictures. It looks so much better on my screen, any suggestions?

Camera Model Canon EOS 50D
Shooting Date/Time 8/17/2010 7:11:42 PM
Shooting Mode Shutter-Priority AE
Tv( Shutter Speed ) 1/320
Av( Aperture Value ) 4.0
Metering Mode Evaluative Metering
Exposure Compensation 0
ISO Speed 250
Auto ISO Speed ON
Lens EF70-200mm f/4L USM
Focal Length 70.0 mm
White Balance Mode Auto
AF Mode AI Focus AF
High ISO speed noise reduction 0:Standard

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AI Servo or AI Focus? Curtis N in post #2: "AI Focus is one of the most useless "features" of Canon cameras today."