As you know I have a new 350D and im prepared to use it. Often badly :D

At the weekend i'm off Mini Moto racing with the lads. I believe it will be in an indoor go-kart style track. So i'm assuming a reasonably dim lit large building?

What kind of settings would you be trying as a starting point and on which mode? Dont worry I wont display pics from your settings and blame you after. Well not much anyway :D

I know its about trial and error but a pointer in the right direction will stop me sticking it straight to Auto.

cheers

Gary

I would suggest you need to increase your ISO level a bit - maybe use ISO 800 and a 125 shutter speed - although they will look grainy close up.

But what do I know........

What lens will you be using ?

that's a good case for a fast zoom. i'd be lugging out my 70-200vr in that place.

What lens will you be using ?

Blimey now your asking ...... standard euipment 18-55 or my Tamron 70-300 depends how close I can get, hopefully right in there so the 18-55 might be good enough.

Gary

As suggested, ramp up the ISO (even 1600 should be fine) and stick it in Av mode, then just select the maximum aperture. This should give you the fastest shutter speed available in the conditions, allowing you to freeze movement.

If you want to try a bit of panning, select a lower ISO, Tv and select a shutter speed of between 1/60 and 1/125.

Dont forget to set your white balance to match the artificial lighting. :)

I would also set to centre focus point only and use AI servo (tracks the subject ) :)

Gary, where is this MiniMoto thing? Would like to join you guys with Evan 'Hoppy Junior' who fancies himself on these things. Can we get the track redesigned to resemble the Nurburgring :D :eek:

Photo wise, of course it depends. But assuming indoors it will surely be dark, with lots of dark tarmac and dark tyre walls soaking up the light, so crank up the ISO, open your lens wide and polish up your panning skills. Try and get your mates into bright and colourful (clean!) race suits. Watch out for a few tumbles which are sure to happen :eek: and will be a laugh if nothing else.

Since I have a big 580EX flash, I would try that and see what works best. I also have a flash extender which increases the range a lot. Might be handy. I would also try some slow-sync while panning using second-curtain sync which could give some interesting results with sharp subject plus colourful (hopefully) motion blur.

I know that you are familiar with second-curtain sync Gary ;) but for the benefit of others :D normal flash sync fires the flash as soon as the first curtain reaches the end of its travel. Second-curtain sync fires the flash just before the second curtain starts to move which makes a difference at longer shutter speeds. You would normally only use this at really long shutter speeds but if you're panning it is effective at faster speeds like maybe 1/30sec or longer because you are making the background move quickly. With your 350D, second-curtain flash is Custom Function 9 on page 150.

What it means is that any movement blur appears in the image behind the subject, rather than in front of it. The former often doesn't look quite right, whereas second-curtain sync can greatly enhance the impression of speed.

Having just written that, I've managed to convince myself that slow-sync flash is perhaps the way to go here. If I can get there, you're welcome to borrow my flash.

Oh, hang on, creative vibes alert! How about some strobe effects with the second-curtain flash? 580Ex will strobe at anything up to 199 flashes per sec but only at reduced light output. Use it without panning or deliberately slow panning to induce some subject movement in the frame. Would need some trial and error but could look fab :) Could also look a bl00dy mess :(

Sorry for the waffle ;)

Cheers,

Richard.

Or just shoot in sports mode :D

Looks like I will be playing with my camera tonight ready to try all this stuff at the weekend. Cheers guys much appreciated as always.

The event is happening somewhere near Chippenham, just off junc 7 of the M4 I think. Im not sure if a 'ring' circuit is available but if it is I will surely kick arse :D . Its costing £40 per person for the afternoon, bit of a bargain me thinks.

As for expecting spills, I know that will be the case. This is the riding quality im looking at :D and no he didnt recover it.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v501/tvr400/mallory%20park/DSCF1318.jpg

Taken with my old S5500


Gary

Gary, anybody with balls big enough to squeeze an R1 into doing that deserves respect. The R1 was the first bike to really scare me, and that was ten years ago when I was brave :eek:

Sounds like your gig is a long way from me, which is a shame. On reflection, I'd forget the strobe flash thing :D Be very interested to see any slow-sync flash if you have a gun with a bit of poke.

Richard.

Hoppy.

He has sold the R1 now, wants a Kwaka Z10 next.

Will do my best for pics, but dont expect too much from me :D

Gary