Boats??? Lens Choice? tracking? no clue here

[mpphoto12]

This summer i will be taking photos of my frinends boat. It is a racing boat that is verrryy long and fast. Can go up to 200 mph. He races them all the time and they would like some picture of it going fast. I have seen other pictures of these boats and they are perfectly in focus with a perfect streaming motion blur backround. I know these are difficult shots to get. From what i can put together the other professional shots are done similar to ones of surfing shot from shore with a long tele-photo on a large tripod. Now how? I think its necessary to use tracking focusing like AI SERVO but i dont really know how to use other types of tracking etc. I shoot on manual usually and i heard its sometimes best to shoot aperature priority in this situation or shutter priority. Also is another type of metering mode necessary? im not familiar with shooting fast moving objects. Pan and Blur? I could really use some help. If i needed to rent a telephoto the most i could afford renting would be a 400 4.6 or 300 f4. The boats will be far away so im gonna need focal length with speed...i can post process crop if needed they r not gonna be picky with image quality Here is my gear--- (Thanks in advanceee))


Rebel XT--70-200 2.8 (non is)---18-55 ( wouldnt need it)--- GITZO reporter tripod with GItzo ball head (this tripod is very sturdy and verryyy expensive should be fine for this type of shooting)

[Jordan]

Well first it would be nice to know HOW far away you'll be. The 70-200 f/2.8 non-IS you have would probably work okay. I wouldn't go for something longer but much slower if you need speed. Also, you should get something with mode 2 IS (panning) for on the tripod motion panning. I use the EF 400 f/2.8 IS USM all the time at the beach here in Waikiki and LOVE it. It might cost you almost $100 to rent ($80 at the place here I rent from) but well worth it. It's a 12lb lens and sexy as hell! Now, if that's too long, the 300 f/2.8 is basically the same lens but just a little shorter (and slightly better image quality, but basically the same - GREAT). If you want to go less expensive yet, you could rent the 200 f/2 (one of my favorites) or the 135 f/2 (I LOVE that lens) but I don't know if that's too wide for you. I think distance is the first thing you need to think of. Plus... this is SUPER obvious but I'll state it anyhow: You can always crop but you can't always widen.... so if you're unsure of the focal length I'd go wider... if you're thinking 300-400 would work but not sure, I'd rent the 200 f/2... if you're thinking the 400 is just about right or maybe not QUITE far enough, I'd get the 300 2.8. Worst thing is getting TOO MUCH FOCAL LENGTH and then feeling stupid, right? haha... The XT is what, 10MP? 8MP? Maybe rent a 50D or something too?

[mpphoto12]

You can rent a 400 2.8 for around 100 DOLARRS WHERE????? lol yeah the xt is slow but will probably work where do you rent from ? all i can find is 300 f4s for around 100 dollars... i need a 300 2.8 at least for this i already know thanks

[Jordan]

Well where are you from? The place I rent from is LOCAL so there is no mail involved, make things much more affordable. I rent from www.hawaiicamera.com because I live in Waikiki/Honolulu. The 400mm f/2.8 is $80/day and the 300 2.8 is about half that! He even has a 600 f/4 To compare, he also has an EF 300mm f/4 L IS and it's only $16 a day.... he also has a thing where if you rent for 4 or 5 days you get it for 7! Anyone here also live in Hawaii? I'm thinking of starting my own lens rental business in the south of France when I move there in a month... we shall see


- Jordan Murphy


www.freshphotohawaii.com

[mpphoto12]

oohhh mannn im from jersey lol i need to get it shipped unless i can find a local place maybe somewhere in a surround state anyone know one in the tri-state area?? its mad expensive shipped like 500 dollars for a week

[Fred Doane]

im from jersey lol i need to get it shipped unless i can find a local place maybe somewhere in a surround state anyone know one in the tri-state area?? its mad expensive shipped like 500 dollars for a week

Hi,

I'm from south jersey and although I've never used them Calumet Camera has a store in Philadelphia that you can rent all kinds of equipment from including every lens up to the 600L. They have day and week rates andif you pick it up Friday after 3pm you can have it for the whole weekend till mondaynoon for the single day rate! [url="http://www.calumetphoto.com/rental/digitalcameras]Here[/url] is the link to the rental page. They say "call" for the daily/weekly rates for the lenses 300mm and larger but if you download there 2008 rental catalog the 400 2.8 is $100 for a day although prices might have changed slightly since then but you can always call to see the current rental price. There are some stipulations of course like...
<span style="font-size: xx-small; font-family: HelveticaNeue-Condensed;"]<span style="font-size: xx-small; font-family: HelveticaNeue-Condensed;"]

"A deposit for the full-replacement cost of the equipment is required unless other arrangements are made in advance.We accept Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Optima and Discover cards. Sorry, we cannot accept Visa or Mastercard check/debit cards or overseas credit cards drawn on non-USA banks. A valid driver&rsquo;s license or, current passport is also required."

<span style="font-size: x-small;"]but I don't think thats unreasonable. Hope this helps and let me know how it works out because I've been wanting to rent from them for a while but haven't had a reason to yet.

Fred~

[alexniedra]

Another idea to consider would be to use a "chase" boat. The idea here would be to shoot from this boat while the race boat is in motion. Any boat could serve this purpose - a fishing boat, recreational sport boat, jet ski...


I think this is a cool technique to consider, if you have the means (and/or budget) to execute it properly. I can image that a wide angle perspective (~18mm) from in front of the race boat would look very unique, combined with good panning. The possibilities are endless!



I don't shoot moving boats frequently, but this technique is frequently employed for commercial shoots of watercraft. Just check out any boat manufacturer's website.





Good luck and have fun!

[mpphoto12]

thanks he owns a second boat i could do this for sure i probably will as it is more simple but alot of the shots will be from shore and a 300/400 mm lens will be required? If im gonna use my 70-200 with a converter(?) i could crop a bit ,,,but how do i shoot it? panning? What kind of auto focus?

[Jordan]

Mode 2 should be panning.... I know on the 300 and 400 f/2.8s... oh here is a clip from this site:


The included Mode-2 IS is designed for panning. Use it for a subject moving in one direction - pan the camera with the subject. Good subjects for Mode-2 IS include a bicyclist or a vehicle. Blur the background with motion - leave the subject sharp with good depth of field.


I think you'd use AI Focus for that.

[btaylor]

I'd suggest using AF-Servo to track focus and a shutter speed somewhere around the 1/160 mark, then adjust aperture and ISO to suit. That way you will get some nice motion blur in the background without using a slower shutter speedthat could make it difficult to get sharp shots.


Mode 2 (panning) IS is works really well and would definately make a difference too but I guess you'd have to hire a lens to get that.


Have fun mate, Ben.