R/C Car Racing

ckaspar

So I have been into Remote Controlled Car racing for a few years now. I just recently picked up a Canon XSi and am only using the kit lens and a lens I borrowed, an 80-200mm 4.5-5.6. I also had a mounted flash as well. I snapped a whole bunch at a local competition we had and wanted to see what you guys thought about these few.

Keep in mind, I am shooting indoors with very fast action.

Any tips/thoughts/suggestions you guys can provide would be awesome.

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I look forward to your comments.

Thanks in advance.

2whlrcr

I used to race a little RC stuff. I'm sure the shooting conditions are horrific. My only thoughts would be to get as low as possible, maybe get some roost pics and/or some rubbing plastic shots. It would convey the action better. Plus I'm a big fan of shallow DOF's.

ckaspar

Ya, I agree with all of your points and I try to do my bet to get all of those achieved. I am actually ON the track sitting down so I am as low as can be. The format they were running did not afford for catching battles very well but I tried to do that as well. The DOF was my hardest part. I was using a kit lens primarily and the lowest f I could achieve was f5.6 because I had to zoom into some of the action as some of the cars were 8 feet away. I hear all of your comments and will keep trying to get all of those things accomplished. It is good to know that my minds eye is seeking what you suggested. I just gotta make it happen with equipment and timing now.

Thanks for the advice.

Paintguy

I've been into off road r/c for years. Indoor is the worst to shoot. I don't see any nitro trails so at least you didn't have to breath and listen to that. I have had my best luck pre-focusing on the tip of a jump and panning to get a little blur and the feel of speed. I got several happy racing buddies by taking a picture of their car air-born with them on the drivers stand in the background. Those that you posted look great knowing the conditions. Does not look dusty either.. happy camera.

Coleman Photography

cool shots. I just got the Traxxus Rustler VXL. I love it. I hope to get some shots pretty soon.

ckaspar

Ya the track is an electric indoor track. No fumes but horrible light. The next couple of races will be outdoors so I should have a lot more fun shooting those.
I really like the idea of getting shots with the car in the air and the driver in the background. I just hope I can find a track that is built to allow that.

Any suggestions on lenses? Right now I am pretty much stuck with the Canon XSi kit lens but might be interested in renting or buying if the price is right.

ckaspar

Here is some of the plastic rubbin' photos I have.

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While 3 and 4 are not sharp shots I think they just look awesome!

TangoJuliet

Just some thoughts, but try filling the frame as much as possible with the subject, it'll make the model less small and more like a full-size vehicle. Also practice panning with a slightly slower shutter speed to blur the spinning wheels, and background, while still keeping the subjuct sharp (an IS lens would help tremendously). When you get outdoors, show just a little more background so that you can see dirt/mud slinging off tires.

ckaspar

I was trying to work on the panning with the cars but was not having very good luck with that. My other reason for freezing the action was to have a nice pic for people to show off their sponsorships. When I was going through the shots I made it a general rule to zoom in and only keep pics where the smallest sticker was legible. My other experiments were not very successful so they got scrapped. I have plenty of time though. I know the owner of the track and the promoter of the Series that these were shot for so...along with your critiques and my minds eye and intent I think I will be able to hone in on some really good shots.

Thanks for the comments, keep em coming.

Paintguy

If you have large adjustable flash, try bouncing it off the ceiling. Turn the ISO up as high as possible without adding to much grain and keep your f-stop low. My first fast lens is the very affordable 50mm f1.8 (around $100 on ebay). You would have to get a little close though, but gives that smooth creamy background.

A board that I frequent is called the S-Grid. You have to pay to be a member, but it has a great r/c photo area and camera section showing some amazing r/c shots. A lot of the sponsored guys hang out and trash each other on there. Great place to get the scoop on any new products too.

http://www.rc-racing.com/SGM/index.php

Hikin' Mike

Cool! I did this 20+ years ago with my RC10.

gramps50

Hikin' Mike wrote:

Cool! I did this 20+ years ago with my RC10.

That was a pretty I tech car in it's time, had one of those myself, a hopped up Big Bear, & I can't remember what the name of the 4WD was that I had. My very 1st one was the Frog.

Hikin' Mike

gramps50 wrote:

That was a pretty I tech car in it's time, had one of those myself, a hopped up Big Bear, & I can't remember what the name of the 4WD was that I had. My very 1st one was the Frog.

The 'Grasshopper' for me! I bought a bearing kit and a hopped-up motor.

I did some pavement stuff too with my RC-12 and I also modded the RC-10 to run on the pavement.

ckaspar

Thanks for the suggestions you all! I went to the track on Saturday to do a little racing but I brought my camera with me just for fun and I tried some of the suggestion you all gave me.

Here are the results for now.

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I am looking at picking up the 50mm 1.8 in the VERY near future. These were shot using my kit lens of 18-55mm. Most of what I shoot when I am at the track is at the higher end of the lens so I think 50mm will be good enough for now. I am most interested in seeing how 1.8 compares to the 5.6 I have to shoot now with the lens at 55mm. All of these were shot at ISO 1600 which I am not really happy with but LR3 Beta handles the noise so much better so I was willing to risk it and see. I would prefer to not deal with noise if at all possible.

I also had to use LR3 Beta to ramp up the exposure a bunch just to get the exposure even close. I was trying to do all of these without flash intentionally so I skipped that. I usually shoot at 1/200 with either the camera flash or 430EX that I borrow from a friend of mine's mom. I am betting that if I can get the exposure higher because of the Aperture being at 1.8 then I can ditch the annoying flash and the resultant "halo" I sometimes get. It will also shorten the DoF so I can have that nice in focus car but soft background.

What do you all think of these?

TangoJuliet

I think these are much improved! Great job ! Now these machine look like they're moving ! I think you're on the right "track" and the 50mm f1.8 will be real nice.

Paintguy

Panning with the cars definitely takes a bit of practice. Set your flash to fire late also.. not sure what Canon calls that feature. I had several talk me into getting the "fifty" as my 2nd lens. Good to use if your camera has video also.

ckaspar

Thanks for the input and suggestions guys. The 50mm 1.8 is on its way and I should have it shortly and will be able to test that and see how it goes.

I'll keep you posted!

puzzledpaul

<< I am actually ON the track sitting down so I am as low as can be.>>

Have you tried using an angle finder - this'll let you rest the cam on the ground / beanbag / whatever ... and let you get an even lower viewpoint. (takes some getting used to - esp with fast moving stuff - but worth it imo

2nd curtain flash is what you're after ... and you'll need to use a s/speed slower than 1/30th - if the body you're using is the same as the xxD canon bodies I've used.

Actual results revert to first curtain behaviour (do tests / check exif) ... whatever you've set the CFunction to when you dial in 1/30 or faster.

pp

ckaspar

puzzledpaul wrote:

<< I am actually ON the track sitting down so I am as low as can be.>>

Have you tried using an angle finder - this'll let you rest the cam on the ground / beanbag / whatever ... and let you get an even lower viewpoint. (takes some getting used to - esp with fast moving stuff - but worth it imo

2nd curtain flash is what you're after ... and you'll need to use a s/speed slower than 1/30th - if the body you're using is the same as the xxD canon bodies I've used.

Actual results revert to first curtain behaviour (do tests / check exif) ... whatever you've set the CFunction to when you dial in 1/30 or faster.

pp

I have never heard of an angle finder but I have now researched it. Very interesting! Any ideas on what I should look for? I don't wanna spend $150 if I don't need to.

I shot all of those with no flash. The first two set were shot with a flash. I shoot mostly at 1/200th and flash at second curtain. This last set was shot at 1/60th and 1/100th. How are you getting at the 1/30th number? Are you using a formula, your eye or just a feeling from the current pics appearance?

puzzledpaul

<< Any ideas on what I should look for? I don't wanna spend $150 if I don't need to >>

Well, for a start, you don't have to use Canon's own - there's a fair range of 3rd party offerings available at far cheaper prices.

Also, if you're willing to do a bit of fudging / mackling then it's possible to modify a non-canon one to fit - I currently use a an old pentax one and have just bought another as spare / cos the cams I use have different sized viewfinders (Canon's own and many, if not all come with adaptors for tis, btw)

Things I'd look for / check
That it fits the cam you're going to use or can be (easily) modded to do so.
That it produces a non- inverted image (some don't - using such will drive you potty )
That you can rotate the viewing stem so's it can be used with cam in portrait mode - many have 'click stops' at 90 deg points of the compass which can be useful.
(I've added a means of locking this stem (at any angle) as it can also get somewhat disconcerting because of the way the image 'moves' if the stem angle moves as you're moving the cam around )
That - preferably - it uses a prism rather than mirror - esp with your cam as it also uses a mirror (iirc) - to lose as little light as possible.
That it has some means of dioptre adjustment so's it can be focussed correctly.
Last - but not least - that it has decent optics - all of the above are a waste of time (imo) if you get a crap image - maybe not if you're always going to be using AF - but I use mine for macro, with MF.

Would be good if you could try / rent / borrow one - but dunno if this is possible...

Using one of these'll allow for some interesting povs - whatever the subject matter.

<< How are you getting at the 1/30th number? Are you using a formula, your eye or just a feeling from the current pics appearance? >>

Position of the light trail got me suspicious about what was going on in the first place (mixing flash -supposedly on 2nd curtain - with ambient for macro pix) - then I noticed that the exifs were showing anomolies.

So I experimented
Took a series of pics with same setup (2nd curtain set in CF), only changing s/speed.
!/25 and slower - exif showed 2nd curtain
1/30 and faster - exif showed 1st even tho still set on 2nd.

Nature / behaviour of pics confirmed above.

pp

ckaspar

Sounds good. I will look for an angle finder that uses a prism that will either mount directly to my camera or one that will fudge to it.

That 1/30th thing is interesting. I will have to look at that closer next time I am at the track.

Thanks for all of the info everyone.

ckaspar

So...I went to an outdoor race on Sunday. Night and day difference! I posted these shots to see what you guys thought. This is only 6 of 700 pics my buddy and I took(and kept) over the day.

If you would please take a look at tell me what you think.

I have added the link to the album for the race just in case you want to see some of the other pics we took. It was me, my buddy and his son. We were shooting with an XSi and a T1i. We had a Canon 70-200 2.8 IS and a 50mm 1.8.

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ckaspar

Anybody have any comments on run number 3?

2whlrcr

Sorry, but the last group just isn't doing it for me. I find the tile and background stuff distracting.

It's been awhile since I've picked up an RC car magazine. I would look at what photos are making the cover and inside spreads and maybe take some tips from that.

Paintguy

70-200 2.8 < insert drool here >... Seriously they all look very sharp, but too sharp. Gives them the feeling of a posed still shot without the wheel & background motion blur or as if someone tossed the cars in the air (not on all but most ). Blue groove also does not help as you don't get the nice dirt roost... or even a nitro trail shooting electric. A few air shots with the background blurred out turned out very nice, but again the blur is static, not streaked horizontally showing speed. These are all waaaay sharper than your last shoot, but missing some of that motion magic. Not sure if you cropped these down, but to me many are all to tight.. can't see where the next jump, corner, landing or how much air they got with out the shadow. Nice day to shoot and you captured some amazing bright colors. Looks very hot there. Where is this track?

Paintguy

This is not my shot, but I think it has many details in order to show some great motion and tell a story. I can tell he is probably going to fast missing the down ramp of the jump forcing him to take that right turn wide. Love this realistic class.

http://s65.photobucket.com/albums/h208/sk3racin/RCExcitement%20Outdoor%20Season%20Opener%202010/?action=view&current=DSC_0056.jpg

Paintguy

Looking deep into #3 it looks like the cheap 1 color paint job and old school receiver is not holding him back from beating the flashy competition. Really shows what a narrow dept of field you were shooting at.