lens for motocross

Dave123Dave123 Registered Users Posts: 3 Beginner grinner
edited June 24, 2011 in Sports
I have a friend who is into motocross and I want to get some shots of him. He will be riding at the local quarry this weekend and I would like some hints on lens/ shutter speed. I have a Nikon D300s 18-55mm kit lens 79-200 f/2.8, 300mm f/4 and 200-400mm f/4
I mainly shoot wildlife and really have no clue what lens to bring for motocross riding. Also, what shutter speed should I be trying for?

I am sure this has been mentioned many times before on this forum but I did a search and couldn't find anything.

Any help would be appreciated

Comments

  • JeffroJeffro Registered Users Posts: 1,941 Major grins
    edited June 24, 2011
    Try them all, the faster the shutter speed the better you'll stop the action, but that's not always a good thing. Try panning with the subject at some slower speeds, it's cool too.

    I've used a 17-40 f4 and a 70-200 f2.8 while shooting MX, I used the 70-200 the most. I used fill flash quite a bit too. I like a shallow depth of field when shooting MX, it makes the bikes pop out of the picture better.

    Try all kinds of stuff, it's fun to experiment.
    Always lurking, sometimes participating. :D
  • Dave123Dave123 Registered Users Posts: 3 Beginner grinner
    edited June 24, 2011
    thank you Jeffro. I have the SB-900 and will take it with me. It is suppose to be a nice day when I am taking the photo's but unfortunately he will be riding at 1:00pm so the lighting may be a little hard. As a rule of thumb was do you do for fill flash? -1.7?
  • SoCalAlSoCalAl Registered Users Posts: 51 Big grins
    edited June 24, 2011
    I shot MX with a D300. Typically I would use ss 1/1600 for stop action, Nikon 70-200 VRI or II, Auto ISO starting a 200, continuous focus, 4 frames/second(CL), Dynamic area 9 or 21 points, focus tracking with lockon OFF, AF point selection 51, center weighted or matrix metering, large fine .jpg. A few more things to think about... Have fun! Just watch your iso if the clouds move in, you may have to lower the shutter speed. Check my website, the '07 & 08 galleries are mostly D300 with a 70~200 VRI. Brain isn't working tonight - VR OFF!
    Al

    http://alsphotoprojects.smugmug.com/
  • Dave123Dave123 Registered Users Posts: 3 Beginner grinner
    edited June 24, 2011
    thank you Al
  • JeffroJeffro Registered Users Posts: 1,941 Major grins
    edited June 24, 2011
    Dave123 wrote: »
    As a rule of thumb was do you do for fill flash? -1.7?

    It's been 3 plus years since I've been to the track, and I had no rules...rolleyes1.gif I used High Speed Sync on my 550EX quite a bit, and it seemed to work pretty good and eliminating the shadows caused by helmet visors and when the sun got behind the rider.

    Honestly, if I headed out to the track tomorrow I'd probably have play around a bit to get the look I wanted too.

    "film" is cheap....go out and have some fun, try a bunch of different stuff, find what you like and repeat.
    Always lurking, sometimes participating. :D
  • SoCalAlSoCalAl Registered Users Posts: 51 Big grins
    edited June 24, 2011
    No problem Dave. Absorb all the information you can and shoot it your way! I'm sure you will have fun and enjoy!
    Al

    http://alsphotoprojects.smugmug.com/
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