I'm in need of advice. Thanks.

[Yotul]

I'm going to be able to shoot some motorcycles this weekend, and I have a 15+ year old camera.

I have a nikon n4004s /w a 70-210 mm nikkor lense on it.

I'm not intersted in investing any money besides high speed film.

It has 1-2000 s/s.

and aperture s, 1.4-32 .


I want advice on general settings to get these bikes clear as I can in say the apex of a turn or braking points. (I.E. 60 mph+)

My name is Richard, and i'd love advice , save advice on how outdated my camera is .

 

[christopher walrath]

ISO 800 or better film. S/S 1/500 or faster and prefocus on an action point as this might require a larger aperture thus reducing your depth of focus.

 

[Yotul]

Forgive me. But this, S/S 1/500 , means i'll be on the 500 setting on my
dial ( Green A {auto I assume} , Red L {No idea}, B , and 1-2000) correct?

Edit: This question has been answered. Thanks for the advice , man.

 

[Yotul]

Whats a good s/s range to play with?

125-500?


It's going to be sunny with a good chance of some pretty huge clouds now and then.


My only lens is a 70-200 mm, I assume thats going to be fine to take some ok ****s of riders at speed.


With this camera I have a nikon speedlight SB-23.

The service manual suggest a certain aperture to s/s ratio when using the speedlight that I didn't quite grasp well.


Any more advice?


P.S. I have a digital powershot 540. Could I set this to similar settings to get accurate test shots befor I use my big boy?

 

[christopher walrath]

If you use your flash you definitely want to stay at your flash sync speed(s) or else you may end up with flash on only part of the image. Never hand hold using a shutter speed slower than you focal length of the lens is long (ie. 210mm, 1/250 (250) shutter speed). And your shutter speed is the dial that says B, 1, 2, 4, 8, 15, 30, 60, 125, 250, 500, 1000, 2000. Each number is the denominator (bottom number) of a fraction of a second. 4 represents 1/4 of a second and so on. to be safe I would say 250-1000 would be a safe range for your lens so you don't have to worry about speeding it up if you zoom out. But if you use flash stay with your sync speed.

 

[Yotul]

Sweet. Thanks Chris. I'm really excited about using it this weekend. I bought plenty of film for it, and I hope I get some good shots in. I'll be having fun at any rate.

Thanks again,
Richard

 

[Helen B]

It might be worth giving an estimate of the exposures you will be likely to use.

In full sun the exposure is likely to be equivalent to f/16 at a shutter speed of 1/film speed - so if you have ISO 800 film it would be f/16 at 1/800.

Colour negative film usually improves in quality if you give it a little more exposure than indicated by the box speed, so you would set 1/500 instead of 1/1000. Even if 1/800 was an available shutter speed, I would give a little extra exposure by setting the film speed dial to 500, or the exposure compensation to +2/3. Colour negative film has plenty of overexposure latitude, so don't worry too much about blowing out the highlights.

This means that you might be shooting at f/22 and 1/250, f/16 and 1/500, f/11 and 1/1000 or f/8 and 1/2000.

I suggest that you try them all, and even f/32 and 1/125, to learn the different effects each combination will give. You will have to pan with the bikes at the slower shutter speeds, so that will suit situations where the bikes are crossing your field of view more than when you are looking at them from the front or back. With any fast-moving object crossing your field of view, you are likely to get the best results by panning with the subject anyway.

Good luck,
Helen

 

[Mary-Beth]

ISO 800 or better film. S/S 1/500 or faster and prefocus on an action point as this might require a larger aperture thus reducing your depth of focus.

OR ISO 200, S/S 1/30th or 1/60th, prefocus on an action point, and pan: exposing while you're tracking the subject.

 

[Yotul]

Yes, YES! I'm starting to feel ready.

This weekend is going to rock, thank you guys so much for the advice.

Motorcycles are my world, and in the past i've gone to the track with my low quality digital camera. I've Always been happy, but dissapointed with the shots of the bikes on track.

I'm pretty much broke as hell being in college and I love it. So I'm going to adapt to this camera, not the other way around.

You guys rock for helping me out so quickly. I joined just monday. And having been on other forums, I can say the level of manners here are high. As well the compassion for noobie photogs. Thanks.


One last thing. Tripod? Any tricks to get around buying one just this time?

Sat/Sun is going down either way. I'm stubborn.

Thanks a bunch Helen.

 

[Yotul]

This might be the wrong question to ask. And it might be too much to explain, if you decide that is the case, no biggie. Send a link to some literature if thats easier. I read well.

Q: How does the distance between 70 mm and 210 mm affect these numbers?

"shooting at f/22 and 1/250, f/16 and 1/500, f/11 and 1/1000 or f/8 and 1/2000."

 

[Mary-Beth]

One last thing. Tripod? Any tricks to get around buying one just this time?

Monopod, of course. Beanbag. Or stance and breathing control.

 

[christopher walrath]

MaryBeth

That film and S/S combo would work accept he's shooting moving motorcycles while racing (them, not him).


Yotul, all of those combinations should be fine as they are above you minimum 'SAFE' hand held speed. Of course rules are made to be broken. You might mount on a tripod and wait for a bike to be headed more or less straight for you and use a longish shutter speed and start zooming from 70 to 210 just before you trip the shutter. Get motion by zooming. Make sure you do it on the tripod though. Have fun.

 

[Yotul]

Monopod, of course. Beanbag. Or stance and breathing control.

My beanbag won't fit in my backpack

 

[christopher walrath]

NOT THE BIG ONE!!!!!

Hey, they make little ones with and without the 1/4"-20 thread for the tripod bush.

 

[Mary-Beth]

MaryBeth

That film and S/S combo would work accept he's shooting moving motorcycles while racing (them, not him).

That's the idea, christopher. It's called 'panning' or 'tracking': you set a slow shutter speed, pre-focus on a specific point where you expect the subject to be, switch to manual, check that the aperture setting is still the same, or adjust, then track a subject (motorbike) as evenly and smoothly as possible through the viewfinder – avoid any jerkiness! – and you expose while doing that. There'll be many, many misses. So shoot even more! Because if you hit it just right you'll get a relatively sharp subject against a blurred, streaked background. Evoking a sensation of speed.