Rolling Shots Questions

RKRAMOS · Oct 9, 2011

So yesterday I went to a car show for my birthday and on the way there, I was trying to do a quick 1 sec shutter lag for a small rolling shot effect. I've practiced these shots before but could never get that smooth clean look to the pictures, I'm using a standard 18 - 55 mm lens I had my aperture up as far as it could go and had the ISO at 100 I believe. By the way it was about mid day when I was taking these pictures in the bright sunlight. Any tips would be extremely helpful.

tirediron · Oct 9, 2011

Are you trying to pan, that is, to follow a moving object, keeping it in focus, but blurring the background to show motion, or zooming, where you change the focal length with the shutter open? I think it's the latter; if that's the case, it may be difficult to pull off with the 18-55 because every mm of distance you move the zoom collar translates into a significant change in FL. It's much easier on lenses which have longer travel. It can be done on yours, just takes practice. Try searching YouTube for tutorials.

Redbaron · Oct 9, 2011

I'm no expert but AFAIK doing a 1 second shutter speed in bright sun light would totally over expose/kill the pic. No idea how to make your idea work though. Maybe through blurring the photo a bit, either using photo shop (or similar) or trying to blur as you take the photo.

jake337 · Oct 9, 2011

What kind of rolling shots are you after. Panning or ones that require a rig on the car that holds the camera?

RKRAMOS · Oct 9, 2011

I'm looking for shots that require a rig but without the rig if that makes sense? Ones where I would be in one car and have the other car "chasing" the car I'm in.

Destin · Oct 9, 2011

RKRAMOS said:
I'm looking for shots that require a rig but without the rig if that makes sense? Ones where I would be in one car and have the other car "chasing" the car I'm in.

You need a way to hold the camera PERFECTLY steady. They make window mount camera supports, but I would try a camera bean bag.

RKRAMOS · Oct 9, 2011

I'll definitely look into the window mounts and bean bag! I never really thought about using an mount for these pictures but it's such a brilliant idea!

Tony S · Oct 9, 2011

A superclamp mounted to the car with an extension off of it, wide angle lens on the camera and shoot remotely. Lots of straps and duct tape for safety. There's always a way, it just depends on how risky you want to be with your equipment.

Here's a link to a blog by Mark Rebilas and in this post he just used a suction cup mount with magic arm. I think the first shot might be similar to what you are looking for. A rare weekend off turns into random remote cameras – Mark J. Rebilas Blog

MBasile · Oct 10, 2011

Shutter speed and blur effect will depend greatly on the speed of travel. This is when it is great that digital images cost you nothing to take and you see the results instantly. Rather than asking "what is the magic secret?" Just play and learn. 1 second didn't work, so try something else.

RKRAMOS · Oct 11, 2011

Tony S said:
A superclamp mounted to the car with an extension off of it, wide angle lens on the camera and shoot remotely. Lots of straps and duct tape for safety. There's always a way, it just depends on how risky you want to be with your equipment.

Here's a link to a blog by Mark Rebilas and in this post he just used a suction cup mount with magic arm. I think the first shot might be similar to what you are looking for. A rare weekend off turns into random remote cameras – Mark J. Rebilas Blog

! is pretty much what I am looking for except of other cars, my friend took these of my cars a long time ago,

I asked her how she did it but she wont tell me, so I just started messing around with it, and figured out how to get the blur effect from my own trial and error. but I don't get that smooth motion like she did.

Robin Usagani · Oct 11, 2011

Those arent good. None of them is sharp. Personally 1 sec is too long. The car is already travelling fast. I would do around 1/10 sec. Rolling shot is easier than panning and I can take better panning shot than that.