AMCA Motocross finals pictures: 15-10-06

[Gazdaman]

Well, I got my new camera...

https://www.motographs.co.uk/images/15-10-06-AMCA-Final/AMCA-125cc-championship-Race1/Small/IMG_6019.JPG

https://www.motographs.co.uk/images/15-10-06-AMCA-Final/AMCA-125cc-championship-Race1/Small/IMG_6017.JPG

https://www.motographs.co.uk/images/15-10-06-AMCA-Final/AMCA-125cc-championship-Race1/Small/IMG_6032.JPG

https://www.motographs.co.uk/images/15-10-06-AMCA-Final/Nathan-Abbott-267/Small/IMG_6087.JPG

https://www.motographs.co.uk/images/15-10-06-AMCA-Final/AMCA-open-championship/Small/IMG_6110.JPG

https://www.motographs.co.uk/images/15-10-06-AMCA-Final/Seniors-and-experts-unlimited-practise/Small/IMG_5997.JPG

https://www.motographs.co.uk/images/15-10-06-AMCA-Final/Seniors-and-experts-unlimited-practise/Small/IMG_5994.JPG

I'm really pleased with that first pic. My battery didn't last very long so there aren't very many pictures.

But there you go, my first attempt with a DSLR.

Gaz

[Whosthedaddy]

Very nice action shots over the humps, only critism may be that some seem a little out of focus and not as sharp as they could be. Could this be due to the media and lighting etc rather than the camera, or maybe my contacts need cleaning

Motocross looks fun
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[Gazdaman]

They are a touch soft yes.

When my battery gets really low the auto focus packs up, so some of those are done with manual focus.

I wouldn't say any of them are badly out of focus though.

Gaz

[Whosthedaddy]

[Gazdaman]

I do agree they could definitely be sharper. May be my choice of lens aswell (the one that came free with the camera).

Don't really know.

SWAFFFFSSSS!!!

(or silver, or Jay).

Gaz

[quacker_boy]

That's proper motocross...not the pants sand racing stuff we get out here

They need to spray the track with water to keep the dust levels down for crying out loud!
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[six]

[swaffs]

Ok here's my thoughts.

I bet your glad you got an SLR now!

Generally nice pics, but practise will make them better.
They are a little soft but that could be fixed by many things.

The EXIF for image one shows this:
Exposure Time = 1/350" (surely should be 320")
F Number = F27
ISO Speed Ratings = 1600
Focal Length = 127mm


Clearly the light was a bit bad, however ISO 1600 on an image is going to give you loads of digital noise (the coloured speckles) This does mean the sensor is more sensitive, allowing the shutter to remain open for less time. It's a balance but on that camera I would be reluctant to go above ISO 400. (Or use a flash)

The exposure time 1/320" is about right for that angle, you will get a small amount of blur in the wheels without the bike/rider blurring too much.

F/27 ! see the dust marks etc, these wil show up loads with a small appeture value like that. I'm sure you should have been able to achieve a wider apeture witht hat shutter speed. Also most cameras have a sweet spot that they are sharpest at, and it's normally on or two stops from the widest (smallets f/number) as you go further and further away from it the image will be softer, and normally slower to focus.

I would definately recommend you clean the sensor, either myself or Jay should be able to help you out with that next time we meet.

At a guess I think the settings for that should should have been. This is a complete guess but my best estimate. It's hard without actually being there.

1/350th
F8
ISO 400

What is the lens you are using?
What mode did you shoot in? in this instance I would have een shooting it TV with it set to about 1/320"

The angles and composition are good, did you think about the rule of thirds? It looks like it.
The exposure is fairly good as well.

I'm not sure about the white balance, was this in the evening? and did you use auto white balance?

As for the focus issue, you won't go far wrong than practice shooting in manual focus. You be helping the camera massively to actually take the shot when you push the button. but again finding better setting as using faster lenses will help.

I hope you don't mind but I have taken image 1 and tried to clean it a little. (I've shrunk it to be forum friendly) It looks better and shows a little PP can help any image.

Swaffs
/edit
I've overdone the sharpening there, but you get the idea
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Swaffs Photography |
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[six]

hey, swaffs... thats some pretty good advice, and although a little more grainy than before maybe, I do not think that you have necessarily overdone the sharpening.
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[divuk83]

As Swaffs says, IS) 1600! Its not night time, so theres no need to use that. I wouldn't go over ISO400. Also did you buy new as it looks like there are marks/bits of dust on either the sensor or the lens.

Other than that looking sharper than the old point and shoot, though could be a little sharper. Its always hard to get photos of stuff coming straight at you in focus. I would use manual focus rather than auto for stuff like that. Also fiddle with all the settings and take loads of pics and see which ones work the best.

Dave

[Gazdaman]

No I didn't buy it new.

I forgot about the ISO value!! I had it through the roof to try and get some decent pics at mini moto the day before!!

I thought it looked grainy.

Your editing of that pic makes it look damn good Swaffs!

Coulda cropped out the blokes head at the bottom while you were at it!

Lens is a Sigma 70-210

Gaz

[Silver]

As said above, ditch the ISO 1600! I've only shot at that rating when doing football at night (under floodlights). I usually try and stick between 100 and 320, and don't like going over 400 where the noise starts to become visiable. I always use the lowest setting I think I can get away with - it leaves the image much cleaner and will stand up better to any post processing you do.

The small aperture is also showing lots of dust on the sensor. I've got a load on mine I'm having trouble shifting which start to show around f/11, which is really annoying. The joys of dSLRs... I can't imagine shooting motorcross is good for helping keep it clean either!

Decent efforts though, what camera have you bought?

[Kickstart]

Hi

Generally I tend to keep at about ISO 200 unless the conditions are really rubbish. Going to ISO 200 would still have left you at f8 or smaller. Too small an aperture can (ironically) lead to softer images.

The sensor does need cleaning.

Battery wise if you go to 7 day shop for about £11 you can get a 2 pack of batteries for the D30 (same battery for the D30, D60, 10D, 20D, 30D and 300D). And the D30 normally comes with a charger that will take 2 batteries, unlike the later models. With the D30 I used to get just under 1000 shots on a battery, but that is with minimal use of preview.

All the best

Keith
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Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

[Gazdaman]

Tis a D30 Silver.

How should I go about cleaning the bad boy?

I'm vaguely aware of which ISO values I should be using, I just forgot to change it back after mini-moto.

The dirt etc wasn't too bad at mini moto, I did get twatted on the head a few times by clumps of mud though.

And yes, the charger I got does take 2 at a time, I bought a new one off eBay for £5.99.

Gaz

[Silver]

Just something else I forgot to mention... on your first picture, crop it a touch higher and you'll lose the guy's head and the top of the post (or whatever it is), which are distracting. It'll improve the composition immeasurably.

[Kickstart]

Hi

There are several cleaning kits around. Warehouse express do a starter kit for about £18. Basically some very clean swabs of the right size (different kits for different size sensors) and a quick evaporating cleaning solution.

Not sure how fast focusing that sigma lense is that you are using.

All the best

Keith
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Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

[Silver]

First stop for sensor cleaning... Rocket Blower, £6.95:
https://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Giottos-Rocket-Air-Blower-Large_W0QQitemZ180036201856QQihZ008QQcategoryZ15215QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

It can introduce more dust than it removes, but will generally improve the situation and it will hardly break the bank.

[Gazdaman]

I know very little about the lenses, I have no idea what's good and what's not.

This one came free with the camera, and allows me to take photos, so it's all good with me.

Gaz

[Silver]

Canon 17-40mm f/2.8 L
Canon 24-70mm f/2.8 L
Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS
Canon 300mm f/2.8 L IS
Canon 400mm f/2.8 L IS
Canon 500mm f/4.0 L IS

That lot should cover pretty much every eventuality if you're writing up a Christmas present list.... don't expect much change from £16,000 though!

[Kickstart]

Hi

Seems Sigma did a couple of 70-210 lenses. An f2.8 one that would be pretty good but might not work on the D30, and an f4~5.6 lense.

Have a play with a few lenses and see what you get on with. To be honest the Canon 75-300 USM lense does the job and they are pretty cheap.

All the best

Keith
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Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

[Gazdaman]

I found myself needing a fair bit more zoom at the MotoX.

G's offered up a lens for me to borrow, not sure what it is though. 75-300 something.

the 2.8 bit is aperture isn't it, is that maximum? and the value in mm is the focal range? What is that actually measuring?

Gaz

[swaffs]

G's Lens is the Canon 75-300 f/4.5-5.6 MkIII USM I think we've all used that lens many times.
It will be a good lens to get you started.


the f/stop value is the maximum at that zoom, i/.e the one above is 4.5 at 75mm and 5.6 at 300

Here's sme links you may find useful;
https://www.canon.co.jp/Imaging/enjoydslr/index.html
https://www.photoworkshop.com/canon/lessons/lessons_21-25.html
theres some more good ones that I can't find at the moment
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Swaffs Photography |
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"Look not back in anger, nor forward in fear, but around you in awareness."

[Silver]

Gaz, I found the following site very useful when I was trying to learn everything camera related...
https://www.shortcourses.com/using/index.htm