The perfect panning shot is an achievement worth fighting for. To quote speedhunters.com: "When you drop your shutter speed to levels where nine out of ten images are unusable, you enter a world where that tenth image becomes something special."
I'm hoping that in the not too distant future I'll get to a stage where I can capture reasonably good panning shots (at least in terms of sharpness of the main subject) at a decent rate around 1/80-100th of a second (being intentionally non-specific with my terms there). Then I can start to work on going lower towards 1/25th or 1/20th to get that kind of look. At this point I just want to try some different things and get a feel for what I like and don't like.
You should be aware that the chance of a sharp hit sinks with the focal width you use at the same shutter speed. So when using a zoom lens (100+ mm) even a mere 200th of a second can become a very long time.
Apart from that, try to pan everything that moves for practice: people, animals, planes, etc. Even very slowly moving things can look awesome when photographed with a panning shot - they look much faster instead.
Once you've started with panning shots, you just can't stop. At least for me that's the case.
Yeah, I was doing some tests at various focal length of my lens (I just used the markings on the barrel, so 18, 24, 35, 50, 85 and 135 (1.6x crop factor on APS-C sensor)). I was finding it much easier to get OK shots on the wide end and some of them looked quite dramatic. The example below is at 1/20th of a sec, shot at 35mm. The main subject isn't perfectly sharp there, of course, but I think it still works.
Then I tried 1/40th of a second at 135mm and it took a lot more shots to get something usable:
That's the challenge, though, as I'm sure you're aware. When you import the pictures and start looking through them your heart leaps when you come across pictures you're happy with. As your speedhunters quote from earlier says, that tenth pic is worth it!
Yep, I'm definitely gonna try panning on slightly more 'ordinary' subjects and see what the results are like. I can see this turning into a full-blown addiction.
Yeah, I've done some panning with bikes and long lenses and it gets very difficult indeed. Hard to pan and get more than one in a shot when you're shooting at 300mm, too.
Thanks, guys. I've posted these before, but it's nice to go back and look at them occasionally.
pärtan, it's the Sigma 100-300mm f/4 on the Nikon D700. I got the lens for $550 used, but they're going for a lot more now 'cause they're getting scarce.
My 3rd visit to Larkhall for karting. The track was wet the whole day, with intermittent rain showers. I spent most of the day in relatively safer positions than my last trip (so as not to endanger myself or anyone else in the tricky conditions), so I didn't get to try any new positions. Since my gear isn't weather sealed I was trying to stay out of the rain when it was heaviest (by standing in the wooded areas and/or using an umbrella). As anyone who's tried to operate a dslr whilst holding an umbrella can probably attest this isn't the easiest thing in the world. Still, I'm pleased with how some of the shots came out.
As always, I'm open to any constructive criticism or feedback you can provide. Thanks for your time.
Yeah, I was actually planning on taking a look around tomorrow to see what to order. Seems like most of them are quite cheap, so even if I turn out not to like one it wouldn't be a big problem. Thanks for the suggestion though.
A couple of sunset timelapses. The first was done over a month ago and the second was done last night. Please click on the preview picture(s) to view the videos.
I really like those! What kind of trigger do you use? I'm thinking about buying a cheap remote trigger for longer exposure times and continuous shooting.
Thanks. At the moment I use this wired intervalometer for timelapses and for cable release. It's very cheap and does everything I want from a wired remote. Easy to use and reliable (so far). I've had it out in temperatures around -5 to -8 degrees C and it's been fine. The length of the cable is just under a metre, so it's not too short.
If you're interested in a wireless system you could take a look at the Yongnuo RF-603 (just for remote trigger though, doesn't have an intervalometer built in). You should be able to get a 2 piece transceiver kit on eBay (new) for in the region of 20 Euros or a 3 piece kit (which would allow you to fire off-camera flash remotely too, for example) for around 30.
For both of the above there should be different variants for different cameras, so obviously check compatibility before ordering. Hope that helps.
