AU-LRO camera club meetup at Eastern Creek

[300+]

Ron and I caught up today at Eastern Creek to try out the tips posted on the site this week. It is always good to put a face to the name on these forums.

I'm getting in first to set the bar:

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2012/03/355.jpg

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2012/03/356.jpg

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2012/03/357.jpg

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2012/03/271.jpg

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2012/03/358.jpg

These were all taken by my 8 year old on a 7 year old point and shoot. There is a level of crappyness about the camera with aberration, artefacts and wonky colours, but they aren't bad at all.

Your turn Ron :D

Cheers, Steve

[p38arover]

I haven't downloaded yet, Steve - besides how do you expect me to do better than Matthew? :wheelchair:



:D

I reckon he's done a damn good job! :) :thumbsup:

[300+]

There were a lot of duds! These were all cropped significantly and mildly tweaked in lightroom.

Cheers, Steve

[p38arover]

I wish I'd tried another lens. My results are abysmal. Very few are sharp.

[300+]

Dog of a day, Ron?

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2012/03/318.jpg

Steve

PS (I took this one)

[p38arover]

Yes!

Here's a few to start:

This one ain't great quality but what do you notice about the rider. He's gutsy!

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2012/03/304.jpg

Thank goodness it was a little bike:

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2012/03/305.jpg

A gaggle of historic racers:

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2012/03/306.jpg

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2012/03/307.jpg

Well, it was a two wheeler meeting!

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2012/03/308.jpg

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2012/03/309.jpg

Interesting:

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2012/03/310.jpg

[300+]

Looks good Ron. You can see the quality of the optics compared to the P&S.

Were you using MF or AF for these? Nothing I shot in MF is sharp.

Cheers, Steve

[p38arover]

I was using MF nearly all day, pre-focussing and shooting - hoping the aperture would help with sharpness. Unfortunately, it was cloudy so the aperture was still often too large.

Regrettably, I didn't try any race shots with the Sigma DC 18-200 lens.

I tried panning with and without vibration reduction (VR) (Pentax advise it may not work well with panning. Pentax use in-camera vibration reduction by oscillating the image sensor. It has the advantage that it works with any lens.)

I haven't examined the EXIF data yet to separate those taken with VR on or off.


As I've noted before, Picasa definitely degrades the images. Does Fickr?

I might host the same images on my website and then post them up side-by-side with the Picasa hosted images.

This is the lens I used yesterday for all the track shots: SMC Pentax-FA 100-300mm F4.5-5.6 Reviews - FA Zoom Lenses - Pentax Lens Reviews & Lens Database (http://www.pentaxforums.com/lensreviews/SMC-Pentax-FA-100-300mm-F4.5-5.6-Power-Zoom-Lens.html)

One can see the reviews talk about image softness. I bought it second hand for $55 so I can't really complain.

I look forward to seeing some of the pix you took with your rather impressive combo. One thing I particularly liked about your Nikon vs. my Pentax was the brightness of the screen back. Mine is virtually useless if not in the shade.

I also like the way your monopod mounted to the lens rather than the camera body like mine. Even with a monopod, I had difficult holding the camera steady.

I should have taken the tripod with me. It was in the car. Silly me. We went close enough to my car on our way to turn 2, I could have grabbed it.

Thank goodness Eastern Creek isn't far for me to go so I can do it all again - especially after our walk yesterday to learn the best camera spots.

[Yorkshire_Jon]

Ron and I caught up today at Eastern Creek to try out the tips posted on the site this week. It is always good to put a face to the name on these forums.

I'm getting in first to set the bar:







https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2012/03/271.jpg



These were all taken by my 8 year old on a 7 year old point and shoot. There is a level of crappyness about the camera with aberration, artefacts and wonky colours, but they aren't bad at all.

Your turn Ron :D

Cheers, Steve
Whilst probably more good luck than management, for an old point and shoot and 8yr old photographer, bike #63 is excellent. Id be proud of that one.

J

[p38arover]

Id be proud of that one.

Absolutely! Which makes me jealous. :(


:D

One of the things I like about that pic over my own is that Matthew got the shutter speed and panning right to give a blurred background and blurred wheel spokes - thus enhancing the illusion of speed.

[300+]

Whilst probably more good luck than management, for an old point and shoot and 8yr old photographer, bike #63 is excellent. Id be proud of that one.

J

Absolutely, but now I can talk to him about the ones which worked and he's interested in why. Before I was telling how to take pics without a reference, which wasn't sticking in his mind.

He took 187 to get those keepers, which is a good ratio when you consider there are a few of his nostrils, the sky, etc.

Cheers, Steve

[vnx205]

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2012/03/271.jpg


Absolutely! Which makes me jealous. :(


:D

One of the things I like about that pic over my own is that Matthew got the shutter speed and panning right to give a blurred background and blurred wheel spokes - thus enhancing the illusion of speed.

What you said about the blurred spokes and the motion blurred background is right, but given the way the bike is leaning, I suspect he is going like the clappers.

It might have given due credit to the rider to say it enhanced the "impression" of speed. I don't think it is an illusion. :D:D:D

I agree though about it being a great photo. :)

[300+]

Here is the Picasa version:

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2013/02/652.jpg

Flickr:

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2012/03/270.jpg

My eyes say Flickr is better, which is extremely annoying, as I prefer Google+.

Cheers, Steve

[p38arover]

Steve, I like the Flickr one because one can see the eyes a bit better. Look at the sidecar rider's eyes - but there is certainly little between them.

Wouldn't it be nice to have an application that would allow one to layer two pics like that and run the cursor across the page to reveal the other image so one could compare them exactly.

Oh, BTW, nice pic!

[300+]

What you said about the blurred spokes and the motion blurred background is right, but given the way the bike is leaning, I suspect he is going like the clappers.

It might have given due credit to the rider to say it enhanced the "impression" of speed. I don't think it is an illusion. :D:D:D

I agree though about it being a great photo. :)

It was a pretty slow corner, but he was certainly giving it the beans.

Exif says ISO 80, f/3.5, 1/400 sec, 58mm (380mm equiv). Zoom aside, it is what the camera decided to do with the dial on sport.

Cheers, Steve

[300+]

Oh, BTW, nice pic!


Thanks. I did cheat. This is what came out of the camera:

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2012/03/258.jpg

Cheers, Steve

[p38arover]

I copied your first two pics into IrfanView then zoomed it. Certainly the quality of your pics is superior. One can easily make out the mesh screen on the sidecar.

Does having a 16 megapixel camera vs. a 6 megapixel make any difference or is it in the lenses (disregarding any skill differences! :D )

[300+]

Hi Ron, in this case there are a few things:

16MP means I can crop a lot and still display full size on the monitor. This will make it look like I've a longer lens than you in the same situation.

The Nikon also has 3D focus tracking. So I lock onto the bike at the start of the corner and follow it round. After a second the focus locks on and by the time it leaves the corner it has worked out that it is approaching at a certain speed So when you click it pre-focuses to where the lens should be when the shutter actually opens a fraction later. It wasn't much of a factor when I bought the camera, but the reviews raved about the focusing.

Then I've got the Sigma APO HSM 70-200 with a 2x tele-converter to give the focusing speed to keep up with the speed of the bike & the 3d tracking. It is also very sharp, even with the tele-converter.

Then the secret weapon comes into play. I spent this month's photo budget on Topaz Adjust which creates that nice effect on the colours and sharpens nicely at the same time.

I also shot a lot of duds to get the good ones! I've only tried a few times to get motorsport photos, but this is the first time I've had any keepers.

Cheers, Steve

[p38arover]

FYI, I've just bought a "new" Pentax K7 and a new 28-300mm Sigma lens ready for the next event.

[vnx205]

FYI, I've just bought a "new" Pentax K7 and a new 28-300mm Sigma lens ready for the next event.

Would that be Wakefield Park at the start of September or are you heading up to the Qld round?

If it is Wakefield, I expect I will see you there.

[p38arover]

No, not going to Qld. Probably not to Wakefield Park either, as I will be recovering from surgery.

[300+]

Let me know when you are going and I'd be glad to come along.

Cheers, Steve

[vnx205]

Wakefield park is 1st and 2nd September with practice on 31st August.

Formula Xtreme Calendar (http://www.formula-xtreme.com.au/xtremema.nsf/CalendarPage?openform)


EDIT:
Oops, I just noticed your location is Brisbane, so I'm guessing you were thinking of the Qld round. It is a bit far for me. :)