Bike Race D800e

[Nikon boy]

Hi everyone

Took delivery of my new D800e a few weeks ago and have been attempting to get to know it ! I have not had the opportunity to attempt action shots until Sunday last when i was asked to attend a mountain bike 100k endurance race, now i do know the D800e will not be what my D3s is in the speed stakes but i found the process very interesting

so here are four unremarkable pics taken with the Nikon 24-70 from VERY close to the actual track for your comment

[img
NWL_1753 by nikon boy1, on Flickr[/img]

[img
NWL_1807 by nikon boy1, on Flickr[/img]

[img
NWL_1866 by nikon boy1, on Flickr[/img]

The only Female rider i captured at the event

NWL_1858 by nikon boy1, on Flickr

My initial feelings are as follows , at the event i found the focussing to be spot on as was the exposure, i had trouble initially with capture speed , now i know it is NOT a D3s and thought i was prepared but i actually had to really concentrate on getting two or maybe three images of each rider in lieu of spraying a dozen or so as i would with the D3s, not really a bad thing as i say it made me concentrate on what i was doing and lets face it i had less frames at the end of the event to process, if i wanted to cover the event for a magazine i would take the D3s as i know i would miss very little, however i do feel that the camera can deliver action pics if you concentrate on the moment and your framing, as in everything with action photography timing is very important, i had no trouble with the buffer as i thought i might either

Back at the Computer and converting the raw files is a whole new ball game the ability to crop up to 50% or more with little loss of image detail is just amazing and very, very liberating on my iMac 27inch @2880 dpi the files are stunning in detail, i needed no sharpening or levels adjustments either
36 megapixals is VERY addictive , i did some portraits of a 3 year old granddaughter of a friend and likewise the images are amazing in detail and sharpness

This camera is a whole new ballgame for me and can't wait to take it into the outback or the coast

Anyway i have never shot a bike event before and i am open to some criticism and recommendations for the future if anyone feels inclined

Cheers

[the foto fanatic]

Hi Norman

Yes, these are very sharp images and you have done well considering the frame rate of the D800E.

The viewer is quite close to the action given the lens you have used. I suppose you may have cropped them, and as you say 36 megapixels gives plenty of room to do so.

A couple of tips that might be handy for next time:

- A slower shutter speed. These pix are a bit static - blurred spokes would provide a greater feeling of action
- A telephoto lens. Not so much to fill the frame as you can crop to do that, but to throw the background out of focus. These photos may have a tad too much DOF.

However, these are very good. i like the position of the bike in #1 and the sense of joy on the rider's face in #4.

[Remorhaz]

I quite like the framing and compo of the second

[Nikon boy]

Trevor

Thanks for the input , i agree totally and will try those suggestions next time, my daughter had borrowed my medium tele

Cheers

Norm