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G'day,

just wondering when it comes to panning, should i be able to choose any shutter speed i want as long as i match the speed of the subject correctly?

my first crack at night racing shots came out underexposed quite a bit with these settings:

1/200s, f2.8, iso 640-1000.

wondering if i could get away with settings like this at night:

1/80s, f2.8, iso 400.

i'd mainly like to get the exposure close and keep the iso 400 or less.

cheers.

It depends on how fast and how close you're zoomed in (field of view) to your subject.

If you pan with a 20mm, effect will be much less noticeable than panning with a 200mm lens. As view magnification increases shake in view as well as the 'movement' in your panning.


Faster objects can be panned at faster speed, since you don't actually freeze the background at that very high speed you moving your camera/lens.

Will say you start practising at higher speed first before hitting the slower shutter, just to play safe.

Would the subject - background distance also have a part to play in this?

well i use only my 70-200, and mainly between 130-200mm. i've had good results with about 1/320s in the day, but at night it's too fast for a decent exposure. maybe 1/100s with VR on at night?

Practice will make perfect. You will be able to get your panning to a stage where 1/60th @ 130mm will be easily achievable, 1/80th at 200mm as well. It is all practice, technique and stability. You need to be precise in your panning motion, you need to be smooth, and you need to concentrate on your actions, not just go with the flow and hope for the best. It's going to be tiring but once muscle memory kicks in it will be second nature

Start practising on cars in the street at low shutter speeds during the day on Shutter priority mode

Can't stress how important technique and practice is James

Tuck your elbows into your stomach, swing with your hips, never move your arms.

Practice makes perfect

Very helpful thread.

Wil lbe useful ffor when a mate and I head out to Mallala for the Porsche Sprint/Drfit Prac.

Cheers for the info, I'm guessing my monopod will come in handy for it..

Ollie wrote:Very helpful thread.

Wil lbe useful ffor when a mate and I head out to Mallala for the Porsche Sprint/Drfit Prac.

Cheers for the info, I'm guessing my monopod will come in handy for it..

it takes a fine tuned skill to pan on a monopod

MCWB has it downpat, if you can catch him online these days he might give you some pointers on it

Unless youre panning with something fairly heavier than a 70-200 you should be right doing it handheld

I'll give both a go, as I won't be shooting with anything longer than my Sigma 70-200 2.8 .

1. Because it's the longest I have atm.
2. Mallala is fairly close to the track, if you get what I mean.

yeah thanks guys for the help, again.. PS: i remember seeing some really cool speed boats racing at brighton beach a while back when i first got my cam, any idea of what they were or what series they'd belong to? they look like fun to shoot..

cheers..