DSLRUsers.com

Hi
I have done a search for the post that had the pricing of gear offered by Birddog but was not successful,I guess I used the wrong wording in the search. Could anyone give me a guide.
Jeff

Jeff you need to have 30 post to be able to get into that section, meaningfull post that is. After then you can access this section.
Cheers
John

The bad news is that they are in the members only Bargains section. The good news is you are half way there to qualifying for membership You need 30 posts and at least one posted image for membership rights.

BBJ beat me by seconds

While the previous 2 are right, you can look at the prices anytime... You just can't order anything (mean eh!!! )...

Most of the prices can be found at the beginning of this thread in the Bargains section... http://www.d70users.com/viewtopic.php?t=1573

Thank you for the replys. The prices only add to my lens lust.What you guys think is a good sports/ car racing lens. The VR lens have an advantage but maybe slow.What do you advise.
Jeff

Jeff wrote:Thank you for the replys. The prices only add to my lens lust.What you guys think is a good sports/ car racing lens. The VR lens have an advantage but maybe slow.What do you advise.
Jeff

You've come to the right place. BBJ is our motor racing guru. He has posted literally hundreds of motor pics. Do a search of his posts and you'll see the quality of his pics...

Jeff wrote:Thank you for the replys. The prices only add to my lens lust.What you guys think is a good sports/ car racing lens. The VR lens have an advantage but maybe slow.What do you advise.
Jeff

There are a few choices, really depends on budget vs quality! Nikkor-flavoured 70-300 G or ED, 80-200 2.8, 80-400 VR, 70-200 VR (+ TC?). Then there's the equivalent 3rd party offerings...

Jeff wrote:Thank you for the replys. The prices only add to my lens lust.What you guys think is a good sports/ car racing lens. The VR lens have an advantage but maybe slow.What do you advise.
Jeff

Jeff,
The VR is not slow as you meant, just have to understand the VR features and use them with your like, not always VR on or VR off, depend on how and what do you want to shoot.
You can see an array of VR as:
24-120VR/ 80-400VR/ 70-200VR/ 200-400VR/ 200VR/ 300VR
My dream lens:
500AF-S VR but it may never produced but the 400 AF-S VR is perhaps on the horizon.

Thank you all for your thoughts,I will have to do some more thinking and saving.There is a wealth of knowledge available here and I am glad to be part of the forum.
Jeff

Jeff wrote:Thank you for the replys. The prices only add to my lens lust.What you guys think is a good sports/ car racing lens. The VR lens have an advantage but maybe slow.What do you advise.
Jeff

Jeff,

The 80-400VR gave me no issues at the F1 in Melbourne this year, despite the circuit's 200mm limitation. Would you care to nominate the motor racing category faster than F1GP?

Hi Gary - What is the 200mm limitation? Do they not let you use the 200-400mm part of the lens? I realise that this could be a very stupid question....

Gary,I thought that the 80-400VR would be slow to focus on a fast moving car,but from what you guys are saying this is not true.Did you pan with this lens or preset a focus point.I'm sorry if these are dumb questions but I,m trying to learning.
Jeff

At the Qld rally earlier this year I used my 80-400VR very succesfully, but most time I was only shooting at 80mm. Never found slow focussing to be a problem because I pre focussed on a particular spot on the track.

Next time I will try my 70-200VR

Heath Bennett wrote:Hi Gary - What is the 200mm limitation? Do they not let you use the 200-400mm part of the lens? I realise that this could be a very stupid question....

The tickets say and the security at the gates enforce (partially) a rule that says lenses with a reach more than 200mm are not permitted (presumably to protect the perceived financial interests of the pro photogs)

Heath Bennett wrote:Hi Gary - What is the 200mm limitation? Do they not let you use the 200-400mm part of the lens? I realise that this could be a very stupid question....

Heath,

Not a stupid question at all.

The conditions of entry state that the maximum effective focal length permissable is 200mm. Effectively, that precludes the 80-400, the 70-200 with any TC, and even cameras like the CP5700, which also have an effective focal length greater than 200mm.

The reality of the situation is that security at the gate do not check lenses on the way in, but some security people within the circuit may keep an eye out for people who look to be breaking the rules.

One of our users, Kipper, was taken to task for his use of the 70-200 + 1.7 TC, and the security person involved even knew and identified the fact that he was using the TC!

By way of contrast, I used the 80-400 all weekend with no issues, and obsevred many others in the stand I was in also using lenses well beyond 200mm.

One advantage of the 80-400 is its compact size; it's optically slower than the 70-200 and thus is neither as long nor as wide, and probably is slightly less likely to attract attention.

We're circumventing the problem completely next year, and going to Malaysia instead. From SYD, the total cost will be about the same, if not a little cheaper!

Jeff,

Jeff wrote:Gary,I thought that the 80-400VR would be slow to focus on a fast moving car,but from what you guys are saying this is not true.Did you pan with this lens or preset a focus point.I'm sorry if these are dumb questions but I,m trying to learning.
Jeff

No, the questions are not dumb at all; that concept simply doesn't exist here.

The trick is to know what and how you're going to be taking your photos. If you're going to be sitting alongside one of the main straights and you hope to grab a shot of one of the cars going past, good luck! You'd need to be some way away from the circuit to have any real hope of grabbing that sort of shot.

If you are near one of the shorter straights, then you're going to be better placed to get some panning shots of the cars.

We were perched at the final corner before pit straight, and had a side view of the penultimate corner, a head on view of the short straight approaching the final corner along with the pit entrance, a fence obscured view of the final corner and an arse-end view of the full length of the pit straight.

I was disappointed with the results I obtained when I prefocussed on a point (penaultimate corner), but very satisfied with letting the camera do its thing while shooting towards the same objective. I suspect that a part of that disappointment was due to the camera's small viewfinder, and I'd love to use a D2x and see how it behaves in simialr circumstances.

One of the other keys with the 80-400 is to use the focus limiter, which restricts the travel available during focus events. This effectively cuts the usable focus range by about 50%, but given that you know that every shot you're taking will be within that selected range, the restriction is a benefit, rather than a disadvantage.

One other comment for both you and Heath is to pay attention to our calendar; I've placed the November AIGP event at Eastern Creek onto it, and I'm going to have a whisper into the ear of a board member of the ARDC to see if we can get some passes or better access to the circuit than what GA buys you.

Gary I would be very interested in the Eastern Creek event and hopely have the80-400VR.
Thanks again for your input.
Jeff

Can I put my hand up for a pass if they become available. I spent a bit of time at E Creek and to be on the inside would give some better angles than from the outside..

Barry

No promises at this time, but I'll certainly be asking the question of my connections.

The issues arise depending upon how the organising is done: for the V8s, it's all done by whomever the franchiseholders are, and access to passes is very hard, and must come through the franchise. Likewise the F1GP; my contact is also a board member of CAMS, but it's F! that ru(i)ns the show there.

I expect I may be seeing them over the weekend; I'll let you know as and when.

gstark wrote:No promises at this time, but I'll certainly be asking the question of my connections.

The issues arise depending upon how the organising is done: for the V8s, it's all done by whomever the franchiseholders are, and access to passes is very hard, and must come through the franchise. Likewise the F1GP; my contact is also a board member of CAMS, but it's F! that ru(i)ns the show there.

I expect I may be seeing them over the weekend; I'll let you know as and when.

Gary your right about the V8's extremly hard. I tried to get in no go. Media pass gets you around everywhere except the race track. Another special permit is for the photographers, signing wavers and term and conditions. And they were allocated a number having to wear that grey vest. Only a very few were allowed, But i'm sure you knew that already just sharing my first time experience with you all

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0760312435

How to Photograph Cars by James Mann is a very good book i bought from Dymocks a while ago... if you were interested in learning more about all sorts of car photography from track to studio.

Cheers,

Luke :)