Some advice for a novice, please!

WHIP IT!

I take pictures regularly at a racetrack. Just for fun as much as anything although I do use the pics for a website and sell the odd one few as well, so I'm looking to achieve the best quality I can with the modest equipment (and talent!) I have...

Anyway, I have one of these bad boys... http://media.techworld.com/cmsdata/products/113190/Panasonic%20Lumix%20DMC-FZ28%20550.jpg

Nothing fancy, but it does the trick...

Thing is, I have no idea about how to adjust the settings accordingly. I usually just put it on "Auto" and it does the job ok - but just ok. It has a sports setting and I might give that a bash next week.

I'm sure I'd be better off detailing the settings myself - if only I knew how!

Also, I find I sometimes keep the camera pointed in one direction (as the hroses go past if you know what I mean), rather than 'scrolling' with the horses as they move - and this can lead to blurred pics at times.

I use photoshop but only really know the very basics with it... I've been lucky enough to come up with some great pics but would like to achieve a better strikerate so to speak. ie, would like more of pics to come out better!

Would appreciate a few basic pointers for this kind of photography and also if someone could suggest what camera settings might suit this kind of work (presumably that depends on weather, sun etc??)...

Thanks in advance!

youllneverknow

im still a novice my self but from reading alot on this site and others. for sports you need high shutter speeds. iv the fz28 that has a thing called shutter priority dunno if the fz26 has it try that.
if there running by you try a thing called "panning" its when you move the camera from let to right or right to left keeping the target in the shot
look at this thread it has panning in it
http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055931766

people feel free to correct me

youllneverknow

sorry just noticed it was a fz 28

JuliePhotoArt

Definitely give sports setting a try.
Do you use tripod? This guy might help you as well.

kelly1

WHIP IT! wrote: »

I take pictures regularly at a racetrack. Just for fun as much as anything although I do use the pics for a website and sell the odd one few as well, so I'm looking to achieve the best quality I can with the modest equipment (and talent!) I have...

Anyway, I have one of these bad boys... http://media.techworld.com/cmsdata/products/113190/Panasonic%20Lumix%20DMC-FZ28%20550.jpg

Nothing fancy, but it does the trick...

Thing is, I have no idea about how to adjust the settings accordingly. I usually just put it on "Auto" and it does the job ok - but just ok. It has a sports setting and I might give that a bash next week.

I'm sure I'd be better off detailing the settings myself - if only I knew how!

Also, I find I sometimes keep the camera pointed in one direction (as the hroses go past if you know what I mean), rather than 'scrolling' with the horses as they move - and this can lead to blurred pics at times.

I use photoshop but only really know the very basics with it... I've been lucky enough to come up with some great pics but would like to achieve a better strikerate so to speak. ie, would like more of pics to come out better!

Would appreciate a few basic pointers for this kind of photography and also if someone could suggest what camera settings might suit this kind of work (presumably that depends on weather, sun etc??)...

Thanks in advance!

Hello WhipIt, if you're shooting something like cars or bikes, you really should try panning (or scrolling as you called it ). It gives a sense of speed/motion to the subject and looks far better than a static shot. But focussing is a bit tricky with panning. You'd either need to use "servo" focus or manual. The important bit is to set a low shutter speed (1/60 - 1/100) and pan along smoothly with the subject. You should also use a small aperture which will help with focus. The motion of the camera will provide the background blur.

I'm only learning the technique but I'm pretty happy with this shot:

WHIP IT!

Thanks alot for the replies, everybody...

I think a mistake I often make is trying to include too many horses in a shot. I'm guessing this doesn't help the focus on an automatic setting.

Itsdacraic

What's the website if you don't mind me asking?
I've taken the odd few racing pics with a similar camera to yours and I'd be interested to see your results.

kelly1

WHIP IT! wrote: »

Thanks alot for the replies, everybody...

I think a mistake I often make is trying to include too many horses in a shot. I'm guessing this doesn't help the focus on an automatic setting.

When you said racetrack, I thought you meant cars/bikes! I'm not sure if panning would work with horses, could be interesting though.

Does your camera have a servo/continuous focus mode?

Borderfox

It can be very hard to pan with Horses as their can be a lot moving at different speeds, best thing at the track is to have a really high shutter speed (depending on the light of course) and shoot using that.

Shot from the stands in Fairyhouse 1/1000th of a second
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/229/452860523_15d3bd082b.jpg

WHIP IT!

Borderfox wrote: »

It can be very hard to pan with Horses as their can be a lot moving at different speeds, best thing at the track is to have a really high shutter speed (depending on the light of course) and shoot using that.

Super pic, Fox... I must admit, I have no idea how to adjust the shutter speed or even if it's possible to do so on my cam??

Itsdacraic, it's just a FB site I run for horseraceing pics and stuff. If u want to PM me an email add I can add u on it if you'd like to check out the pics - would appreciate some feedback...

Actually, I might throw a few up on flickrr now so people can give me some critical analysis!

WHIP IT!

The first two were relatively straightforward pics. ie, horse right in front of me, didn't have to zoom much, just click-clikc-click. I'm happy enough with them although they're not perfect.





These second two would be two pics I'm disappointed with. The first one in particular as, like the first two, they were straightforward shots with the horse right in front of me and little zoom required.

All four pics were taken on the same day and with the "Auto" setting on the camera.





I realise I'm going to limited in what I can achieve with this camera - compared to Borderfox's earlier pic, for example - but will still like to be able to take the best pics possible...

Thanks in advance for ur help, people!

Borderfox

Rotate the dial on the top to S and set the number to over 1/500th and if its bright enough you should be fine.

youllneverknow

cant do that on a fz28.
1 set the dial to P
2 hit the menu/set buttom this should bring you to s screen that says picture size quality aspect etc
3 scroll down to page 4 youl will see min. shutter speed select the lowest it can which 1/250


i would also turn on the stabilizer to 2 to reduce the amount of blur

WHIP IT!

youllneverknow wrote: »

cant do that on a fz28.
1 set the dial to P
2 hit the menu/set buttom this should bring you to s screen that says picture size quality aspect etc
3 scroll down to page 4 youl will see min. shutter speed select the lowest it can which 1/250


i would also turn on the stabilizer to 2 to reduce the amount of blur

No, I was able to do it, thanks... Where will I find this stabiliser??

dinneenp

I took these at Galway Races with exact same camera.

Set camera to burst mode
highest resolution as you might crop a lot
try panning- pratice with cars or something
try differenet angles- maybe near a bend so you can get them approaching you

hbr

youllneverknow wrote: »

cant do that on a fz28.

Sure you can, or at least I can on my FZ28. It will allow you to go down to
1/2000s.

Good advice from Borderfox. Shutter-priority is probably the best mode
for freezing action. You should get decent results on sunny days.

WHIP IT!

dinneenp wrote: »

I took these at Galway Races with exact same camera.

Set camera to burst mode
highest resolution as you might crop a lot
try panning- pratice with cars or something
try differenet angles- maybe near a bend so you can get them approaching you

Thanks alot... em, how do I adjust the resolution??

Borderfox

Should be already on the highest setting

youllneverknow

fastest speed is 1/250. probably faster in shutter priority



in the quick menu (the silver button) its the hand thing.

Borderfox

1/250th is the synch speed with flash, choose S and then make sure the flash is turned off and you should be able to go high enough

youllneverknow

min.shtr speed is what mine says. not sync with flash. also i cant change the shutter speed in s

hbr

youllneverknow wrote: »

min.shtr speed is what mine says. not sync with flash. also i cant change the shutter speed in s

Put the mode dial to "S" and use the little joystick thingy "Q.MENU"
to set the shutter speed. It should go from 8s to 1/2000s in Shutter-priority "S"
and 60s to 1/1000 in Manual "M".

youllneverknow

no still cant find it

hbr

youllneverknow wrote: »

no still cant find it

Page 59 of the DMC-FZ28 manual under:

Shutter-priority AE

youllneverknow

ye i have all that but its not letting me adjust it

hbr

youllneverknow wrote: »

ye i have all that but its not letting me adjust it

That's odd! Hopefully is is just a settings issue and not a
faulty joystick pad. Try resetting to the camera default values
using the "Reset" menu option (page 4 in the settings
menu).

Does the joystick pad (Q.MENU) work properly in
other modes? Will it let you adjust aperture when
you are in Aperture-priority [A] or exposure compensation
when you are in [iA] mode?

youllneverknow

got it up to 13000

hbr

youllneverknow wrote: »

got it up to 13000

I assume you mean 1/1300. That's a good start. When you are
in (Shutter-priority) mode, you should be able to change the
shutter speed quickly and easily by wiggling the [Q.MENU]
joystick pad thingy up and down.

You can freeze action by using a fast shutter speed.
The FZ28 won't be able to do this as well or as fast
as a DSLR unless there is a lot of light available.
Happily, the weather is in your favour at the moment,
so you should be able to get some good shots.

Try 1/500s as suggested by Borderfox, or even
faster on a very bright day. If the shutter speed
is too high for the available light, you won't be
able to get a proper exposure, even with the
aperture wide open. When the camera is
'unhappy' with the exposure, it shows the
aperture and shutter settings in red on the
LCD.

youllneverknow

got it up to 1/2000 was tricky but got it in the end.