My Birthday

[SmartWombat]

A trip to Spa Francorchamps !

We were in the disabled area in front of the silver grandstand on the way down to Eau Rouge, so panning with the cars on full throttle down the hill was hard work!

Surprisingly I found when I borrowed my wife's Z1 instead of my A2 it was easier to pan with the cars! Despite having a lower resolution viewfinder, even at full 10x zoom (beats 7x on the A2) the performance was better somehow. I can't put my finger on what was right about it, but I got the Renault while driving by at 180mph or so.
Even though the resolution is lower, the 10x zoom makes up the difference.

For me the big disadvantage of the Z1 is its poor manual focussing ability. The A2 is better but it's still hard to focus on the piece of track the cars will drive over - it's hit or miss whether anything is in focus.

Because of the white wall behind, the spray during wet practice doesn't show up as well as in the photos from testing in Spain - but it was still worth standing in the rain for 2 hours just to see and hear them take Eau Rouge flat out.

If you ever get the chance, do it!
October 13 you can drive your car own on the circuit, so there may be some in-car shots from the track day

[Photo-John]

I want you to get a new camera so you can get really good stuff. Not that what you're shooting isn't good. But I'd just like to see what you could do with a fast SLR and some long lenses. I always like looking at your photos, but I know you'd get more good shots with better equipment.

Happy (belated) Birthday!

[FREELANCE2004]

this cat would be dangerous with a vr set up or canon even.nice shots.if so


HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY FRIEND

[mtbbrian]

Good Stuff!
I like the last one the best, such a vibrant yellow.
Racing of any kind always brings out the most brilliant of colors.
Happy B-day to you from one virgo to another.
Can't wait to see your in car stuff next month!
Brian

[SmartWombat]

Thanks, Brian

Hard to get that shot at 180mph and 30 yards away!
You'd believe the number of bad ones
Half cars, empty track, poles and loudspeakers.
And the bane of the A1 and A2, prefectly panned high speed shots out of focus.

I haven't heard back from the Belgians, so maybe their email is down, or overloaded.
Maybe that I don't get to go

[SmartWombat]

Thanks John.

I might take my OM10 with long lens next time.
But it's only a 300 Tamron with 3x converter so it's only good for sunny days

I think I ought to dom something about a web site, and selling some of my work.
Someone I met at the Mark Webber karting challenge (photos to come) is selling photos on ebay and has a website. So if she can do it, then I can
Though I do fancy her equipment - D10 with Sigma high speed AF lenses.
Most of the people I go to F1 trips with have bought Canon - maybe I should take the hint...