I recently went to a Petite Le Mans race. The 70-200 is perfect for using at a race (almost all the pros had one and I was wishing I had one). Your shutter speed was definitely too fast. Even if you had not focused on the fence, it would still look like the car was parked on the track due to the shutter speed and the fact that you were not panning. You need to shoot at about 1/250 or slower and pan to make the wheels and fence blur. On my D7000, I set the autofocus on AF-C, single point. I set the focus point where I want the front of the car in the frame, aim the focus point at the front of the car, press the shutter halfway, track the car for a short distance to give it time to focus, and then begin to shoot as the car gets into the range where I want it. A monopod can be useful at a race, but a tripod is better left at home since you need to be able to freely move the camera to get a good shot. To get the best shots even at a race where you have openings in the fence, you really need a press pass.

Here's one I shot through an opening in the fence. I'll have to find one that I actually shot through the fence tomorrow (this was a road course with no assigned seating - you could walk around much of the track, but there were tall fences on much of the track that you couldn't get behind without a press pass).

edit:
here's one through the fence:

^Both of these were shot at 1/250 sec while panning.

golf007sd said:
After reading this tread, I have been more attentive in looking at the sidelines this Sundays football games and seeing what gears are being used as the action goes down. Thank God I have a TEVO to back up and get a more closer...slower look. Most of the photographers have at least 3 camera on them: one big telephoto 400/500/600mm on a monopod, another with a 70-200mm 2.8 for sure on one side, and yet another with at 16-35/17-35/24-70mm 2.8 and a flash on it. Moreover, the average age of these guys are well over 45 years old from what I can tell. How fun would it be to be next to one of these athletes and see them in action.

My hats off to those individual that do this for a living....cheers :D

My hat's off to them too, golf007sd.

The photographers I know personally at this level are mid 30's to mid 50's. All but one is single (because of the traveling) and they all have one thing in common, they were all wealthy before being at the level they are now and were able to buy the high dollar gear to start out with. Not to take anything away from them because they are all awesome photographers and they work extremely hard.

The reason I'm stating this is because without doubt every one of them would say if you want to shoot outdoor events and sports during daylight hours you only need two lenes and they aren't expensive. They all shoot Canon with the exception of one who shoots Nikon but they would say for Nikon it would be the 70-300VR and the 16-85VR.

I'm not in anyway saying the high dollar glass isn't excellent, it's beyond awesome. I just don't want anyone looking to get into this type of photography to think they have to drop mega bucks in order to do it. Hope this helps any newbies wishing to get into this type of photography because it'll be the ride of your life!

LOL. where did you get your name? I see you are in hong kong. I'm sure I can guess where you got that name, but why would you want to associate it with your photography?

Nice shot of the race queen. if you wanted a better car shot, you needed to be where the blue guy or the white guy was in the top photo to take the shot.

Obviously changing your location is the best option, but I'd be surprised that if you use 3D tracking that you'd have a problem with it locking on the fence? Especially as the 3D system likes high contrast situations like the one you had. I shoot the British Military Tournament, is has situations like horse drawn gun carriages etc, low light 3D tracking normally nails it for me.

Just a thought. Tao is right though, a super sharp shot through a fence is no where near as good as one with nothing in the way :-)

After reading this tread, I have been more attentive in looking at the sidelines this Sundays football games and seeing what gears are being used as the action goes down. Thank God I have a TEVO to back up and get a more closer...slower look. Most of the photographers have at least 3 camera on them: one big telephoto 400/500/600mm on a monopod, another with a 70-200mm 2.8 for sure on one side, and yet another with at 16-35/17-35/24-70mm 2.8 and a flash on it. Moreover, the average age of these guys are well over 45 years old from what I can tell. How fun would it be to be next to one of these athletes and see them in action.

My hats off to those individual that do this for a living....cheers :D

Location, location, location. Go High above the fence or where you can shoot through it.

If you have anything between you and the subject, and it is more than a few feet from you at that distance, the AF will lock 50% of the time on it and it will always be in the photo.

Bland said:
You where there, it's on his blog. One can google Mark Rebilas Blog. I was referring to the settings he uses when he shoots, he list them below each picture. And by looking at his pictures one can see how he compositions his shots.

Got yah. The metadata he provides about how the shot was taken is informative. Was looking for more insight into how action photographers go about doing what they do...if you know what I mean. Yet I have a feeling it is much like anything else in life...practice makes perfect :p

golf007sd said:

Where does he talk about his technique? Was unable to fine a direct link on this website...arrrr. PM me if you have a direct link please...thanks.

http://markjrebilas.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/ea10A_8574.jpg

You where there, it's on his blog. One can google Mark Rebilas Blog. I was referring to the settings he uses when he shoots, he list them below each picture. And by looking at his pictures one can see how he compositions his shots.

@soft The lens you are using is not the issue mate. As I'm sure you know it is your location; hence, why the press/media is located at a different spot where nothing blocks their view. Are you able to get higher so the fence is not in you line-of-sight? If so, get a teleconverter to adjust for the distance...more cost effective than a longer telephoto lens if you get my meaning.

With that said, elvishefer recommendation is worth exploring; however, given the speed of your subject, I would add that you may want to have a monopod or a tripod with you, in order to get hack sharp pictures and prevent your camera moving out of position.

@Bland Thanks for the heads up on Mark Rebilas. He sure know how to take great sport action shots. Where does he talk about his technique? Was unable to fine a direct link on this website...arrrr. PM me if you have a direct link please...thanks.

@soft Have a look at this pic by Mark Rebilas shot with a "Nikon D3s, 600mm with 1.4 convertor (850mm), 1600iso, f5.6, 1/800th" in Manual mode...the fence is still there; hence, even with $15K plus gear...their is no substitute for one's positioning in getting the right shot.

http://markjrebilas.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/ea10A_8574.jpg

elvishefer said:

Other option: Find out who's doing PR for the event and try to get a press pass. Sometimes it's not as hard as you'd think.

Absolutely, try and get a press or media pass. And like elvishefer stated they're not that hard to get.

Also, go to the Grand Prix Macau website and checkout their photos in the Media Center. You'll see where the pros shoot from and that is the area you'll want to be.

Hrmm...

Maybe try pre-focusing on the asphalt, on one of the paint markers.

Then turn autofocus off.

Then select f/2.8.

The theory being, don't make the camera guess when you need the pics, get the thinking out of the way beforehand.

I do something similar sometimes shooting through chain link fences at the zoo.

Sometimes it works, sometimes, not so much...

The downside of using dof to eliminate or blur the fence is that the shutter speed would be so high, you'd never get blurred rims.

Other option: Find out who's doing PR for the event and try to get a press pass. Sometimes it's not as hard as you'd think.

I don't think it's the lens' fault. I think it's the technique you used to get the photos. If you decide to set it so, the autofocus system probably wants to focus on the closest subject, the fence. It doesn't know you want the car. I think you should have gotten closer to the fence and tried to shoot through a slit in the fence if you could have. The fence probably would have been close enough that it wouldn't affect your photos too much. Either that or get a press pass.

Bland said:
Those are really good for shooting through a fence, Soft. If you want to learn about shooting racing events I would suggest checking out Mark Rebilas online. He's the best and he normally explains how he does it.

Thanks Bland, I'll read up more on Mark Rebilas. But is there nothing else I can do to improve the photo? o.O

Those are really good for shooting through a fence, Soft. If you want to learn about shooting racing events I would suggest checking out Mark Rebilas online. He's the best and he normally explains how he does it.

JY said:
@Soft,
I haven't really shoot through a wired fence (no clue how hard/easy it is). Maybe you want to try different AF mode such as dynamic, 3D etc or even find location without the wired fence in between.

Yeah there is a foot bridge where you can see the cars coming towards you which is away from the stands. Unfortunately only press are allowed to shoot there. And I have use Dynamic and it goes haywire.

EDIT//

And for you all to enjoy......

@Soft,
I haven't really shoot through a wired fence (no clue how hard/easy it is). Maybe you want to try different AF mode such as dynamic, 3D etc or even find location without the wired fence in between.

Bland said:
Soft...are you using the Single Point autofocus mode? That's what I use and it nails high speed racing perfectly.

Yes Bland, I did use Single Point AF mode.

Probably I am doing something wrong... here's some pictures....

Soft...are you using the Single Point autofocus mode? That's what I use and it nails high speed racing perfectly.

JY said:
You need to give more information. What do you mean when you said "didn't shoot any acceptable car photos". All pictures are blur? too small?
AF on 70-200 lens definitely very fast. If you can't take any sharp picture with it, chance are you are doing it wrong. If the pictures are way too small, you may need teleconverter or longer lens.

Not sharp photos.... 70-200 focuses more on the wired fences then the cars itself... Even if I manually focus, I still can see the fences. I'm sitting at nosebleed seats too (first five row). I don't think I am doing something wrong, or am I??

You need to give more information. What do you mean when you said "didn't shoot any acceptable car photos". All pictures are blur? too small?
AF on 70-200 lens definitely very fast. If you can't take any sharp picture with it, chance are you are doing it wrong. If the pictures are way too small, you may need teleconverter or longer lens.

Just this weekend I was in Macau attending the Formula 3 Grand Prinx. I brought my 70-200 and I didn't shoot any acceptable car photos, but thank god there were models to make up for it. I would like to be more prepared this time for next year's Formula 1 in Shanghai this upcoming April. If i were to get a sports lens which one would it be? Fixed or Zoom? Nothing too outrageous, I'm not going to consider the 600mm or Sigma 200-500mm.