Mike.....I know nothing about the D600 but the D800 is awesome. Also, if you get the 70-200 2.8 the TC works great on them when shooting action sports.

golf....that's quite the shot, wonder how much the photog made from that shot?

golf007sd said:
Check out this picture I found on FB D4 section....amazing action and shot.

Looks to be somewhere between 2.5 and 3 million dollars......LOL Hopefully no severe injuries.

I too like Marks photos, and think they are great. I've spent a while looking through his blog, being very impressed.

Further more. I've just been to the local Nikon Dealer and he has both the D600 and D800 in stock. After handling both cameras for a while, I found the D800 to be a very comfortable camera to hold, whereas the D600 felt just that bit small in my hands. My fingers in between my knuckles were hitting on the curve of the grip. So I have made the decision to buy a D800 in the future. Now to get my 70-200 f2.8 lens.

Check out this picture I found on FB D4 section....amazing action and shot.

D4 70-200 2.8 1/800

http://markjrebilas.com/blog/?p=16300

I thought he was using a remote and was about to loss another camera/lens. Then it shows where Mark changed cameras in the last stills.

jonnyapple said:
I think I'm not the only person who finds myself singing The Distance by Cake whenever this thread gets resurrected.

Me too, I've never understood why NASCAR or the NHRA doesn't use that song.

msmoto said:
Nice, Bland....those press credentials sure do help....and a 600mm..... You could have done any of these....

Thanks msmoto, as could of you. I'm going to try using my 2X converter on my 70-300 and see how 600mm comes out with it at the next drag race.

Mark also gets to use a helicopter at NHRA events, how awesome that would be.

Here's my shoot from Saturday for this racing team using the 2X converter on my 70-200/2.8 mounted to my D7000. For the first time this year I had perfect sunlight to shoot in:

https://picasaweb.google.com/110598189464498271207/Nance83Greer501HallettRaceway

I think I'm not the only person who finds myself singing The Distance by Cake whenever this thread gets resurrected.

Nice, Bland....those press credentials sure do help....and a 600mm..... You could have done any of these....

http://markjrebilas.com/blog/?p=16134

Mark posted his settings he used shooting at night and in the rain yesterday at Indy.

It looked like once the rain started he put his D4 back in the truck and pulled out his D800.

My favorite shot of his is the ARMY dragster with the contrails swirling in a vortex off the rear wing.

msmoto.....please tell me you have an identical twin sister that is single!

Well, I thought it was exciting and reminded me of what I rode up until about four years ago... put 10,000 miles on my tweaked Hayabusa. And the photo taken with a D70s, is a demonstration that maybe we do not need all the pixels....it holds up well at 3000px on Flickr.

So, for those who watched the video...the excitementt was when the bike came back down to the ground and the rear shakes as it tries to regain traction...yes! Oh, this 'Busa would only get to the mid 190's with me on it...(315 kph)...

Thanks msmoto, awesome video!

msmoto said:
The Isle of Mann motorcycle race

A teenager I photographed Geoff Duke there . No Nikon, just a second hand Rollicord

37-3/4 miles of over 200 bends and corners done at an average speed of over 130MPH on two wheels (one wheel a lot of the time). Makes oval racing in cars seem like a shopping trip for the old folks...

I love that the bikes leave the helicopter behind on the mountain.

Thanks for that msmoto.

OK, I am posting a Nikon related video here as it is an example of great video of The Isle of Mann motorcycle race and has some super video shots. Also, the still photogs had Nikons.

http://vimeo.com/46856767

I checked carefully and this is downloadable freely, so I am thinking no copyright violation exists.

Also, a note....the coming season of motor-sport shots I will be shooting more at 1/250th sec to get more blurred wheels, and background. The D4 and VR in the lens seem to help the panning "lock on" to the image to get more positive results in spite of the relatively long exposure time. At 100 mph (160 kph) the cars move about 7 inches (18 cm) in 1/250 sec Thus the panning must be fairly accurate, but the VR will compensate for maybe an inch or so of movement if the lens is locked on focus is my guess.

Thanks spraynpray. I was using the NIKKOR 70-300VR and I like my D7000 so much I bought a second one so I don't have to switch out lenes all the time shooting events. I got one of those dual shoulder straps to carry them both around with.

All my racing shots I shoot in RAW and then process in ViewNX2. I then use Elements 7 for my Topaz plug-ins, Denoise5 and Adjust5/Photo Pop.

msmoto said:
We'll, I thought I wanted to stick up a photo of a not so unusual situation in motorsports.... and to attempt to create an image as it appeared to the human eye around 8 PM. Lights, camera, action....

I think you nailed it with that one msmoto - and it is the usual low noise level from your D4.

Bland said:
Saturday I was getting bored shooting the same race shots over and over so I tried this and the track owner went ape over them. I got some bike drags next Sunday and I'm going to do a lot more of this.

N-i-i-i-ce Bland! It looks like you are enjoying your D7000. Exif says 70mm - what lens is that? I note your exif says Elements 7.0 - I didn't think any Elements earlier than 10 supported the D7000?

msmoto said:
Yeah, I like the more unusual looks... more like a person actually sees the cars...in the window, looking at the front axles, etc.

I think it's also emotion we don't normally see. It's catching that moment that is virgin and pure of thought, like Adam's mother monkey carrying child or a racing wheel at the starting line getting ready to go over 200mph in 6 seconds.

Yeah, I like the more unusual looks... more like a person actually sees the cars...in the window, looking at the front axles, etc.

Saturday I was getting bored shooting the same race shots over and over so I tried this and the track owner went ape over them. I got some bike drags next Sunday and I'm going to do a lot more of this.

Speaking about myself, it seems I try to force the harder shots in order to please when in fact it's the simple and easy shots that are more appealing at times.

We'll, I thought I wanted to stick up a photo of a not so unusual situation in motorsports.... and to attempt to create an image as it appeared to the human eye around 8 PM. Lights, camera, action....

Thanks for the advice MSMoto.
The 80-400 looks like a great lens. It may well go to the top of my lens list.

@MikeFrewer....D400....or whatever Nikon decides to make as a Pro DX. The above photo is only a cropped 10mm x 15mm size of the sensor on the D4 and was shot as an afterthought with the incorrect lens. So, noise is present.

I am waiting for the D400 and I think the delay is as I stated on the D400 thread, mainly due to the fact it will be the third "Pro" body Nikon has brought out this year and they do not want anyone canceling the D4/D800 orders to get a D400 instead. Most of my motorsports are shot at about 9 FPS, this allows plenty of editing out the garbage. When cars are moving by at rapidly changing speeds, above 120 mph, if one is using the long lens, i.e. 300mm or 400mm or even longer with the extenders, it is in my experience often times difficult to keep the car in the frame for all the exposures. I camera edit as many as 25% when I am shooting very close to the cars. Sometimes the angle of the shot fills the frame, and as they come closer, well, they spill out both ends...

But, again, the D400 will be the DX D4, IMO, and I am waiting for one myself.

And, the revised 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6 VR should be along sometime. Or grab a used VR in good condition. Look at this thread for an interesting comparison. http://nikonrumors.com/forum/topic.php?id=3549

Well you guys have certainly shown me how to take night photos ! Once again I thank you very much. Any suggestions on what camera would suit me for these type of photos. Unfortunately I don't have the money for a D4, and I don't think the D800 is the right camera for this type of shot. I currently have a D40 with a 35 F1.8 lens (bought because I fell on the standard lens). This camera will soon be passed onto my wife, so an upgrade is in the near future. I plan on buying the Nikon holy trinity lenses, but I'm not sure which model camera would suit better. I'll be ready to buy around christmas time, so my options would be, D7000, D400 (if it ever arrives), or D600). Any serious suggestions guys ?

P.S. Note to ones self. Must learn to get closer to my subject ;)