brands hatch compact advice

[egor110]

I'm off to brands on monday and will be taking my trusty gig camera the panasonic tz10.
The things i can manually change are:
aperture priority
shutter priority
shutter speed 1/250, 1/125, 1/60, 1/30
iso 80,100,200,400
i can also select different auto focus modes, and take a burst of pictures.
Any advice ?
I'm not expecting the world, or dslr quality pictures, but have been very impressed with this camera at gigs so would like to see what it can do outdoors, or should i just stick it on sports mode and hope for the best?

[Crafty_]

shutter priority, 1/125th, iso will depend on how much light there is, when a car comes by move the camera at the rate rate (i.e. "pan").

[egor110]

I can either select auto shutter priority or in custom mode i can select minimum shutter speed.
If i select auto shutter priority it's coming up with 1/30 if i'm outdoors in the garden.

[Gemm]

You may be able to adjust various settings on the camera but I have a feeling the biggest issue with a compact is the lag. But I'm sure you can overcome it to some extent with practice!

[egor110]

I was planning on looking at a certain bit of kerb and just taking a burst of pictures.
Like i said i'm not expecting dslr results, just interested in what it can do.

[Simpo Two]

egor110 said:

I can either select auto shutter priority or in custom mode i can select minimum shutter speed. If i select auto shutter priority it's coming up with 1/30 if i'm outdoors in the garden.

If it's shutter priority you should be able to set the shutter speed. That's the whole point of it. Try wiggling a button up or down and see if it changes. But you may be up against maximum aperture or preset ISO so 1/30th may be as fast as it will go in that situation.

[toasty]

From a slightly different angle I'd recommend that you try shooting from Druids both inside the circuit and outside.

You get a good idea of when the cars/bikes are coming and they go through there pretty slowly making the photography easier.

For panning shots I'd recommend a slightly slower shutter speed, maybe 1/80, and keep it on burst mode.

Lastly, make sure you've got a full battery or spare because if you're anything like me you'll shoot 100 shots per race and then delete 90 in between races.

[LongQ]

I would be tempted to head for the paddock and think of it as a potential club but with daylight,, fewer people and mechanical devices.

Otherwise ...

Over the bridge to the inside of Druids hairpin is an option for pan shots. Speed and distance to subject should give you half a chance of working around the compact lag successfully fairly often.

On the outside of Druids on the exit down hill it is just about possible to get a shot of low(ish) speed vehicles taking the apex without the debris fencing getting in the way.

Over the top of the fencing at Paddock Hill, aiming back up the hill, may also be an opportunity.

If the meeting is on the Indy circuit I doubt many other locations (apart from the assembly area if you can get there) would be very rewarding for close track action. More general shots are readily available but possibly of limited interest?

One of the problems with being outside the fences and shooting bikes (compared to cars) is that they are much smaller objects so 'filling the frame' just isn't easy.

Edited by LongQ on Saturday 7th April 12:37

[trackdemon]

For fast moving race cars you'll need to be reasonably quick on the shutter - 1/250 will still give nice motion blur in a side on pan. 1/60 and below will drop the hit rate but look great if you nail some. Tbh, I'd just experiment if you're short on experience with this - start at a fast shutter and work your way down from there.

Druids OK, inside probably better but outside nice as you can get Paddock Hill in the b/g. Best spot by far is the exit of Clearways, they have an opening in the fence specifically for shooting through - but I guess it'll be busy on a raceday!