Beaulieu National Motor Museum

Has anyone been there? Is it any good for photography?

Any info appreciated.

As any of the ad pictures on the web will show you the cars are very, very close together. Way more so than any other motor museum I've been to (outside of the UK). And in parts the aisles are too narrow for the number of people. So if you want pictures of parts of cars, or collections of cars it's fine. But isolated images of a car will be challenging - with a few exceptions. Conversely for those you'll need a long lens as they are up in the air overhead!

It's all OK if you want to look at cars, just makes it hard to take pictures, at least with a focal length long enough not to distort the images.

---

My PENTAX Page

I went there recently as a corporate invite one evening, when the museum is closed to the public.

I took about 120, mostly detail, shots using just a 31mm lens and the onboard flash for about 4 of the shots.

Fortunately most people were standing by the bar, leaving just a few enthusiasts looking at the cars.

Failing a corporate invite, I would recommend going outside of the school holidays and be standing outside the doors, waiting to go in, when the museum first opens in the morning.

The cars are very close together and if you want photographs of whole cars, you will inevitably have others in the background.

A tripod would be ideal but is probably not a realistic option.

A monopod would be worthwhile.

I had neither as I thought that I would be pushing my luck turning up fully kitted out, hence just the one body with a discreet lens

---

Hyram

Bodies: K20D (2), K10D, Super A, ME Super, Auto 110 SLR, X70, Optio P70
Pentax Glass: DA* 300, DA* 60-250, DA* 50-135, DA* 16-50, DA 70 Ltd, FA 31 Ltd, DA 35 Ltd, DA 18-55 (2), DA 12-24, DA 10-17, M 200, A 35-70, M 40, M 28, Converter-A 2X-S, 1.4X-S, AF 1.7, Pentax-110 50, Pentax-110 24
Other Glass: Sigma 105 macro, Sigma-A APO 75-300
Flash: Metz 58 AF-1 P, Pentax AF160FC ringflash, Pentax AF280T

Thanks for the information. When you say longer lenses, would this be a job for the 50-135 or longer again?

50-135 would be fine.

There are only a few cars 'up in the air'.

Taking just the 31mm, I did not find myself thinking I wish I had brought another lens.

---

Hyram

Bodies: K20D (2), K10D, Super A, ME Super, Auto 110 SLR, X70, Optio P70
Pentax Glass: DA* 300, DA* 60-250, DA* 50-135, DA* 16-50, DA 70 Ltd, FA 31 Ltd, DA 35 Ltd, DA 18-55 (2), DA 12-24, DA 10-17, M 200, A 35-70, M 40, M 28, Converter-A 2X-S, 1.4X-S, AF 1.7, Pentax-110 50, Pentax-110 24
Other Glass: Sigma 105 macro, Sigma-A APO 75-300
Flash: Metz 58 AF-1 P, Pentax AF160FC ringflash, Pentax AF280T

You should be OK with that. My overhead - over my head - shot of the Silk Cut Jag from the Ross Brawn era at TWR was under 90mm, as was my shot from the balcony of the Williams F1 FW18.

But the road cars are toooo close together. They push them in on trolley jacks - there's no way to open the doors they are that close together. So mostly I was in the 20-40mm range.

---

My PENTAX Page

So 16-50, 50-135 and maybe a prime (FA50 1.4 or DA35LTD).

10-20?

I think the DA 35 Ltd would be a good idea and possibly the 10-17 if you have one.

My shots were all taken at ISO 800 and most were f4.5 with slow shutter speeds.

The lighting in there is quite a challenge

---

Hyram

Bodies: K20D (2), K10D, Super A, ME Super, Auto 110 SLR, X70, Optio P70
Pentax Glass: DA* 300, DA* 60-250, DA* 50-135, DA* 16-50, DA 70 Ltd, FA 31 Ltd, DA 35 Ltd, DA 18-55 (2), DA 12-24, DA 10-17, M 200, A 35-70, M 40, M 28, Converter-A 2X-S, 1.4X-S, AF 1.7, Pentax-110 50, Pentax-110 24
Other Glass: Sigma 105 macro, Sigma-A APO 75-300
Flash: Metz 58 AF-1 P, Pentax AF160FC ringflash, Pentax AF280T