I should add that my Sigma lens is an OS version which I have set to mode 2 OS, this mode maintains image stability only in the vertical plane and locks the horizontal plane rigid otherwise the lens keeps trying to stabilize the panning lens. I'd like to see this choice for the Pentax SR system because it's incredibly useful for panning shots such as these.

For the above reason I'd suggest turning SR off when trying to make panning shots. It could be that your camera is simply trying to correct for what it thinks is camera shake, but isn't.

My point about continuing to pan after pressing the shutter is especially true when you have a decent racing scenario and cars are close together. Don't try and snap them all on the same lap because you'll be tempted to jab at the shutter and quickly reposition yourself for the next car whilst the shutter is still partially open.

I do a lot of motorsport photography and I can say that it took me several months to get to grips with the panning technique and basically, it takes a lot of practice to get it right more often than not. Even now I occasionally screw up after 2 years of doing it every other Saturday.

I think your gear is fine for daylight shooting. I use a K-5 II + Sigma 70-200mm 1:2.8 + AF540FGZ (when needed).

For daylight shooting I use TAv mode, setting the shutter speed to 1/160th or 1 stop either side. The aperture I tend to use is f8 and sometimes f4 depending on the available light (I shoot during the evening, 7 - 9PM, March to December). In TAv mode the camera adjusts the ISO for correct exposure. In the following example, Shutter 1/160th, aperture f4, ISO 800, no flash.




One trick I learned very early on is to not try and fill the frame with the car(s), you'll be able to follow the action more precisely and more smoothly by using a wider focal length lens and cropping later.

Another tip, keep panning before, during, and for 2 seconds after you've pressed the shutter button. It's the same technique as clay pigeon shooting, you keep following the target's trajectory even after you've squeezed the trigger.

Vary your panning speed to match that of the target vehicle. In your two photos, the grid markings seem to have the same amount of blur indicating that the panning speed was more or less the same for the two shots. Could it be that car two was traveling much faster/slower than car 1, and you weren't panning fast enough/too fast?

No Yves. This has come up before and I've asked all of the drivers if they mind the flash. None of them objected, and without it they'd get no photos for most of the year.

. . . and night time motorsport.

I thought some here might be interested to learn how you can use Lightroom to dramatically reduce the uneven lighting effect of flash when faced with a similar situation to mine.

Briefly, I am the official track side photographer for a small oval banger racing club. Many of the race meetings are during the winter months and they start after the sun has gone down necessitating the use of floodlighting. This lighting is certainly good enough for the drivers, spectators, and race officials to see the racing, but pretty darned useless for photographing the event.

To augment the floodlighting I use a bare hot shoe mounted AF540FGZ flash, no diffuser. I'm usually at ground level and quite close to the action, hence I get images like these :-




The foreground is well over exposed and the background hardly lit at all.

So once I've got the images into Lightroom I apply 2 'Graduated filters' which, in the olden days, could possibly have been achieved using ND Grad filters on the front of the lens. Difficult, but not impossible.

Lightroom to the rescue. First, I apply a -3 EV (approx) ND Grad to the bottom half of the image with the darkest part of the filter at the bottom and end up with an image similar to the following :-




Next, I apply another +2 EV (approx) ND Grad to the top half of the image. All that remains is to crop, adjust WB, exposure, & contrast, sharpen and reduce noise as necessary.

The resulting image (below) looks much better than the original I think. I hope you agree.

Not especially, it just happened that way. I use one of the Tamrac bags the most.

I do have a lot of bags but the only one I could do without is the Slingshot. It's OK for a very light load but still has the drawback of having the weight on one shoulder. Although the two Lowepro Reporter bags are regular shoulder bags, I only use them for storage and transport. I don't carry them any distance because I much prefer a backpack style to distribute the weight over both shoulders.

I got most of my bags second hand or on offer. The only one I paid the going rate for was one of the Tamracs. Even that was well discounted by SRS.

Tamrac Expedition 7X - The bag I use most
Tamrac Expedition 7X - Holds all my Macro kit
Lowepro Fastpack 350 - For when I don't need a bag as big as those above
Lowepro Vertex 100AW - Used for storage
Lowepro Slingshot 200AW - Now unused as I don't like the weight all on one shoulder
Lowepro S&F Reporter 300AW - Holds all my Lee filters
Lowepro Stealth Reporter 500AW - Holds all my flashes and radio triggers etc
Lowepro Nova 1 AW - When travelling very light like on a city break. Holds 1 x body spare battery + DA 12-24mm or DA* 16-50mm. No room for anything else.

Louise, you must have heard the saying "A picture paints a thousand words", so please send us one so that we may see the 'damage'.

I would bet a pound to a penny that you've lost the hot shoe cover. There are no visible screws holding the hot shoe in place. There is one large electrical contact in the centre which is surrounded by three smaller contacts plus a hole for the retaining pin of some flashes (as per the photo shown previously).

If this is the case than there is no need to worry, your camera is perfectly OK, no dirt or dust can get in.

Agreed, and it's something I mentioned over three years ago. Still not happened yet and it could be so easy.

Your computer just is not of a sufficient specification to handle digital photography Peter. You're on a hiding to nothing unless you get a machine that is up to the task. The one you have, is not.

Very nice set Simon. I think I may have to snag the next Siggy 100-300mm that becomes available. There's a crispness about these that seemed to be lacking in my Sigma 150-500mm images from the BSB test day.