Motorsport & 5d

[Peter Ford]

Has anyone shot motorsport on a 5d or 7d?

For an upcoming project, I was considering using a 5d for interviews and in car footage of a presenter, mainly due to small form factor, but was wondering how it would hold up doing trackside filming? I'd planned to hire an EX3 as my A cam, but budget has been slashed.

Im concerned using a 5d for trackside- it'd be mounted on a very solid video tripod, but im concerned about skew when panning for for something fast like a car on track.

Anyone have any motorsport experience with these dslrs?

[Peer Landa]

Originally Posted by Peter Ford

Has anyone shot motorsport on a 5d or 7d?

Last summer I did a gig at the race track using the 5d:

Mission Motors -- the World's first Electric Superbike on Vimeo

-- peer

[David W. Taylor]

I don't think the rolling shutter will be much of a problem if you are panning with 'the subject', It just looks fine even though the background might be skewing a little in practice, the viewer is watching the car that's being panned.
You'll need a proper 'professional tripod' to follow any fast moving action though as the 5D2 with a long lens just isn't 'balanced' like a video camera, so you have to have a tripod that can cope with that and give you super smooth motion. Pro tripods are streets ahead of cheap ones but cost lots.Think Vinten, Sachler or Miller.
Viewing during fast panning is the other problem. If you use say a Hoodloupe or a Zacuto Z-finder, the cameraman is physically hard up against the back of the camera. You'll pan alright, but you'll trip over the tripod as you move. The best option is an LCD monitor off at the side or back. Alas that adds to that camera balancing problem.
Then we need good sound...so have to add in a separate sound recorder plus the small DOF makes it much harder to keep the subject in focus...add in a follow focus which helps but is still 'challanging'.
I now have a FF for the zoom as well as the focus.
That lightwieght camera is by now bigger and heavier than the equivalent 'video camera' and the hole in your wallet is about the same!
So I love the picture quality the camera brings but it ain't as operator friendly as that EX3 would have been.
I still use a 5D2 though...must be mad.

David T
aviation video blog: Focal Planes

[Peter Ford]

You'll need a proper 'professional tripod' to follow any fast moving action though as the 5D2 with a long lens just isn't 'balanced' like a video camera, so you have to have a tripod that can cope with that and give you super smooth motion. Pro tripods are streets ahead of cheap ones but cost lots.Think Vinten, Sachler or Miller.

dont worry - i'm no noob or not a 'tog trying to be a cameraman- ive been a video cameraman for many years now- im not going to be undertaking this job with a '£12 jessops special' tripod. I have a decent miller head, and either some manfrotto legs, or I might use some ancient vinton protouch legs, if i can find the right bowl adapter.- they might be a bit overkill, but the heavier the better in my book. I'm all setup with some external monitoring options, vocas rails & follow focus, and I know what lenses i'd need.

I understand all the drawbacks, but i'm only going to go the 5d or 7d way, as nothing else gets the image quality I want for the budget. I'd prefer to shoot on a ex3 or any larger 2/3 inch chip camera anyday. I'd toyed with the idea of hdv for this project, but i've really grown to dislike hdv footage. its a dirty, dirty format. I've worked with the 5d and 7d a few times, and I like the look they can achieve, especially how nice they render skin tones.

hopefully you're right, the skew should only manifest itself in the background- and it shouldnt be too bad, im not shooting F1 cars. Think I will just need to be aware and if I notice it too bad, set up some different shots