I sit on my perch, trying to take in the last of the fleeting warmth offered by the setting sun, when I hear my target approaching.
My chilled fingers scramble to their positions, as my narrow focus sweeps the terrain.
There. I spot the glint I’m looking for.
It’s moving quickly, so …
I definitely plan on bringing the 600-1000 for my K1000, if nothing else for the fun/experience of shooting with a big manual focus lens.
Ideally, you want a Kodak disc 4000...
A Kodak 110 with flash cube...
And a Kodak Advantix C800.
Anything less and you will be unprepared.
Colin Wood said:I definitely plan on bringing the 600-1000 for my K1000, if nothing else for the fun/experience of shooting with a big manual focus lens.
My buddy always takes "Big Bertha", his giant, heavy prime lens (200 - 500mm?) for his Pentax DSLR. The experience of hauling around a large lens may lose it's luster quickly, from what I've seen my pal go through. His back pack must weigh at least 30 lbs, which gets heavier and heavier as the day goes on - on Saturday we are usually at the track for around 15 hours and normally cover around 10 miles walking to all the different vantage points. Just something to consider...
That said, it's great having a telephoto. I'm not shooting with film, but I just take a 16 - 80 and 55 - 300 kit lens, and it's all I've ever needed. One advantage of digital is the ability to crop a LOT, so the 300 mm lens works out great for me. It being a kit lens, it's not the ultimate fast lens, but it is really light and compact.
Manual focus for fast moving things like race cars does not seem like a great choice to me -- at least, not if you want to capture them on track.
I'm not going to the Rolex (If for no other reason than that I'm going racing at Buttonwillow instead), but if I were going I'd bring my Canon 7Dmk2, 17-55 f/2.8 and 70-200 f/2.8. And for long-range daylight shots either my 100-400L or maybe splurge and rent something like a 200-400 f/4 or 400 f/2.8 prime.
Manual focus isn't that hard to deal with; you just have to plan ahead. I normal pre-focus on the spot where I intend to shoot, then just track the car(s) into it and fire.
Think about your potential EVs and how much flexibility you'll have with the apertures of the lenses you're carrying. The 600-1000 is going to want shutter speeds of 1/500 or faster unless you're well-supported; in anything but bright sun, you're out of options almost immediately with 400-speed film. If you're set on bringing that, I'd load the camera with 800 or, better yet, push some B&W up to 3200 or more.
I prefer working with set combinations, ideally not changing lenses at all, and certainly not often if I do. Partially because this makes the process more intuitive, and partially because I don't like carrying tons of equipment around. I'd go with the K1000 with the 50 and the T2 with the 75-300. Depending on your plans and shooting style, you might swap the 50 out for the 28; I'm a natural 50 shooter, so for the track I tend to go with a 50 and a 135 (I shoot rangefinders, so that's about the upper limit of focal length), but I've also done the 28 and 85 combo when I plan to shoot more of the paddock and crowd than the track.
Infrared?
I think my dream photography kit for going to something like the GRM Challenge again (I can't go this year due to a schedule conflict) would be one of my film cameras with 28mm and 50mm lenses, and then my Fuji X-H1 crop-body digital and a long telephoto zoom like one of the 100mm to 400mm options that are available today or the 18mm to 300mm superzoom that I see advertised and have read good things about.
My two cents; film is fun but it can be very frustrating as well, and having the flexibility of a modern digital camera is so hard to ignore.
In reply to 02Pilot :
That's the focusing technique I used last year with a shorter lens on the K1000. Not ideal, but it's certainly an added layer of fun.
I'm definitely planning on packing as much higher-speed film as I can, especially for the big lens.
I hear you about the set combinations, and I feel like that's the way to do it. The 28mm on the K1000 served me well in the pits last year, so I'm tempted to leave that one attached to the camera for most of the race and then switch to the big lens when I'm in the bleachers.
In reply to VolvoHeretic :
I haven't tried infrared yet, but this might be the best time to try it.
I'm cool with experimenting, even if that means some/most of the shots don't turn out well.
This will be my first year trying out shooting on film at the Rolex. I am thinking ill keep the 50mm on the film camera and shoot mainly with that but also pack a telephoto lens just in case I want to try to shoot action with manual focus. Maybe its time to get more film.
More and more I find myself carrying my phone (iPhone 16 Pro Max) and my Canon 90D with a 70-200. The big camera gets used for action and long sniper stuff, and the phone gets used for everything else.
The iPhone sensors since the 14 have been absolutely world-class, and the form factor makes it a perfect tool for shooting in close quarters, at weird angles, around corners or whatever. It always seems a bit indulgent to have the latest iPhone as soon as it drops, but when i realize how much I use it as a primary camera—and how good it is at doing that—it justifies the cost.
So that will likely be my Rolex setup. Canon with the big zoom and a phone. I do have a nice set of Moment lenses for the iPhone, but my adapter is backordered for my 16, so I'll probably just rawdog it this year.
Colin I dig the approach with film, though. With digital it's all about composing in a very general way, then giving yourself options. With film it's all about doing a lot of that pre-planning in the moment then being patient to wait for the moment you want to spend your resources on to appear. Cool process.
Take whatever you've got, snap away, have fun and accept that as a normal person you'll hit delete on 50+% of them!
In reply to Colin Wood :
I think the key is picking film that gives acceptable results with pushing, like Portra 400 or HP5+, though if I am shooting film I'm almost always shooting B&W. And then if you shoot a roll at box speed or even meter for a stop slower than box speeds, you still have good film for the job, instead of shooting something exotic and grainy like Delta 3200.
If only Fuji would bring back Superia 1600... I guess we can always break down 800 ISO Kodak disposable cameras for fast color film that's slightly cheaper than Portra 800.
I tried something different Saturday evening at the Roar: two bodies, each with a short prime lens. So I had a Canon 7D with a 24mm and a 7D MkII with a 50mm. (Both are crop sensors.)
So that meant working the pits and garages–short game, basically.
This is with the 24:
And this is with the 50:
pres589 (djronnebaum) said:In reply to Colin Wood :
I think the key is picking film that gives acceptable results with pushing, like Portra 400 or HP5+, though if I am shooting film I'm almost always shooting B&W. And then if you shoot a roll at box speed or even meter for a stop slower than box speeds, you still have good film for the job, instead of shooting something exotic and grainy like Delta 3200.
If only Fuji would bring back Superia 1600... I guess we can always break down 800 ISO Kodak disposable cameras for fast color film that's slightly cheaper than Portra 800.
Flic Film Auora 800 along with Lomo 800 is a good option too. (Supposedly it is the ISO 800 Kodak stuff).
My 70-200 2.8 used on a full-frame body has been my main workhorse for all on-track shots at Daytona. While there has been a few instances I wanted something longer, it's been a lot fewer than I thought. My only complaint is as a f/2.8 full-frame lens it is relatively large, heavy, and overkill for most daytime work. At night in Daytona it's awesome though.
Beyond that I like to also carry a wide zoom for the paddock. I have an old and kinda weird 20-40mm 2.8-4 Tamron that's been fun to use.
So, I do so hate being the guy that advises against what might seem like fun, but I strongly suggest that you do not take one of the cameras from the Most Menacing Camera thread.
On the more serious side, fast lenses and fast film (if you're shooting film).
Also, a good DSLR.
Prolly best to leave the pinhole camera at home.
Unfortunately I won't be attending the 24, but I brought the following with me to the historic 24 hosted by HSR in November..
- Canon F-1 with motordrive & 70-210 f/4 Telephoto (I've since upgraded to the 80-200 f/4L & say its worth it for the stiffer focus alone)
- Rolleiflex 2.8C 80mm f/2.8 Zeiss
- Canon 1DX Mk2 (because why not both) with 35mm f/2 & 70-300 f/4-f/5.6 (yes I need a proper tele for it)
- Canon EOS 1 (same lenses as the 1DX, and I had extra room in my bag..)
The Rolleiflex makes for an amazing camera to capture the pits. No I don't carry them all at once. Some photos from the event are shared on instagram @yerophoto for anyone curious. :)
Oh and my go to film is Gold 200 for both 120 and 135. Or tmax 100/400. For nighttime, Cinestill 800 is nice, or push some tmax to your hearts content.
In reply to 1988RedT2 :
I'm only half-joking when I say I've always wanted to take a large-format camera to a race.
In reply to Colin Wood :
It can be done: The Photographer Who Shoots F1 with a 1913 Graflex 4×5 View Camera
pinchvalve (Forum Supporter) said:Ideally, you want a Kodak disc 4000...
A Kodak 110 with flash cube...
And a Kodak Advantix C800.
Anything less and you will be unprepared.
Don’t laugh, but I’ve seen several people enjoying (and making cool images) with point-and-shoot cameras. I’ve been enjoying my XA2 as well.
And I‘ll likely have film gear with me, too. I just need to repack some gear.
In reply to Colin Wood :
I bet you could get some awesome images. Oooopses get a little expensive, though.
I've got a couple of 4x5 film holders laying around someplace from back when I took a large format class. So I just need a camera. 
I used to shoot with a Sinar P2, so it would be a fairly costly proposition, and dang those lenses get expensive.
1988RedT2 said:In reply to Colin Wood :
Oooopses get a little expensive, though.
Oh I bet. I think a medium format camera may be nearer in my future than large format–but I think I need to find more space before I commit to anything. 
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