Originally posted by PDL I am somewhat taken aback at the over emphasis on AF - how many years of F1 images were taken before AF came out? I don't know - but it sounds to me like technique is being lost here.
Just understand what the DOF is at the f/stop-shutter combination that you will be using. Prefocus on the edge of the turn - (turn 11?) - turn off SR and get ready to pan (requires practice - do not wind up -start out tight then rotate into a relaxed posture). Wait for the cars and blast away. Put the camera into burst mode - fire off 3 - 4 frames (practice this).
Oh - by the way if you are in the stands at turn 11 (the hairpin) the approach speed is 200 - 300 kph but the turn is 88kph (according to pitpass.com). And you are going to need something bigger than 200mm. There is a run out on turn 11 where the cars hit pea gravel and slow down to a survivable speed - from 200 kph (under very hard braking) it takes a lot of space to slow down before hitting the tire barrier.
Edit: from Pitpass description of the course:
"the following straight where you again reach around 185 mph (300 kph) which leads to the braking area for the Virage du Casino hairpin, the tightest corner on the circuit, which is taken in second.
You can overtake here as well; in fact, this is where most of the overtaking takes place. After the hairpin, you're on the longest straight and fastest part of the circuit where we reach 200 mph (325 kph). "
Or are you at the end of the long straight (turn 12) - where they do have to slow down for the final chicane before the start finish line? From there a 135-200mm would work fine.
PDL
I agree in the fact of shooting with AF, while it is a nice feature it is not something that I am very accustomed to or used to (I learned photographing motorsports events on my fathers now 25 year old 35mm when I was younger). I often find myself using MF on the K100D just for training purposes but as well as habit I guess, it just feels right to me. Admittedly I do find times when I just want to snap some photos and throw the AF on for convenience sake (another habit, lazy of course).
I'll be seated in Grandstand 33 (turn 6/7) by the looks of it as 31 seems to have been eaten up by the scalpers. 33 is a nice stretch where the cars come down into a chicane with some heavy braking (260 to 100+), it's certainly not as action packed as say 11/12 or 1/2 but still a great area to be at. If I can manage to scrounge up a pair of tickets for my girlfriend and myself in Grandstand 31 (turn 8) it would be a nice vantage point given the cars are coming from 6th to 2nd gear before entering the turn (300+ to just over 100 under hard braking).
Right now the options I am looking at are the suggested 70-200mm Tamron ($515 shipped to my door if I can get it in time for the F1) or an 18-250mm lens. Unfortunately I haven't been able to find a supplier up here that carries the Sigma 70-200mm f2.8 (my usual stores only carry the sony, sigma, nikon and canon versions).
Thanks again for the help, this has been a great learning resource for me.
cheers,
shawn