Before I get started I'd like to point out that I have and still do shoot sports photography, I have shot everything from Golf to Formula One and have used a variety of equipment from prosumer DSLR’s to the latest main brand monsters and all the usual lenses that go along with it.
My topic of debate for this blog is where does photography end and filming begin most top end cameras these days such as the Canon 1DX shoot 10 frames per second that's a crazy amount of frames per second, movies are shot with 24 frames a second, after a bit of a dig around on Google I found out that a lot of stop motion animation is done at 10 frames per second like a lot of the stuff you used to see on Sesame Street.
My point being (and I know I'm likely to get a bit of a kicking over this.) With such high frame rates, Autofocus, Image stabilisation is there any skill left of the photographer to display?
No I'm not some kind of all fuddy-duddy purist who requires everything to be shot on a 10 x 8 Glass plate with a gunpowder flash and a sheet over my head and I know that a lot of photographers don't even use the autofocus when shooting things such as motorsport and they instead focus on a fixed point and wait the action to come into that area of prefect focus.
After my recent switch from Canon to Fuji it has for me re-awoken the manual aspect of photography again, the thought before a shot. Don’t get me wrong the X-T1 can knock out 8FPS with tracking focus etc. but it’s unlikely your buying that particular model for that reason. I'm starting to sound like a bit of a tit but go with me on this one as I think there is a valid point in here somewhere.
From my point of view manual photography can be anything from using full manual set up where you're in control of the aperture and shutter speed and the ISO and the focus to a simple state where are you might just be in Aperture mode with a preset ISO and autofocus all variations of all of these things that we are all familiar with when using a camera.
Is there any difference between holding the shutter button down and getting 10 frames per second than there is to cranking a handle to allow 35mm film through to capture Charlie Chaplin upsetting a wedding party or running a dubious window fitting outfit?
I like it when not everything works out perfectly and i’m stuck with a blurred image of an event, especially when it’s a fast moving sport like Formula 1 as a lot of the shots are done by one guy (at least I think that’s the case.) as he seems to really love shooting the car parked up on an apex with the driver sitting in it, you know the ones that guy does - head on stuff from about a mile away on a 600 mm lens, maybe a dash of F2.8 and good for him after all he’s built a career out of it and clearly goes to all the races.
It’s so nice having someone like Darren Heath around who is a man after my own heart, he tries to inject a bit creativeness into it, to capture the atmosphere, colour and emotion into the shots and not just a technically perfect pixel peeping shot - although from watching various interviews on YouTube I have learned that Darren is a Canon 1DX user and I'm not sure why as he does state that he doesn't tend to use autofocus or use the high burst right? I’m sure he has his reasons, if it were me it would be down to peer pressure as I have myself been the subject of sneers for using a 5DMK3 and a 200mm F2.8 - not exactly consumer grade kit.
It’s pretty dismaying when you get asked to shoot an event and they specifically ask you for the shot described above ‘oh make sure they are all head on with nothing more than F5.6.’ - I mean they all look the same and might as well be a still from a video feed.
Ah I jumped the gun there, video feeds nothing against them, brilliant! means I get to watch the race at home with a Gin &Tonic and not just what happens to be going on at the wind swept corner I’m standing at. But I can see that in a couple of years time with tighter and tighter restrictions on entry to track for up and coming photographers things might take a turn for the worse.
FIA rules state that to the effect: you can not become a race photographer unless you have a proven track record and examples of work published from previous FIA events, however you are not allowed as a member of the public to take track images with a view to them being published - Chicken/Egg anyone?
So with that gem in mind and the press looking for that apex shot what’s to stop the FIA banning all track photography with some excuse such as it’s safer for all involved blah blah and just issuing a media pack with a bunch of stills taken from the live feed of the events and while they are at it charge the newspapers and other media a fee for the privilege?
Within the next few years formula One and top sporting events will all be found in HD or even 4K giving a huge advantage to the promoters in terms of stills pack sales to the press.
So does machine gun photography have a place at sports events, yes it always will from the motor drives of old to the 10FPS of today but is it as a result photography and photographers signing their own death warrant? What happens to the Canon 1DX’s and Nikon DXXX then? Will that be the end of it in terms of mass production of elitist bazookas and the apparel, who knows? I guess we will have to wait until one of the big two release a DSLR that bangs out 15 or 20 FPS in what I imagine will be their answer to continuing development.
Where else do they have to go in terms of camera development the ISO is already stupid good, focus is pretty much done but think of it two or three flagship models down the road they have little left to sell the new camera - 4K?and FPS? that’s about it.
You know in the 1960’s they used TLR’s like the Rolleiflex and it depended on you cranking a handle and you got twelve shots out of a roll of 120 film.
Is the development of cameras in purely saleable points with them creeping ever towards practically filming a flicker book of action and in doing so slowly ending traditional photography a good or a bad move, it can’t be good can it?
I'd like to hear your opinions so feel free to leave a comment below.
