Given the difficulty inherent in this subject, the best camera body you can afford is a great benefit. The quality of the lens is not less important, but I think that the quality of the camera body is much more important.

I’m confident in this opinion because I have photographed motorcycle racing with the Canon 30D, 40D, and 1D MkII, and the Nikon D300, D300S, D700, D600, D800, D3, D3X, and D4. That’s a pretty broad range. While I got acceptable results with each body, there is simply no comparison is success rate between, say, the D4 and the D300. And there shouldn’t be, right? Otherwise why would you pay 3-4 times as much for the D4? It had better be more capable in challenging situations!

And it is. I tried the D800 as a loaner from NPS at Phillip Island last season, and while I found a lot to like about it, to me it’s not nearly as good a body for MotoGP as the D4, or the D3, or for my money even the D700, which was basically a D3 with some missing bells and whistles. For other types of subjects, I believe the D800 is a gorgeous camera and would love to have one for landscape work. But I was very glad for the chance to try one at PI, because I learned that I was better off spending the extra money on a D4 when it came time to add another body to my kit.

What’s the difference? The most noticeable thing to me has been the speed with which the different camera bodies can focus and track small subjects that accelerate and decelerate as quickly as MotoGP bikes. It’s not Frames per Second that I care about (I rarely shoot at the D4’s maximum frame rate of 11 FPS) as much as how quickly and accurately the camera works as I try to track my subject.

So to return to your question, George, my advice is this: if MotoGP is what you want to excel at, get as good a primary camera body as you can, and with whatever is left over, get as good a lens as possible. I don’t know how much a 1Dx costs in Greece, and I’m afraid to ask, frankly. In the US it’s just under $7k. But if you could pick up a good, used 1d Mark IV, perhaps even a Mark III (I see one here used for $1250!!), that is something I would consider. That would give you a really good body, suited to racing, and leave more money left over for lens options. I do not mean to disparage the 5d III. I think the 5Ds, from the very first one, are fantastic cameras. I only mean that for motorcycle racing, a good 1D is a better choice.

If by motor sports you mean cars or a local series of motorcycles, I’d less strongly advise in this direction. I know a successful American Le Mans Series pro who shoots everything on Canon 60D bodies. Before that he used only 50Ds, and before that 40Ds. Those cameras (and his experience and skill, admittedly both greater than mine) handle the big ALMS cars just fine. The last time I shot ALMS, I found little difference in the performance between a D300 and a D700. But again, for MotoGP, big difference! At least for me.

<Your 7D and the 70-200 f/4 is a great second body and good option for pit lane work. It's also a good combo for the tight corners where you're generally closest to the track and where your subject will be going slowest. A 1D with as long a lens as you have money for will be your choice for the faster sections of the track, where you're generally farther away and acceleration is at full gas and thus more challenging for you and your gear.

Again, I’d consider a used 1D if that’s an option, so that you might get a 400 F/4, rather than the f/5.6. (I see that this is a DO lens, which I’ve never used, so I don’t know if this is a good option, sorry.) A used 400mm f/2.8 or 500mm f/4 would also be something to consider. Looking up Canon prices for this post has been shocking, frankly. It used to be that one of Canon’s advantages over Nikon was that lens prices were generally more affordable, but I see that this is no longer the case. Nikon’s 400mm f/4 is $9,000 while Canon’s is $11,000, and the Nikon 600mm f/4 is under $10,000 while Canon’s is almost $13,000! Ouch. I’ve not used Canon’s 400mm f/5.6 but it seems to have good reviews on B&H, with the vast majority of users saying it has fast/accurate auto focus. Perhaps that would be a good match for a 1Dx. I expect for cars it would work just fine.

In summary, my advice is that the faster your subject moves, the more you’ll benefit from a good camera body. If your subject is slow, put your money into lenses instead. I hope that helps, George, and please keep in touch as your photography career progresses.

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