What shutter speed do I need to freeze moving cars on a race track?

Will Arnison, Staines

BRIAN SAYS… It mostly depends on the speed of the car. If the car is coming towards you, then you need a much faster shutter speed, I use 1/1600 sec for head-on shots. If you pan the camera with the car, slower shutter speeds help to blur the background. Panning takes a fair bit of practice to get it right, but I often start with 1/125 sec and zoom-in to check results on the camera LCD.