Nikon Z6II and Z 70-200mm f2.8 VR S - Shooting Trackside with a mirrorless camera

Donington Park

All images by Ryan Frost

22 Apr 2022

MotorSport Vision (MSV) who own Brands Hatch, Oulton Park, Snetterton, Cadwell Park and have a lease on Donington Park, was founded by former F1 driver Jonathan Palmer, John Britten and Sir Peter Ogden. The company purchased the race circuits in 2004 and started a refurbishment programme that continues today. 

In 2006, MSV formed MotorSport Vision Racing (MSVR), providing a complete car and bike racing organisation capability to the MSV group. It has now grown to include club-level race meetings and major international events. MSVR has been the organising club for such meetings as A1 Grand Prix, FIA World Touring Cars, DTM German Touring Cars and FIA Formula Two.

On the 9th April Ryan, one of the original founders of the PistonClick website, decided it was time to reach out to us and try his hand at motorsports photography by attending one of the MSVR events.

We met up with Ryan to show him a few locations and give him some general tips for taking trackside images. 

Previously, Ryan has concentrated on the static car scene; he started his adventure into photography by using an iPad! Progressing quickly and upgrading his kit, I think you will agree he has mastered his chosen aspect of automotive photography.

Judge for yourself - you can see some of the outstanding work he has produced over the last few years in the photographers' section. 

The MSVR Club Championship meeting at Donington Park seemed a good event to try out his current camera - the Nikon Z6II. With a 24.5mp full frame sensor, and importantly for motorsport, a maximum 14 frames a second shooting rate, it is more than up to the job of capturing the action on track. 

However, there was a small problem that we discovered while chatting online. Ryan as a street scene static car shooter has no requirement for the long range lens that the majority of the PistonClick team use.

As none of us use mirrorless cameras and Ryan didn’t have a FTZ adaptor mount to use our old school Nikon F mount, we were unable to loan him a lens for the day. So his longest lens, the new Z 70 - 200mm f2.8 VR S was his only option and had to be put into use.

Considering the distance you are from the action at Donington the Nikon Z6II with the Z 70 - 200mm f2.8 VR S has handled the cropping well.

Adding in the lightness of the mirrorless systems now appearing on the market, and the fact that the main stream camera manufacturers are ceasing production of some DSLRs like the Nikon D500, this looks to be the only way forward in motorsports photography.

That is if you can afford the full retail of £2000 for a Z6II and £1700 for a Z 70-200mm f2.8 VR S. If you wanted to go the whole hog with a long Z lens it will be another £2700 for the Nikon Z 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 S.

You can use the Z to F adaptor which is a reasonable £250 for the latest model, and use your old F mount lens to keep the cost down. And if you hunt around the internet bargains can be found. Amazon are doing the slightly older Z6 with FTZ for £1559 all in. 

The MSVR event Ryan attended consisted of the following cars out on track: The Clubmans Sports Prototype, GT Cup Championship, Lotus Cup UK , Production GTI, Radical Challenge, Radical SR1 Cup, Toyo Tires Racing Saloons & Z Cars Championship and the United Formula Ford.

Ryan wanted to concentrate on the GT Cup and these are his images of the event shown here. They have been edited for Instagram hence the odd shape. The filter is a bespoke signature that Ryan uses so his followers can recognize his work when scrolling through social media.

As a first attempt at long range track-focused photography I think they are pretty good. Ryan was happy with the results and the performance of the Nikon Z6II having moved over from the Sony A7riii.

He used the full 273 focusing point in manual mode to take these images, with shutter speeds ranging from 125 - 320th of a second, the majority were 250th. 

It’s not all roses, however. There are a few things Ryan disliked about the Z6II. The rear screen is touch sensitive, and Ryan finds it a bit frustrating while using the viewfinder as it can come on with the touch of skin. Also, the camera takes XQD cards which are just way over priced compared to SD cards.

There is also no provision as yet for a battery grip. Nikon do a grip but that’s it, no buttons and no provision for extra batteries. All mirrorless cameras devour batteries, however, you can charge on the go via usb/power banks and direct connection to power outlets but only the EN-EL15c or 15b which came with the original Z6.

Or just take a lot of batteries with you on location. The standard EN-EL used for years by Nikon are compatible, and you will get about 400 shots from a fully charged battery.

The bug has defiantly bitten Ryan as his next event will be the BTCC again at Donington Park on the 23rd -24th April, where he will be consolidating his track side skills. We will look forward to seeing what he produces. 

You can see more of Ryans work by clicking the links below.

A guide to taking motorsports photography

Our other articles on how to take stunning photographs at motorsport events including, panning, shooting through wire, locations, equipment, settings and much more.