USA - Midwest Drift Union 2015 - Round 1 - Indiana

Thread in 'Drifting Chat / Pictures / Videos' started by Downshiftphoto, Jun 16, 2015.

  1. Downshiftphoto

    Downshiftphoto New Member

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    Midwest Drift Union's 2015 series got off to a strong start on the grounds of Grissom Air Reserve Base in Peru IN. Johnathan Nerren of Octane Academy fame squared off against an experienced field of Pro AM drivers and came out victorious. Runner up Charlie Quatmann is a MDU regular who achieved his first podium, lots of love for Charlie as he's regularly the series on-site tire changer. The field was rounded out by the young and talented David Mesker and Stu Kelly who's stepping out of the rotary powered world and into LS turbo power.

    Rain was in the forecast most of the day but only a few sprinkles kept the action exciting (and smoky). My only complaint is that the huge expanse of tarmac made me and the other media dude's jobs a little harder due to the heat and humidity waves. I think we still got some good stuff.
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    Nerren following Quatmann was a great door to door battle. Nerren had power for days, and the skills to back it up and squeaked out a victory.
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    4th place Stu Kelly got the hang of an all new power plant in a competition environment and put on a good and characteristically smoky performance.
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    Mesker Vs Huppert saw a ton of angle and a ton of smoke. Fun seeing a BMW powered by a Toyota/Lexus motor (1JZ) winning against a Lexus
    [​IMG]This Subaru SVX is one of the wildest drift machines I've seen in some time.

    Check out the rest of the set on Facebook
     
  2. Retro - Slide

    Retro - Slide Member

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    Awesome pictures. What body and lens did you use?
     
  3. Downshiftphoto

    Downshiftphoto New Member

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    Thanks! These were all done with a Nikon d600 and a sigma 50-500mm OS with a CPL. Normally I shoot a 70-200 but this was on a giant slab of tarmac so I needed more reach.
     
  4. Retro - Slide

    Retro - Slide Member

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    Nice man! How are the Sigma lenses? As I've always stuck to using Nikon branded stuff?
     
  5. Downshiftphoto

    Downshiftphoto New Member

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    The 50-500 is unbelievable for it's price tag. It certainly has limitations but it's really great given the huge 10x zoom range and I paid like 1300 bucks for it as a refurb. Particularly the sub 400mm range and sticking with f8 gets great results. I don't have a super great example because between heat haze/panning/focus when shooting mostly tandems it's kinda tough to really stick a shot with razor sharpness like you'd get on a tripod on a cool dry day, but here's an example: http://www.downshiftphoto.com/galle...ft-Union-2015---Round-One/MDU Rd1 2015-13.jpg in particular look at the follow car drivers area, you can still read most of the fine print on both cars even where there's a little motion or focus blur. I normally shoot the 70-200 vr II but the flexibility of the 50-500 has made me use it more frequently. I think I'd really like to get Nikon's new 80-400 because the last 100mm isn't that crucial, but having a big zoom lets me get more than one "look" at a run at a lot of venues. And the Nikon is crazy sharp from wide open and significantly lighter than the Sigma. I hear a lot of great stuff about the new 150-600 Sigma Sport line as well as the Tamron version of the same range. Once I pay off some "life" stuff I might try and move up to the 80-400 or one of the 150-600s. Though I really want a 120-300 f2.8 sigma or a 300 f2.8 AFS II Nikon... So much glass, so little money.
     
  6. Retro - Slide

    Retro - Slide Member

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    Yeah I was looking at some of the specs and what others have taken with the 50-500. Amazing price for what you get :D

    I've heard good stuff about the Sigma range but never been too sure. Since reading A LOT of reviews and what you have to say. A Sigma 50-500 might have to be my next purchase. I know a guy who uses a 120-300 but only for nature pictures. But he seems to be unbelievably impressed with it.
     

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