Most people would not imagine how challenging survival is at high-altitude, without even counting on the huge physical exhaustion from climbing and some always-possible medical pre-conditions.

To illustrate this, I offer you to check these videos showing some obvious effects of hypoxia (lack of oxygen), from mildly funndy to life-threatening. And external source of oxygen is mostly insufficient in 8000+m climbing.

Some of my figures:

• More than 600 exposed pictures
• 160 images after the first sort at high speed (to remove the obvious errors and gross misses) with around 80 which could be first choice pics.
• Less than 10 very good images.
• A few images which could be a little original.

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In the end, I can forecast who will win on Sunday:
Peugeot: End of the practice session:		Audi R15 in a unusual maneuver:

With the acquired habit, I can give a few recommendations to those who would like to try their own hand at it:

• Prefer the official practice sessions: All the cars are out, it is possible to walk around nearly everywhere around the track (during the race, your ticket will stick you to a specific location), the public is relatively limited and quiet.
• For the duration of a session (from 16:00 to midnight), you can easily walk from nice spot to nice spot from “Maison Blanche” to the “Dunlop bridge” for a good variety of situations.
• Monopod (or tripod) highly recommended).
• 80-200mm: very useful, 100-400mm: perfect range, but the limited aperture may be a strong constraint.
• Car speeds are very high. Even in the best conditions, under 1/500s, the photos may not look sharp enough; the faster cars will even ask for 1 or 2 stops over what you can allow for a GT car (the slower ones). Peugeot and Audi are really fast; Porsche, Aston Martin, Lamborghini may somewhat feel underpowered while driving at their max.
• Beware of obstacles: cranes, wire mesh fences, pro photographers are everywhere and you will need a large aperture to soften them out, but look for the openings in the fences which have been created for the pro photographers (look down a little).
• Autofocus: in continuous, 3D or AI-Servo mode. Or drop down to full manual and anticipate on the car position.
• Keep your eyes peeled: nearly every year, I witnessed a car leaving the track in front of me; But you will not have time to set things up. Shoot until the car is stopped or the card is full. You’ll sort later.
• Be aware of the signals used by the track stewards to anticipate interesting events: blue flag for overtaking (more dynamic shots), klaxon every time a car enters the pit area, etc.
• Have fun and remember to look, not only shoot photos.

Dean Evans, in 1985 did much better than this in an Australian car race where all the competing cars were Lotus Elise: He went from the 16th and last position to the pole position within a single lap.

Watch this demonstration from a hell of a race driver:

The whole gallery and the mini-site to buy posters.

The Canon EF 100-400 f/4-5.6L IS II would no longer be a push-pull design but would have a second ring (like the recently presented Sony design). Better for managing the sealing and protection that are so important when used in difficult conditions like a photo-safari. It would also be equipped with an upgraded image stabilizer (the most critical issue with the existing zoom).

Expect a price of US$1700. If that one is true, it will be a very good price.

Announcement: Not sure, but you can bet there would be something about it on September 17th when Canon will present its new SLR body.

Via Canon Rumours.

The Sony 70-400mm f/4-5.6 G SSM is described in the PDF documentation of the Sony 70-300mm f/4-5.6 G SSM. Obviously, they were designed together. It is a twist-zoom. This will differentiate quite notably from the push-pull type of others like the Canon 100-400mm and it should protect it efficiently against dust entry (and we know that this is the bane of push-pulls.

The technical features can be read from this table. I can imediately notice that the diaphragm is staying between f/4 and f/5.6 (the golden standard of this type of zoom), that the weight is rather high (heavier than the Nikon and the Canon, nearly as much as the Sigma equivalnet) and that the minimum focus distance is very competitive.

Let’s wait for images and tests (and the price), but this could be the ideal lens to go and shoot in a wild-life safari.

Source: DPreview forums. See also my previous article about high-end tele-zooms.

This is the reason why the Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS UM and Nikon AF 80-400mm VR f/4.5-5.6 D ED has been so successful despite their obviously high prices (around $2000). When I’m on photo safari, I’d say that about half the people around me have one of the Canons as their main lens (somtimes, it’s even their only lens).

Some time ago, Sigma added its own version of this lens (see this high-end zoom lens comparison). And it was a winner in terms of price-performance.

Now, we can expect several significant news in this range of products coming from different manufacturers.

• Sony presented about a year ago a mockup of a zoom lens corresponding well to this range. The word is out that it will be a 70-400mm f/5.6 zoom presented to the European press on August 14th (for an official launch in the beginning of September, probably at the same time Sony launches the Sony Alpha 800 and/or Sony Alpha 900 Full Frame camera(s)).
• According to some rumors (mainly originating from an unsubstantiated initial post at NikonRumours), there will soon be a Nikon AF80-400mm f/4.5-5.6D ED VR update. And this should be explaining the reduced availability of the original version.

I would even be tempted to read between the lines of a recent test article of Chasseur d’Image and say that Canon will also be hard pressed to provide an update to its aging 100-400mm. After all, it’s a real cash cow and a sure sale for owners of top- and mid-range cameras like the Canon EOS 40D (and possibly its successor EOS 50D – next year?).

Since the EOS 5D MkII is expected around this time and no later than September PMA fair, this is quite a possibility and having a handful of these cameras in the hands of pro photographers for all to see would be a very nice promotional opportunity for Canon. This is much needed after the thunderous launch of the Nikon D700 and just before the arrival of the Sony Alpha 800/900 (direct competitors in the Full Frame SLR camera market).

I’m still sceptical about an EOS 50D that would be arriving a little too early according to Canon habits in terms of launches, except if it was a low-cost version of the previous Full Frame camera. And, there, it would be a great event. Think about it! Simultaneous launch of two war machines hitting right into the center of the preoccupations of the most enthusiast photographers.

Some people expect the announcement to happen on Monday.

 
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After looking at these images I shot myself, I advise you to visit the excellent web site of Thomas Baekdal about Le Mans.

24 heures du Mans, 2008.

And, while the weather seemed crappy for most of the day, we have an early evening with a superb light. I grab my brand new second-hand Minolta APO G 400mm tele-lens in order to move back and shoot over the metal obstacles (sometimes, under the up-turned corner of a metal net). Here is the result caught by my Sony Alpha 700, the best images I could catch in the stands: A place where there is always something happening -at least before the race itself.

 

 
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Some of these images can be acquired as posters or as laminated prints on RedBubble.

24 heures du Mans, 2008.

 
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24 heures du Mans, 2008.

I was at 1/40s and f/2.8 (on my Minolta APO G 200mm tele-lens), so the image is a little blurry… Usually, I wouldn’t let such low quality out, but the accident is still quite spectacular.

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