Here’s what you don’t buy a 5D II for – anything that moves faster than walking pace or to shoot anything that requires focusing in low light. So how does it fare when you combine the two?
Badly, unsurprisingly. But it does have one hefty trick up it’s sleeve – high ISO capabilities. Trying to track subjects as fast as cyclists racing (even if it is uphill) would make even a 1D series struggle at night, so there’s no point in hoping the focus-challenged 5D would do it. Thankfully you can prefocus and get a frame (just the one at 3 and a fart frames per second) and, because of that stratospheric ISO handling, you get a usable shot.
You’re certainly helped by Red Bull, who had setup the Red Bull Rampage race in Bristol, to get a nice picture. The ground lighting was powerful enough to keep shutter speeds high and the finish line area was big enough not to get run down by a fixie rider with momentum.