21.07.2023 Jeff Carter

Photographing 24 Hours of Le Mans with FUJIFILM X-H2 and X-H2S

Jeff Carter

With over 20 years of photographic experience in several fields, including sport, travel, automotive, landscape and photojournalism, Jeff Carter runs MacLean Photographic in Dunbar on Scotland’s east coast and travels the world in search of the next great image to capture.
A user of Fujifilm cameras and film in the 1980s and 1990s, Jeff Carter had no hesitation in purchasing a limited edition X100 when the camera was launched. Adding an X-Pro1 and prime lenses a short time afterwards, Jeff found that the X series allowed him the freedom to explore his creativity with ease and put the joy back into the image making process.
In 2014, Jeff became fully immersed in the X series with the launch of the X-T1 and since then the X-T2, X-Pro2, X100T, along with a selection of Fujinon lenses, has been the backbone of his photographic business.
He also uses the X Series as his primary camera system for stills and video when working as the Media Delegate for the FIA World Endurance Championship and European Le Mans Series and as the Photo Delegate at the world famous 24 Hours of Le Mans.
As well as providing photographic services to commercial clients, MacLean Photographic run Photographic Workshops and Tours for individual or small groups of photographers of all abilities.

Multi-genre photographer Jeff Carter delights in motorsports’ most renowned event, delivering insight on stills, video, kit and more

The 24 Hours of Le Mans is probably the most famous motorsport event in the world, recognised by many, even those with little interest in racing. 2023 is a very special year, as the Automobile Club de L’Ouest (ACO) – the organisers of the race – are celebrating 100 years since the very first 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1923. The entire allocation of 300,000 tickets were sold in a matter of days, such was the interest of fans around the world.

I have been a motorsport photographer using Fujifilm’s kit at Le Mans since 2014, where I used a pair of FUJIFILM X-T1 bodies. So, the 2023 race is something of a milestone for me too, as my tenth outing with X Series.

I’ve been part of the organisation team behind the 24 Hours of Le Mans since 2012, serving as the photo delegate for the event and the media delegate for the FIA World Endurance Championship, which includes Le Mans. As well as photographing the race, I’ve been the liaison for members of the media who work trackside or in the pit lane, whether they be photographers, film crews, or radio journalists.

Photo 2023 © Jeff Carter | FUJIFILM X-H2S and FUJINON XF200mmF2 R LM OIS WR, 1/2000 sec at F2.8, ISO 80

An important part of my job is to brief the media on safety procedures they need to follow. We do this by video. I travelled to Le Mans in March, to film around the track, then edited the video for ACO distribution, reaching nearly 2000 accredited media individuals. You can watch the video here.

The best kit for motorsports photography

At last year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, I was able to use X-H2S prior to its public launch and I was impressed by the camera. Fast forward to 2023 and my pair of FUJIFILM X-T4s have been replaced by an X-H2S and an X-H2, with a FUJIFILM X-Pro2 in my bag as a back-up. They’re some of the best cameras for high-speed car photography.

I also packed several lenses, including my best go-to lens for motorsports photography: the superb FUJINON XF200mmF2 R LM OIS WR, often matched with the XF1.4X TC WR teleconverter. I use this lens trackside for action and in the pit lane for portraits.

Photo 2023 © Jeff Carter | FUJIFILM X-H2S and FUJINON XF200mmF2 R LM OIS WR, 1/200 sec at F2, ISO 250

On top of the long prime, I packed my three zooms, FUJINON XF50-140mmF2.8 R LM OIS WR, XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR and XF10-24mmF4 R OIS WR. I also kept FUJINON XF35mmF1.4 R in the bag, because of the superb optics and fast aperture when working in the pit lane at night.

As I was also creating video interviews with X-H2, I packed the Tascam CA-XLR2d audio adapter, which slots into the camera’s hot shoe and provides professional control for the XLR audio inputs from the Rode NTG4 and Sennheiser MD42 microphones. I wasn’t recording trackside, so I didn’t pack my preferred FUJINON XF18-120mmF4 LM PZ WR video lens, choosing XF16-55mmF2.8 for the interviews instead.

Filming video interviews using FUJIFILM X-H2

The 24 Hours of Le Mans is not just a race, it’s a ten-day festival of motorsport, beginning with ‘Le Pesage’ in the centre of Le Mans. This is where the public get their first close-up look at the 62 cars that will take part in the race, with almost all the drivers attending for media interviews and photographs.

My plan for the two days of Le Pesage was to get 15 driver video interviews for the FIA World Endurance Championship and European Le Mans Series websites and their associated social media channels.

Photo 2023 © Jeff Carter | FUJIFILM X-H2S and FUJINON XF200mmF2 R LM OIS WR, 1/2000 sec at F2.8, ISO 80

For most of the interviews the camera was attached to a tripod, and I asked drivers questions, recorded using the Sennheiser MD42 microphone with XLR Wi-Fi adapters. You can view an example of a driver interview with former LMGTE AM Champion Francois Perrodo here.

With some of the higher-profile drivers, we were very limited on time, so the interviews were conducted in a media scrum. Hollywood actor Michael Fassbender was one such driver, and I was very impressed with X-H2’s face and eye recognition autofocus, which worked flawlessly. There were other drivers passing behind during the interview, but the focus was rock solid.

The camera’s IBIS also kept everything stable while I was handholding and being jostled in the media scrum. As I was working the camera, I got my colleague to ask the questions.

Photo 2023 © Jeff Carter | FUJIFILM X-H2S and FUJINON XF200mmF2 R LM OIS WR, 1/2500 sec at F2, ISO 250

We also did a post-race interview with Valentino Rossi after he won the Road To Le Mans support race on Friday morning in a BMW M4, the first GT victory for the seven-time MotoGP World Champion.

You can see the video interview with Michael Fassbender here and the interview with Valentino Rossi and his teammate Jerome Policand here. Both interviews were filmed handheld on X-H2 with XF16-55mmF2.8.

Photographing stills at 24 Hours of Le Mans

On Sunday, the cars were out on track for the first time, for two four-hour test sessions. This was my first opportunity to get some still images. In bright sunlight, I headed to the pit lane for the first session, taking X-H2S fitted with XF200mmF2 and X-H2 fitted with XF10-24mmF4.

Once again, the Face Detection and Eye Detection systems worked brilliantly, only getting confused when I was photographing drivers through the windscreens of the car or when the subject was in a group of mechanics. I would then either switch off Face Detection via a function button or adjust the focus manually, using Focus Peaking mode to make sure the drivers’ eyes were sharp. I had a variable ND filter so that I could use slow shutter speeds for motion blur during the pitstops, whether it was a moving car or a member of the pit crew. This gives images a more dynamic edge.

Photo 2023 © Jeff Carter | FUJIFILM X-H2 and FUJINON XF50-140mmF2.8 R LM OIS WR, 1/60 sec at F8, ISO 100

For the afternoon session, I moved trackside to document the cars in action. I wanted to get at least one image of every car, as this provides me with a source of images for the rest of the week should I get asked for a photo of a specific entry. I vary my images, choosing to pan at around 1/160 sec or slower, or go head-on at 1/1000 sec or higher.

Motorsports photography on race day

As the name implies, the race lasts 24 hours, starting on Saturday at 4pm and concluding a day later, on Sunday afternoon. However, weekends start early in motorsports photography, and I arrived at the track before 8am on Saturday morning to prepare. Two hours before the start, I headed out onto the grid to document the atmosphere, then went to the first corner.

The weather had been glorious all week, with 30°C temperatures and wall-to-wall sunshine. However, as is normal for Le Mans, there were storms in the forecast, so I packed my rain covers just in case. The full circuit is 13.6km/8.5 miles, meaning it can be sunny on one part of the track and raining heavily on another. It’s best to be prepared for all eventualities.

For working trackside, X-H2S was fitted with XF200mmF2 and XF1.4X TC, while X-H2 was equipped with XF50-140mmF2.8. I kept XF16-55mmF2.8 and XF10-24mmF4 with me as well, in case I wanted to go for some wider frames. The latter came in handy during the grid walk, prior to the start of the race.

Photo 2023 © Jeff Carter | FUJIFILM X-H2 and FUJINON XF10-24mmF4 R OIS WR, 1/10 sec at F7.1, ISO 80

One of the functions I have been trying out on both cameras is the subject detection AF. The detection system works exceptionally when you’re filling the frame with a car, but when there were multiple cars in frame, I switched to single-point AF and focused on the pole-position car. No automatic system is infallible, and I have found that you need to understand how a camera performs best in various situations, then adapt your way of working accordingly.

The start of the 24 Hours of Le Mans went ahead without incident, and we got some images of the cars as they headed at speed around the first corner. Using X-H2 and XF50-140mmF2.8, I was able to get the large crowd in the frame. I set the camera at 1/1600 sec to make sure the moving cars were sharp. However, after the start, there was a multi-car crash at the first chicane and the remaining vehicles had to circulate behind the safety car at slow speed while the track was cleared. I headed back to the media centre to download my images.

My next trip out was an hour before sunset but with cloudy conditions – it looked like we’d be out of luck. There was a break in the clouds just before sunset, which did give us some usable light, but then it poured down with rain. While my Fujifilm kit is weather resistant, I prefer to err on the side of caution and put covers on the cameras. I can’t afford to have a camera stop working during the race.

The water spray on the track was being illuminated by the car headlights and water was pouring out of their wheel arches as they went past. While the conditions were far from ideal for the drivers, they did make for some dramatic images.

I went back in, downloaded the next batch of pictures, then headed to the pit lane after donning my fireproof and helmet.

The pit lane at night is a great place for images, with pools of artificial lights in the working areas providing sharp contrast with the darker fast lane. I prefer not to use flash, as I find it ruins the ambience, so I actively look for the light provided by the garages and the cars.

In the pit lane, I used XF200mmF2 on X-H2S and XF10-24mmF4 on X-H2. I choose a variety of shutter speeds – fast when I am making portraits or want to freeze the pit stops. This is where the F2 aperture comes in handy, enabling me to get a high shutter speed with a lower ISO. I would also use a slow shutter speed to blur the cars, or the mechanics as they rushed around the car changing tyres.

The next morning, twelve of the sixty-two starters had retired from the race, but there was still plenty to photograph with the remaining fifty cars. The sun and heat had returned, and it was going to be a long day. I went out trackside to different corners, coming in each time to download my images and swap batteries.

The move to CFexpress memory cards was another plus for both X-H2S and X-H2. There is no issue with the buffer filling up when working with 15fps bursts, and it doesn’t take very long to download 50-60GB of files to the computer.

Also, the NP-W235 batteries last a long time. I find they last a lot longer than advertised – when working trackside, I only had to change one battery. In the days of my FUJIFILM X-T3, I had to keep at least two spare batteries with me and, invariably, I would use them.

With just two hours of the race remaining, I went back to the pit lane to create some final stills as the event reached a climax – and in order to be in position for the podium celebrations. The podium is a complete media scrum, with thousands of fans cramming into the pit lane and onto the track. I managed to grab my space at the front under the podium.

Ferrari had won Le Mans for the first time since 1965 and the joy among the whole team was palpable. I’ve worked with two of the drivers, James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi, since they joined the WEC in 2016 driving for Ferrari in the LMGTE Pro category, so on a personal level, I was very pleased that they had won overall on their first attempt. Using X-H2 with XF50-140mmF2.8 and X-H2S with XF200mmF2, I was able to get some great images of the celebrations.

The 100th anniversary of the 24 Hours of Le Mans was an event to remember, and X Series allowed me to document it with ease. Having started at Le Mans with X-T1, I can honestly say the new cameras are lightyears ahead in performance and build quality, and that allows me to produce the images that my clients want and expect. Thank you, Fujifilm!