on 3/13/04 9:04 AM, Tris Schuler at tristanjohn@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
>
> Not sure if I understand your problem correctly re the motorcycles and
> panning with the shot around a curve, Jim. The implication of the
> specifications for the MD2 is that fps increases with shutter speed, up to
> 5 fps at 1/500, so even if your fps was down to around 3 fps I'd guess your
> actual shutter speed would need to be 1/250 or greater, which would seem
> adequate for handheld panning of the action at that scene. If you were
> working off a tripod with the lens aimed at a certain point on the track
> then I could see a few missed frames, but assuming a film consumption rate
> of 4 or 5 fps and further assuming the drive was in operation before the
> bikes entered the focus zone I'd expect a fairly high capture rate of
> useable images. If there wasn't enough light to use a faster shutter speed
> then there's no telling what your fps might have been, though I'd guess 2
> fps, anyway.
>
> I wouldn't dream of shooting that sort of action on a tripod but choose my
> film according to the light available and work out of hand--even in
> relatively poorly lit arenas Fujipress 1600 @ f/4 or f/5 the shooter ought
> to achieve a manageable shutter speed for panning with the action, which
> itself ought to guarantee that the vast majority of frames be "useable" (in
> the sense that the bikes were captured completely in frame--there might be
> other reasons why one frame or another were not a keeper) even had the fps
> dropped down to 2 fps (which is about the speed, actually a bit faster, I
> had to work with using my original Winder on an OM-1 MD).
>
> Have I misunderstood your description of this action?
If I understand the limitations of the MD1 and MD2, above 1/125 second the
shutter speed doesn't limit the frames-per-second. But what happened to me
was I couldn't synchronize my panning motion to the angular sweep of the
rider, so while the first frame would be aligned within the limit of the
shutter release lag, after that the subsequent exposures were somewhat
displaced from the motion of the rider through the frame, resulting in the
rider either 'riding out' of the frame or me 'panning ahead' of the rider.
With a 300/4.5 lens from the edge of the fence, the frame is tight enouogh
that its easy to overshoot or underfollow the rider as you pan around.
I did that the first year I had the MD2, then went back the next year and
used single frame, and was able to recenter for the second and third (and
sometimes a fourth) as the rider swept around the curve. My actual images
might have been 3-4 in a period of about 2 seconds, but they weren't
continuously driven by the MD, each was shot separately. Since the MD in
theory would be ready in about 60 milliseconds, I had time to recenter the
finder image and press the button again. I never could have done that with
manual advance, and probably not with a Winder.
--
Jim Brokaw
OM-'s of all sorts, and no OM-oney...
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