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Photography Question 

Melinda Wheeler
 

Football Pictures


I have a Nikon N75 and a generic flash. When I take several shots in the "multiple photo" mode, the flash does not have time to recycle. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to get a full sequence of shots at night high school football games.


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October 01, 2003

 

Tony Sweet
  Melinda, you need a battery pack to quickly recycle your flash. Quantum battery packs are pretty good and affordable. You may also need a more advanced flash.

Good luck!
Tony Sweet


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October 01, 2003

 

John A. Lind
  Tony hinted a little at your likely solutions . . . here are a few more details.

First, it's unlikely you will be able to do "multiple photo" mode regardless of what you use under these lighting conditions. If I've interpreted your use of this term correctly, it's usually referred to as "sequence" mode to keep firing the shutter and advancing the film as long as the shutter release is depressed. Even if you could do this with some flash/battery combination, the N75 "sequence" mode is too slow to be of much utility. Its 1.5 frames per second sequence mode isn't anywhere near fast enough. There's far too much time between frames to have any reliable chance of capturing the precise moments of action you are likely hoping to photograph. I'm a little mystified why Nikon even put this feature into the camera if cost or other mechanical considerations with the mirror, shutter and film advance prohibited running it at least three times that fast. Even if its frame rate were faster, this is a "shotgun" approach that burns huge amounts of film quickly and generates a very low yield of usable photographs.

The fastest a flash can recycle from an external high voltage battery slab connected directly to the flash's high voltage charging circuit is about 2 seconds from full dump (Sunpak 555 or 120J with GN=150 with Tri-Pak II[a] battery slab; about the fastest recovery around). Note that low voltage external battery slabs are primarily for significantly extending the number of flashes before having to change batteries, not for faster recycling. For internal flash batteries, NiMH rechargeable batteries will recycle a flash noticeably faster than alkalines and they will continue doing so until completely discharged (but not nearly as fast as a high voltage external battery).

The most extreme method would employ one of the two most powerful handle mount flash units made with a GN of about 200 (Sunpak 622 Super Pro or Metz 60 CT-4; both extremely expensive) and a telephoto attachment over the flash head. This would ensure flash power "overkill" so that each shot consumes only a portion of its full capacity. With all that, you would get two, possibly three frames occasionally, even at the slow 1.5 fps before it has fully dumped all the available flash power.

Using flash at a night high school football game requires considerable flash power for single photographs at the outset. Working distances are often 50 feet or more, and typical high school stadia are not lit nearly as brightly as college and professional arenas. In addition, light from flash outdoors at night dissipates completely. There are no surfaces (walls or ceiling) to contain it and reflect any light back toward the subject.

My recommendations:

(1) Use ISO 400 film and a flash unit with at least a GN of 150 (at ISO 100 in feet), and this is minimalist. The maximum range for this specific combination at an f/5.6 lens aperture is about 50 feet; at f/4 it's 75 feet (full dump of flash for a single photograph). Presuming you are using a telephoto lens, adding a telephoto attachment to the flash will increase its range some.

(2) Practice at shooting individual frames at the "decisive moment." It's a skill that must be developed, but isn't that difficult if you consciously work at it. The technique requires close observation of what is going on and anticipating what will happen in advance, and firing the shutter about 1/5th of a second prior to the precise moment you want to photograph. It burns much less film, ultimately produces better results, and the yield rate of good photographs can be surprisingly high for someone reasonably skilled at it.

Probably a lot of things you didn't want to hear. A night high school football game has working distances and lighting conditions that are beyond the general limits of consumer cameras, lenses and flash units.

-- John


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October 02, 2003

 
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