Q.
Jack:
I am enjoying your page. Thanks. The question I have is which is
the best film for shooting the action of cutting horses in a covered
or enclosed arena, and which lens and f-stop works best. I use a
Canon EOS 1, and have an 80mm to 200mm f2.8 lens. I was thinking of
using Fiji Provia 400 slide film and Fuji NPH 400 for prints, any
ideas would be greatly appreciated. Some friends have asked me to
photograph their horse in a local event.
Thanks for your help
Greg Wilson
A.
Dear Greg,
The Fuji NPH 400 film is the slowest that you can use for the
situation that you will be in. I do not recommend the use of
positive film (or slides) in the circumstances that you describe.
Fuji print film has a wide latitude, so that you will probably have
good density in your photos. I only recommend slide film when you
can bracket your exposure, and in shooting cutting horses, you do not
have time to do that.
From your vantage point, the image of the horse, rider and critter
while cutting, should fill at least 50% of the image finder of your
camera. I can't imagine that you will be less than 50 to 75 feet away
from your subject, which means that you will be using your lens at
or near the 200MM setting and at the wide open f-stop.
In these circumstances you must pre-focus your camera since you will
not have the time to focus during the cutting routine.
Your camera flash sync. speed is 250th of a second. Under normal
circumstances that speed is not fast enough to capture the motion of
the horse, but under the low light situation that you will have, if
you use the Canon 480 EG dedicated flash, you will probably have
enough light to stop the action. The flash on the camera by itself
is not powerful enough to cover the distance between you and your
subject to give you an image on your negative.
If you do not have access to a dedicated flash, use Fuji 1600 ISO
film and hope for the best.
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