[jbrowning]

So has anyone tried to replicate the Nascars Gopher Cam with a still camera? I am going to try this with my K20D and 50mm 2.0 Pentax lens this Sunday at a mini bike race. I figured out that I can do this with Catch in Focus with the camera and lens. I was just wondering if I should go with the 50mm or like a 28mm?

I sure would like to hear your alls suggestions and if you have tried it how was your experience?

Thanks
Jim

[steve1307]

Not familiar with the Nascar camera setup but if it is what I think it is, a wider field of view would be better for viewing but would have to be closer to the action.
Wider is easier to get more of the scene in focus due to greater depth of field.

If you seen those fixed focus POV video cameras like the GoPro they have a wider FOV , something like a 12mm lens on APS-C but selectable to a narrower view in the settings.
The wide angle and the smaller 1/ 2/3" sensor in these mean that the entire scene in in focus even at fixed f2.8. (Hyperfocal dist under 1m)

The hardest part I think would be trying to capture a suitable Gopher and somehow attaching your rig to it.
I would suggest lots of duct tape but that would be cruel when removing the camera as he might lose some fur too

[Paleo Pete]

You also have the problem of training the gopher...

Which lens would depend on how close you can get, I would think.

Here is a shot of a friend's son on his dirtbike in grandpa's front yard. Taken with SMC Pentax A 50mm from about 15 feet, and this is cropped but I don't know how much since i don't have the original on this computer. This is a 6 year old on a small bike.



A 28mm would be a wider shot of course, but that should give you an idea what to expect. I picked that shot because it was his closest approach, around 15 feet or so, and I was able to get a good shot of the whole bike and everything and still a little crop.'I don't think I cropped it much, but it's been over a year and I can't remember. Probably 3584x2688 to get a 1024x768 web viewing size. That's around 80% of the original picture.

If you have a chance, you might be able to try it before going with a kid on a bicycle or something at home. Try both at the distance you expect to be and see how it works.

[jbrowning]

Thank you both for your replies. Here is a picture I took this last Sunday of the mini bike riders.

And yeah, they are full grown men on this mini bikes. When I get home I will find out what the focal length was on this particular shot and will probably post up the original to show how much it is cropped.

All I'm wanting is to get lower to the ground. But at the same time I don't want to be tied down to that corner. That is why I thought using the catch in focus would work for me. When I get home I will see how that 28 mm lens works in catch in focus.

Thank you
Jim

Ps. Love the comments about the gophers!

[Paleo Pete]

Mini tripod and a remote? I have a couple of mini tripods and they work very well, as long as I only use small lenses like the 50 and 28mm. I can use the 135mm too but I have to be careful with it.

I find my 50mm tends to go to infinity focus at pretty close distance, you might be able to pre focus at a set distance and get something like you want, use a small aperture and depth of field will help. I think some practice in the yard with kids on bikes may tell you a lot.

[jbrowning]

Ok so here is a shot from this last Sundays races. Techniquely it worked but I will need to fine tune it some. This is using the K20D and a $10.00 Vivitar Manual Focus 135mm f/2.8 lens set at f/4.5 or f/5.6 also using a 90 degree view finder to see what the camera was looking at. I also bought a little table top tripod that I placed the set up on.



Here is the

EXIF Information
File Size 90.72 Kb
File Date 2012-07-17 06:31 PM
Camera Make PENTAX
Camera Model PENTAX K20D
Date Taken 2012-07-15 07:51 AM
Resolution 1024 x 680 pixels
Flash Used No
Exposure Time 1/2000s (0.0005)
ISO Equivalent 400
White Balance Auto
Metering Mode Center weight
Exposure Manual
Exposure Mode Manual
Focus Range Distant

So this is size wise unedited. I did play with the coloring since I was shooting up into a white sky.

Thanks
Jim