Does anyone photograph sports with their TLR?

cramej · Oct 1, 2014

I had the bright idea to make the viewfinder masks for my Mamiyaflex so I could try using the 'sport finder'. Next bright idea was to try to shoot a middle school football game to test with HP5 @ 1600. I haven't developed the film yet so it may just be a mess. My technique was to prefocus just my side of the home team hash marks and stop down as far as practical - which was only f8 @ 1/30 on a 180mm. I also had a flash attached for the 2nd roll so maybe it helped.

Is there anyone who has shot sports successfully? I'd love to see some examples as they are hard to find on flickr and such.

Rick A · Oct 1, 2014

I used to with a Yashica D back in the 60's, just set shutter speed and aperture, use hyperfocal distance for focus, piece of cake. Most of the yearbook staff at my high school learned this as basic photography 101, we also did candids in class rooms via this method. Also works for street shooting.

BrianShaw · Oct 1, 2014

I tried but not with success. My TLR did not have interchangable lens so FL was too short for interesting shots of the field activities.

Back in high school (a few years after Rick A) we abandon the TLR and used SLRs with zooms.

I have since tried shooting kiddie baseball with MF SLR. Not easy either, and now use 35mm for the action and larger formats only for team individual/group portraits.

Rick A · Oct 1, 2014

I spent many a Friday night running up and down side lines to stay with the action.

cramej · Oct 1, 2014

Rick A said:
I spent many a Friday night running up and down side lines to stay with the action.

I'm curious what film you used considering my meter told me -even with all the lights on - 1/30 at f5.6 ISO1600.

snapguy · Oct 1, 2014

time

There was a time when newspaper photogs were getting rid of their Speed Graphics and their main camera was a Rolleiflex. Plenty of them shot sports on 120 film. You have to know your limitations, but why not? Home made sports finders were very popular. I have a Yashicamat used by wire service photogs in the 1960s and 1970s and it has a folding wire frame sports finder that works great. Sounds like a fun project.

bdial · Oct 1, 2014

I have, with a Rolleiflex, maybe with a C330 too, but it's been a while and I don't have any the negatives.
Pre-focusing, then following the action through the sports finder 'till it gets to that area works, as does using a hyperfocal setting.
Unless you are very close, the focus isn't necessarily really critical.
One advantage with the Rollei (depending on the model) is that it can focus with the sports finder set. I have a sports finder for my Hasselblad that does the same, but I've not used it very much.

Ken Nadvornick · Oct 1, 2014

The widely-acknowledged single greatest sports photograph of all time...

Ali - Liston

Neil Leifer, Sports Illustrated, Rolleiflex TLR w/strobe, May 25, 1965

Ken

summicron1 · Oct 1, 2014

like many others, I too shot high school sports with a TLR in the 60s -- it is possible but, obviously, with limitations. The pre-focus, sports finder method works best, and you gotta time your shots but, yeah, you can do it.

as to the ali-liston shot, this proves the value of "f8 and be there" as the secret to all great photography. Some really great shots used to be taken with speed graphics, even.

cramej · Oct 1, 2014

It seems I'm on the right track with prefocus and hope for the best. It would be interesting to try it with basketball this winter. Some Neil Leifer's shots looked pretty neat from under the board. Maybe the 65 or 80 with a potato masher and under expose the ambient by a stop. I'm starting to like this.

billbretz · Oct 1, 2014

summicron1 said:
as to the ali-liston shot, this proves the value of "f8 and be there" as the secret to all great photography. Some really great shots used to be taken with speed graphics, even.

I know what you mean but I respectfully disagree in this example since it was made with the work of hanging strobes over the boxing ring - days in advance- and caught a fraction of a second in time (see the video from the moment, it lasts 1/10000 of a second but seems frozen and timeless in the photo)... it would be a complex solution today with reliable slaves and digital... it was absolutely masterful decades ago on slow color film. "f/8 and there" is a remarkably different mindset to this type of picture making. "F/8 and there" conjures a run-and-gun, just blast flash and get the picture news mentality. Weegee coined the term, I believe. That's not a criticism of "F/8 and there" - I'm a working photojournalist and do it every day, though now I call it "f2.8 and there."

BrianShaw · Oct 1, 2014

I assume that back in the good-old days of Graphics and Rolleis there was no aversion to cropping.

bdial · Oct 1, 2014

Basketball is a little easier, you can focus on the hoop, and with flash you get an fstop that gives you good DOF, then it's just a matter of following the action.

The pre-focus technique applies equally to SLR's really. For a lot of these kinds of things, there is no time to follow-focus anyway, and you are better off watching for the action to peak, rather than getting distracted by camera mechanics.

cramej · Oct 1, 2014

billbretz said:
I'm a working photojournalist and do it every day, though now I call it "f2.8 and there."

As Boomhauer says "You go click, click, clickclickclickclickclickclick it's real easy man."

Yeah, I know photojournalism isn't that easy but that's the first thing that came to mind.

TooManyShots · Oct 1, 2014

Is all about if the subject or subjects are moving or not. You can even shoot a car race with your TLR if the cars aren't moving. Stop down from F8 to F16. The shutter speed is tricky. If you can use flash and it will freeze all actions even at 1/125s. You would most likely have success using flash. Of course, you are restricted by the FL. So, you need to shoot something more closer, not field sports like football or soccer.

Rick A · Oct 1, 2014

TooManyShots said:
Is all about if the subject or subjects are moving or not. You can even shoot a car race with your TLR if the cars aren't moving. Stop down from F8 to F16. The shutter speed is tricky. If you can use flash and it will freeze all actions even at 1/125s. You would most likely have success using flash. Of course, you are restricted by the FL. So, you need to shoot something more closer, not field sports like football or soccer.

Hmm... some of my best shots of the USGP at Watkins Glen were shot with my TLR's, cars barreling into the corners and screaming out of them, sweet blurs of implied speed on straight aways. I used to shoot motocross racers (my friends) practicing, I used to lay on my back to catch the jumps coming straight overhead. It's not always using "the right camera for the right subject" it's about being there and knowing what to do. Thousands of football games were captured, day and night, with TLR's. What world are you from.

baachitraka · Oct 1, 2014

Ken Nadvornick said:
The widely-acknowledged single greatest sports photograph of all time...

Ali - Liston

Neil Leifer, Sports Illustrated, Rolleiflex TLR w/strobe, May 25, 1965

Ken

What is missing in my bag is that film... :-(

mweintraub · Oct 1, 2014

You can still even do 4x5 in modern olympics.
http://petapixel.com/2013/02/08/david-burnetts-speed-graphic-photos-of-the-london-2012-olympics/

Vaughn · Oct 1, 2014

Close as I can get...A couple photos of me playing basketball in the very early 70's. Taken with a Rolleiflex.

Rick A · Oct 1, 2014

Vaughn said:
Close as I can get...A couple photos pf me playing basketball in the very early 70's. Taken with a Rolleiflex.

Point proven!

mweintraub · Oct 1, 2014

Vaughn said:
Close as I can get...A couple photos of me playing basketball in the very early 70's. Taken with a Rolleiflex.

"Scalp 'em"? HA.

bdial · Oct 1, 2014

If you are a true master, you can follow action in a TLR's WLF without resorting to the sports finder

Alan Gales · Oct 1, 2014

Vaughn said:
Close as I can get...A couple photos of me playing basketball in the very early 70's. Taken with a Rolleiflex.

Back in the days of short shorts, long socks and Converse high tops.

Nice shots and nicer memories, Vaughn!

I still wear the Converse high tops!

David Brown · Oct 1, 2014

I shot college basketball for the school publications with a Mamiya TLR while in college in the early 1970s. Sorry, the negs and prints stayed with the school.

Looking back, I should have used a 35mm slr, but I was really set on the bigger negative.

As to the original question, i.e., has anybody had success at using medium format for sports; you do realize that at one time roll film and 4x5 press cameras were the norm. :confused:

bdial said:
If you are a true master, you can follow action in a TLR's WLF without resorting to the sports finder

... and doing that under a basketball goal is a good way to get knocked down.

Alan Gales · Oct 1, 2014

I used to shoot a lot of fast pitch softball. Medium format didn't make sense to me except for team group shots where it excels.

Does anyone photograph sports with their TLR?

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