night baseball

CMoore · Aug 24, 2016

It will vary from stadium to stadium but.......will i be able to shoot 200 speed, black and white film, at a night baseball game.?
We live near a Triple-A team, and i was thinking of taking a camera and see what i can do.
I have faster film, mainly 400, but i also have one roll of Ilford 3200...but i am wondering if i can make 125 or 200 work.
I have never pushed film, maybe this would be a good time to experiment.?
Thank You
.....it might help if i say FP4 (125) or some 200 ASA "surveillance" film from FPP.
The only developer i have any experience with is Ilford ID-11 but i do have a fresh bottle of Rodinal also.

ozphoto · Aug 24, 2016

I used to shoot tennis back in the 80s, and was pushing my 400 to 800 or 1600 to get anything decent. Same for AFL (Australian football) - pushed the 400 TriX to 800 and 1600, and I was shooting with a 300 f2.8 lens.

The tennis was lit for the ATP Tour, so not the usual club stuff, and the AFL for pro football. The 3200 will be fine shot at box speed, if you choose to shoot 200, I'd push to 800 (I did actually push APX100 to 1600 - grainy as, but still gave usable images.)

That was an experiment for me - in case I *ever* got caught out, and surprisingly it showed me that I could most definitely get useable images if 100ASA was the *only* stuff on hand.

Give it a whirl - you never know what you can achieve, if you don't try.

CMoore · Aug 24, 2016

Hey Oz -
Yeah...i think it is time.
I am going to just give it a shot as you say.
Probably take two Canons, one with that 200 that is already loaded, and i will see what else. Maybe some FP4, but i may have some HP5 in the refrigerator as well.
Thank You

Theo Sulphate · Aug 25, 2016

CMoore said:
...
We live near a Triple-A team, and i was thinking of taking a camera and see what i can do.
...

Will you be able to bring your camera to the stadium? I've searched the MLB site and the site of a specific stadium and I cannot get clear guidelines as to what's allowed. It seems to be at the discretion of whatever guy is posted at the entrance. That would suck after buying tickets and travelling two hours to get there.

My guess: anything professional in appearance (i.e. large and black) or with a long white lens isn't going to get through - even if it's film equipment.

I'm tempted to take an Exakta VX with a 200mm tele-Xenar - it has a better chance than a Rebel G with a 75-300 EF.

Perhaps your stadium staff is more enlightened.

CMoore · Aug 25, 2016

Well.....this is 3A and not the Majors.
Anyway...yes, good points. I DID check The River Cats website.
They SAY cameras are welcome, but they do not allow a tripod without prior approval. I was only wanting to hand-hold at this point.
I will let you know.

ozphoto · Aug 25, 2016

CMoore said:
Well.....this is 3A and not the Majors.
Anyway...yes, good points. I DID check The River Cats website.
They SAY cameras are welcome, but they do not allow a tripod without prior approval. I was only wanting to hand-hold at this point.
I will let you know.

If you can use a monopod, that would be great, from a camera-shake POV. Not sure if you're using a 300 2.8 or an USM 70-200 2.8/4, but they are rather handy; even though a 70-200 is small and lightweight, it can get heavy after a while.

Paul Howell · Aug 25, 2016

I have shot at a few farm league stadiums, last year the Albuquerque Isotopes, paid for good seats, the lights are not as bright as in the majors. I would shot Delta 3200, although listed as 3200 it is really a 1600 film so push one stop to 3200 DDX. I shot with a AF Minolta 9000 motor drive and 70 to 200 F4, and 80 to 300 4.5 to 5.6, it was very doable. I don't think shooting at 200 will work, all you do is go and find out.

Wallendo · Aug 25, 2016

I'd think twice about surveillance film.
I don't have any personal experience with the FPP version, but surveillance film can be prone to halation. In a baseball stadium with bright lighting, this may lead to undesirable results.

night baseball

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