Shooting sports with a rangefinder

[charjohncarter]

I agree, but I find SLR just as frustrating. I pre-focus and hope (this is a Bessa R):

SRVHS Girls 1600 by John Carter, on Flickr

 

[charjohncarter]

Someone above mentioned the London Olympics, at first I thought of the 1948 Olympics. Some of these were probably taken with a Leica:

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=1948+lond...pic_Games%2C_London%2C_1948._(7649948952).jpg

 

[Michael Markey]

This is probably just my GAS talking, but I've had my eye on the Sony A system ever since it came out, and it's been getting better and better over the years. I've got a lot of Panasonic gear, but unless Pana release a somewhat smaller and lighter S model, I'm going with something like the A7 III which I can use for stills and video. I get what you mean about options.

Sounds a good move .
This whole thing reminds me of a Billy Gibbons interview.
He was working with BB king and King asked if they could swap guitars for a night. Picking up Gibbons guitar he remarked that the strings were heavy gauge . Gibbons replied ,well isn`t that how the old blues masters got that sound. King said ….. well , my question to you is why you working so hard ?
Get some light gauge strings.

 

[Larry Cloetta]

Sounds a good move .
This whole thing reminds me of a Billy Gibbons interview.
He was working with BB king and King asked if they could swap guitars for a night. Picking up Gibbons guitar he remarked that the strings were heavy gauge . Gibbons replied ,well isn`t that how the old blues masters got that sound. King said ….. well , my question to you is why you working so hard ?
Get some light gauge strings.

Wonder how many people here know who Billy Gibbons is. I ask this as a sharp dressed man with cheap sunglasses who just left Chicago.

 

[Michael Markey]

But have you got the beard 🙂

 

[Larry Cloetta]

But have you got the beard 🙂

Sadly, no.

 

[bhop73]

I have a few skate shots from Venice Beach.

M6
Air by Brandon, on Flickr

and Olympus XA
Crail Slide by Brandon, on Flickr

 

[Vince Lupo]

How about a bullfighting Royale with an M2 🙂

Untitled by Vince Lupo, on Flickr


Or boxing with an M9:

Body Training by Vince Lupo, on Flickr

Who says you can't shoot football with a 21mm lens 🙂

Savannah's Finest by Vince Lupo, on Flickr

 

[DanskDynamit]

Sometimes the RF limitation makes the result better. I like the way the window finder on my M6 makes it easy to track action, but didn't expect to get away with a 1/4 second shutter speed. I was backed into a corner by my 24/3.8 lens and ISO 100 film on a dull day, but ended up with a different and treasured shot of my son on his bicycle.

Leica M6 Elmar-M 24/3.8 at f4 1/4 second Delta 100 in Xtol
John Mc

great shot! and exactly what I meant before, sometimes a wide and a rangefinder could take more interesting photos than a DSLR and a zoom.

 

[Bob Michaels]

Sancti Spiritus Cuba - shot with a ZI rangefinder and a 28mm lens. It makes a world of difference that Cuba espouses a belief of self responsibility. If you want to photograph a rodeo by standing out in the arena, no problem as it is simply your responsibility not to get injured.

 

[Bob Michaels]

Rafael Trejo boxing gym in Centro Havana. Shot with a ZI rangefinder and 28mm lens. Several years later, a Cuban saw this photo in my book and told me the boxer in the background ready to land a punch had represented Cuba in the Olympics.

 

[Archiver]

Wow, these images are superb! Thank you for the input and inspiration. 🙂

 

[Archiver]

@charjohncarter - so this was shot with a 90mm Elmarit on a Bessa R, very nice.

@Vince Lupo - these images are stunning, they've got a real classic reportage look to them.

@mcfingon - I love that image of your son on the bicycle.

@Bob Michaels - that boxing image from Cuba is the sh**. Gotta get something like that going.

 

[RObert Budding]

Last week, I was able to shoot a sports team training indoors. I have to say that trying to shoot them with a rangefinder was not fun. Because I usually shoot wide open or close to it, trying to focus on fast moving bodies was difficult. I tried stopping down, but ran into ISO limitations with my M9, especially when trying to freeze action. The best I could do was f2.8 at 1/500 shutter speed, and limiting the ISO so I could push the images in post.

I did get some keepers, but the experience was frustrating and left me wanting a blazing autofocus camera like a Sony A9 or Canon 1DX II. My GH4 shot a fair few images with my Voigtlander lenses on high speed burst, but these images lack that special sauce that I get with the M9, or even the Ricoh GXR-M.

So how do you guys do it? Are there any helpful ideas for shooting sports with a rangefinder? I know it's not optimal, but it's the best I've got for now.

I usually shoot sports, such as indoor basketball, using a Nikon D750 at ISO 6400. There have been times when I've shot with my Mamiya 7, but that was with studio lights mounted on the gym ceiling triggered with Pocket Wizards. But that was only possible by using zone focues and waiting for the action to occur at the right distance.

 

[Scottboarding]

I don't have any RF examples, but I shoot my friends skateboarding and always use manual focus regardless of the camera I use. The key is to set focus on where you think the action is going to be and just wait for it to happen. Whenever I shoot skateboarding I set my focus and composition, then let my friend go and fire the shutter when it needs to happen. Here's some examples all shot wide open or close to it:
Olympus E-M5ii w/ Nikon 50mm f1.4 AI

Nikon FM2n w/ Voigtlander 40mm

Nikon FM2n w/ Nikon 50mm f1.4

 

[charjohncarter]

Sad to say it, but I find the digital SLR the easiest to do sports:

Pentax K1 by John Carter, on Flickr

Just not as rewarding.

 

[Huss]

During the olympics in London there was a journalist who shot the entire event with an iPhone 4s.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/sport/2012/jul/27/london-olympics-2012-smartphone

Looking through them I kept on thinking how much better they would be if he had used better equipment.
This just proved that he could shoot the Olympics with his phone. But not do the best job by doing that.

 

[Huss]

Sometimes the RF limitation makes the result better. I like the way the window finder on my M6 makes it easy to track action, but didn't expect to get away with a 1/4 second shutter speed. I was backed into a corner by my 24/3.8 lens and ISO 100 film on a dull day, but ended up with a different and treasured shot of my son on his bicycle.

Leica M6 Elmar-M 24/3.8 at f4 1/4 second Delta 100 in Xtol
John Mc

Great pic!

 

[David Hughes]

Looking through them I kept on thinking how much better they would be if he had used better equipment.
This just proved that he could shoot the Olympics with his phone. But not do the best job by doing that.

Hi,


That's very true but a lot of people would have been proud to have taken a lot of those shots. I blame forums for setting those challenges, because that's what they are.


Regards, David

 

[Axel]

Looking through them I kept on thinking how much better they would be if he had used better equipment...

Perhaps a rangefinder? 😛


What I see in this pictures is interesting and good photography.
Sure it depends on personal prefs what you are thinking while viewing.


Btw. - as an owner of an IPhone 4 for long years now I know that every rangefinder is a real sports shooting gun
compared with this slowmotion smartie of the early smartphone aera.