StarDestroyer.Net BBS

I finally found the batch of pictures I took years ago with my dad's camera.

The camera is an Olympus Pen-FT half frame camera, it uses half a frame of 35mm film, so on a roll of 24 it'll take 48 pictures.

The camera. It has a nice fast lens for action shots.



Size comparison with a Canon SD800. It's not that big but it's surprisingly heavy.



Riding on the log bridge



Flying off the end of a bridge



More log riding

Overexposure is bad .
You also had a pretty closed F-stop, what were you doing while taking the shots, positioning yourself or just pointing/pausing and taking a snapshot?

Looks like some awesome riding, I'll need to hire a bike whenever i'm in Canada/Toronto next time to do that. (Last time I went was in the states/Switzerland)

Well, yeah, I blew out the 2nd picture big time since it was a quick & dirty shot.

I think the biking ones are overexposed by about half a stop judging by the histograms I saw in Photoshop when I was cropping them, I was too lazy to fix them up. I don't remember how I was taking the pictures to be honest, it was at least 5 years ago and I can't remember that far back. Hell, if the pictures weren't labeled I wouldn't even know where I took them.

My husband has girly lips.

J wrote:My husband has girly .

Fixed for you .

I've been scanning my old film photos from time to time, here's a few more from over the years which were taken with the Pen FT. Click on them to see the Flikr page for the bigger versions.


These are from Meramec Caverns in Missouri, taken on a visit to my cousin nearly 15 years ago.





Ottawa, where I went for university. These are from around 10 years ago.









Mountain bike photos, probably from around 8-10 years ago.

Cavern photos are PRETTY. Lake shot is nice, which one is it? Bike shots are very weak technically, blurry and crazy grain, the second shot is salvagable, but i'd delete the first. A flash might be a useful investment for making the action shots "pop" in shady light.

DEATH wrote:Cavern photos are PRETTY.

And dead easy to do, just need a fast lens or really steady hands.

Lake shot is nice, which one is it?

Pink Lake in Gatineau Park, just across the river from Ottawa.

Bike shots are very weak technically, blurry and crazy grain, the second shot is salvagable, but i'd delete the first.

I'm not sure what happened on the first one, the timing was great though, I got him at the highest point of the jump.

A flash might be a useful investment for making the action shots "pop" in shady light.

And how am I supposed to carry all that stuff 10 miles into the woods on my bike without breaking it? And then get everyone to wait 5 minutes while I unpack everything and setup for the shot? Ain't happening. We don't get paid to pose for pictures, I have to be ready & setup to get the pictures when they happen, which means pull camera out of pocket, remove lenscap, focus, meter, click. Pocket to picture in 30 seconds or less. Any slower and I'm not going to get any pictures.

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Found another decent one. Downhill skateboarding. This one was done by following behind my friend on my bike to get the motion blur on the pavement.

aerius wrote:

DEATH wrote:Cavern photos are PRETTY.

And dead easy to do, just need a fast lens or really steady hands.

Or if you're visiting some really pretty caverns/natural sights .

Lake shot is nice, which one is it?

Pink Lake in Gatineau Park, just across the river from Ottawa.

Heh, I was wondering if it was one of the ones I kayaked in last time I was in Canada (Which was when I met you and the older doofus ).

Bike shots are very weak technically, blurry and crazy grain, the second shot is salvagable, but i'd delete the first.

I'm not sure what happened on the first one, the timing was great though, I got him at the highest point of the jump.

Camera couldn't handle them. The grain is crazy and the focus is off (or couldn't keep up).

A flash might be a useful investment for making the action shots "pop" in shady light.

And how am I supposed to carry all that stuff 10 miles into the woods on my bike without breaking it?

You could just turn on the compact's flash .

And then get everyone to wait 5 minutes while I unpack everything and setup for the shot?

5 minutes? Dude, if it takes you more than half a minute you're either a crazy perfectionist, using an external flash, or doing something wrong.

Ain't happening. We don't get paid to pose for pictures, I have to be ready & setup to get the pictures when they happen, which means pull camera out of pocket, remove lenscap, focus, meter, click. Pocket to picture in 30 seconds or less. Any slower and I'm not going to get any pictures.

Whose paying anyone? Just have your camera turned on with the lenscap on, and cycle ahead of everyone to grab a spot along the route, snap pics of people going by, then "sprint" to catch up with everyone.
If I ever remember how to mountainbike, i'd be happy to show you .

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Found another decent one. Downhill skateboarding. This one was done by following behind my friend on my bike to get the motion blur on the pavement.

Nice panning shot. (Trickier to do than you'd think, the technique is simple but hard to carry out)

See, here's the problem, do you see a flash on the Olympus Pen FT? Exactly, it uses a big external flash which is larger & heavier than my Canon. So I have to get both the camera and flash out of the carrying case, put them together and wait for the flash to cycle & charge, and then I can get in place for the picture. The fastest I can do this is about 2 minutes, and then another 2 minutes to get everything packed away before I can start riding. Let's put it this way, with the way we ride there's no way I can get that far ahead of everyone, and there's no way I can catch up from 2 minutes behind. Then there's the other problem that you can't take pictures when your heartrate is maxed out. Plus it breaks the rhythm of the ride which takes away from the fun. This is why I can't wait for the Olympus Pen E-P1, I can stuff it in my pocket just like I do with my compact, then whip it out and get sweet pictures since it has a faster lens than my compact.

aerius wrote:See, here's the problem, do you see a flash on the Olympus Pen FT? Exactly, it uses a big external flash which is larger & heavier than my Canon.

That's your problem, not mine .

So I have to get both the camera and flash out of the carrying case,

Keep them hooked up together stably if you can (I have no idea what your case or bag are like), or practice rapid assembly. M16's are good things to practice on, remember to oil the muzzle well and to look into it to make sure the bullet's in place .

put them together and wait for the flash to cycle & charge, and then I can get in place for the picture. The fastest I can do this is about 2 minutes, and then another 2 minutes to get everything packed away before I can start riding. Let's put it this way, with the way we ride there's no way I can get that far ahead of everyone, and there's no way I can catch up from 2 minutes behind.

Well, yeah, if you have those kinds of lead/assembly times, you're fucked .

Then there's the other problem that you can't take pictures when your heartrate is maxed out.

Sure you can. It's harder, but not that much.

Plus it breaks the rhythm of the ride which takes away from the fun.

To each their own .

This is why I can't wait for the Olympus Pen E-P1, I can stuff it in my pocket just like I do with my compact, then whip it out and get sweet pictures since it has a faster lens than my compact.

You'll still need to improve your times .