Or, Yet Another Use for the Forgotten 135mm f/2.8 Zuiko.
The guy in the office next to mine has a son who won his high school
sectional wrestling championship and moved up to the regional
tornament. [For those not in the U.S. (and perhaps some who are), H.S. and
collegiate wrestling is much, much, much different than the fake
professional crap on television.] He has been photographing his son using
a digital with some success, but has to move in as close to the mat as
allowed due to zoom limits on his camera. Unfortunately, the school
hosting the regional tournament prohibits all but referees, coaches and
team members from being on the floor, and the (normally basketball)
gymnasium in which it is held is a "bowl" design with the floor set down
about ten below the upper level of stands in which the spectators,
photographers included, were relegated.
Suffering from "cabin fever," not having run a roll of film through any of
the cameras recently, not having any adult supervsion (wife is out of
town), and knowing he would have trouble with his zoom limits, I packed up
the gear and went out to photograph his son in the tournament. Film
selection was the tough part. Using negative film was the easy part; this
was destined for prints. I would have liked to use Portra or Supra, but
also knew a higher ISO 400 speed would be necessary; I might not be able to
use any flash. Kodak's Pocket Photoguide "Available Light" section shows
indoor gymnasia typically require 1/60th @ f/2.8 using ISO 400
films. Granularity of Portra and Supra at that speed can show in large
prints. Thought then about the "timeless" quality B&W film can
have. Tri-X, while a classic and normally my first choice for B&W
portraiture, was eliminated due to its granularity. Settled on TMax 400
after comparing Kodak's data sheets among Portra, Supra, Tri-X and TMax.
Debated about lenses with the need for lens speed to shoot available light
if necessary and minimize DoF and considered the 85/2, 135/2.8 and 200/4
telephotos. The 200/4 would be difficult, at best, hand held and I wasn't
willing to try it at 1/30th; too shaky. Took the 85/2, 135/2.8, OM-1n and
OM-2S each with 50/1.4 "body caps, Winder 2, Metz 40MZ-3 with slip-on soft
box, the Metz G16 grip and spare cells for the flash. It packed up very
nicely in the Tamrac 608 bag.
When I got there, Kodak's Pocket Photoguide again proved to be very
accurate. At f/2.8 the center of the gymnasium floor metered about halfway
between 1/60th and 1/125th and about 1/60th nearer the edges. Saw several
local press photographers set up for flash use, didn't see any prohibition
in the printed program, and attached both Winder 2 and G16 onto the OM-2S
(its metering agreed with the OM-1n's). Slipped the soft box on the MZ40
to spread light around as much as possible. Might not be totally effective
in a gymnasium, but worth a try. The flash would help "stop action." Then
I tried lenses. The 135/2.8 proved perfect for plucking out the inner
center ring of the wrestling mats; set it at f/4 to keep shutter speed
under 1/60th.
An OM-2S with a winder and potato masher containing 8 "AA" cells and 4 "C"
cells is much bigger and heavier than an OM body alone. The compact size
and weight of the OM-2S and 135/2.8 Zuiko helped keep the bulkiness down to
a manageable level. The 200/4 or a 180/2.8 would likely be more length and
greater bulk than can be handled easily for action sports without some
support with a winder and "potato masher" flash. [Not that I wouldn't like
to have a 180/2.8!] The high power the Metz MZ40-3 with a soft box was
more than sufficient at the longer working distances. The fast recycle
time on a G16 grip with "C" cells helped with rapid shooting.
Sadly, his son was eliminated in the first round. The way the tournaments
are set up through at least the regional titles, one *must* win the first
match and then one out of the next two in order to advance to the next
level tournament. He wasn't alone though. There were a good number of
"upsets" in the first round. How the participants are seeded can make a
difference. Due to processing turn-around time I must wait a week to see
how badly my inexperience with shooting sports shows in the
photographs. It will also be interesting to see how the TMax 400 looks
overall for this type of photography.
Indoor sports hand held is yet another use for the forgotten fast 135/2.8
Zuiko.
As an aside:
When it was over I put the OM-1n body on the winder and switched the Metz
from TTL to Auto using the sensor on the Metz. Discovered light from the
"soft box" affects the flash sensor on the flash, an effect I believe Acer
may have suffered recently using a home-made one on a T-32. Glad I didn't
pluck the OM-1n from the bag to use this time and at least I now know that
with the soft box it needs to be used with the OM-2S or OM-4 in TTL mode.
-- John
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