Results 1 to 5 of 5

Thread: What photo finish cameras were used for the nags at the track

  1. #1

    Join Date
    Dec 2001
    Location
    San Joaquin Valley, California
    Posts
    9,599

    What photo finish cameras were used for the nags at the track

    I'm working at our District Fair this week and every morning I walk past the horse racing track, which caused me to recollect this:
    I remember as a kid being fascinated by a trolley that would bring a cassette (or maybe a complete camera) from the infield of the track to the track steward's office near the grandstands. This has probably long been replaced with digital capture but back then a contact print would be hastily printed of the first horses crossing the finish line to prove which horse won "by a nose."
    I'm pretty sure I remember seeing some "photo finish" contact prints, I'm thinking 5x7s although I could be mistaken.
    An idea what kind of camera race tracks used for this job? And how they were fired to capture the moment of victory?
    "I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority"---EB White

  2. #2
    Louie Powell's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2003
    Location
    Saratoga Springs, NY
    Posts
    865

    Re: What photo finish cameras were used for the nags at the track

    I remember a presentation by Andy Davidhazy of RIT on this subject many years ago at a meeting of the Schenectady Photographic Society.

    Race tracks used slit cameras. The 'shutter' was actually a fixed aperture slit aligned with the finish line, and the film moved behind it at approximately the same speed as the horses. As a result, the final image was strip of images of the horses in exactly the order the crossed the finish line.

    Davidhazy was an expert on non-traditional variations on camera design, including such things a peripheral cameras (similar to the panoramic x-ray used today by dentists, where a slit camera rotated around the subject recording a continuous image of the outer periphery of the camera. Interesting if perhaps a bit strange when used for portraiture. Davidhazy would take old conventional cameras and modify the mechanics to produce slit cameras, peripheral cameras and other oddities.

    https://edge.twinspires.com/racing/t...finish-camera/

  3. #3

    Join Date
    Dec 2001
    Location
    San Joaquin Valley, California
    Posts
    9,599

    Re: What photo finish cameras were used for the nags at the track

    Thanks! That's fascinating information.
    "I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority"---EB White

  4. #4
    Robert Bowring
    Join Date
    Nov 2010
    Location
    Wauwatosa Wisconsin
    Posts
    142

    Re: What photo finish cameras were used for the nags at the track

    I think some places used high speed Hulcher Cameras.

  5. #5

    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Posts
    3,901

    Re: What photo finish cameras were used for the nags at the track

    Strip/slit cameas or high speed cameras place great demands on the lens ability to gather light ala large lens aperture. As exampled by this Canon EF 300mm f1.8 used on a horse race finish line stip camera..

    https://petapixel.com/2017/04/27/can...r-lens-exists/

    “Back then it was done with filmstrip or timing negative film,” he continues. “I would develop immediately after the race it would take about 8 seconds using dektol at 140 degrees and dip and dunk by hand. When digital took over film things became so much more advanced and so did the lenses.”



    Bernice

Similar Threads

  1. What finish did Deardorff use in the 50s-60s?
    By John Kasaian in forum LF DIY (Do It Yourself)
    Replies: 128
    Last Post: 24-Feb-2018, 09:38
  2. A Trunk full of old photo cameras & "Stuff"--Colorado--Revisited
    By Raymond Bleesz in forum Cameras & Camera Accessories
    Replies: 6
    Last Post: 12-May-2016, 09:43
  3. Lodima Finish
    By Pawlowski6132 in forum Darkroom: Film, Processing & Printing
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: 1-Sep-2010, 17:32
  4. New Photo Clam Ballhead Models from Really Big Cameras
    By Really Big Cameras in forum New Products and Services
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 11-Jun-2009, 03:33
  5. Photo Clam Ballheads from Really Big Cameras
    By Really Big Cameras in forum New Products and Services
    Replies: 3
    Last Post: 5-Nov-2008, 21:04

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •