Desert Dweller wrote:
> I've been reading and maybe thinking too much about this but have a
> technical question for the math geeks out there.
>
> Say your subject is traveling at a certain velocity through your field
> of view at a certain focal length and maximum aperture. And your camera
> is not panning. The subject is so fast you need an extremely high
> shutter speed. Even at this shutter speed you cannot get enough light
> for a proper exposure. And you cannot create artificial light on the
> subject. So you must increase the ISO. This means there is a
> relationship between the ISO film speed and the velocity of the subject.
>
> Given a certain ISO film speed, focal length, and amount of light, at
> what velocity can your subject travel through your field of view before
> you need to increase the film speed?
>
> Is there an equation that describes the relationship between velocity of
> your subject across your field of view and the ISO speed capable of
> exposing it quick enough?
>
> --
> DD
Its a simple trig problem. Find out the size of a pixel
in your camera, and true focal length. Calculate the
angular size of a pixel. For example, a 6 micron pixel
and a 300 mm lens )6 microns = 0.006 mm):
a = arctan (.006/300)
Now for an object at some distance x traveling a velocity y,
compute the angular rate: arctan(y/x) (keep units the same,
e.g. at 20 meters traveling 1 meter/second gives the angular
rate (e.g. degrees/second).
For a sharp picture, the exposure time should be less than
the angular size of a pixel. Example: if the subject angular
rate were 1 degree/second and the size of a pixel with a given lens
is 0.001 degree, then you want the exposure time less than
1/1000 second (ideally about 4 times faster, so 1/3000 second).
Roger
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