Hello,

We have an evening crit coming up and so far I haven't been able to get any usable pics in testing. There will be supplementary lighting on the finish line but it certainly won't be too bright. Any tips?

Thanks,
John Frey
Velocity Results

One major thing is to have the numbers with large enough white background to reflect the light you will have. Shine the lights before the line so it reflects off their backs and back to the camera. Make the finish line as narrow as possible. The maximum width of the Tour de France finish line is 24 feet or 7.5 meters.

We are using the photo-finish in a lot of evening crit here. You can also play with the Automatic gain and put it untill 200. You can also play with the brightness by increasing the number. We are using 2 halogen 500W light source for the finish line, but need more if the event is going to finish late or of you have a large finish line

Thanks for the advice. I think I have it under control now. One follow-up though... What lens are you all using for low light conditions? I just have the standard 28-105mm f2.8 lens. Would a 50mm f1.4 lens help?

Thanks,
John

Our lens is a Sigma 24-70mm F2.8 and work really well in all of our cycling races Except at the international Junior Tour de l'Abitibi where the finish line is too large. So we continue to use our Old 1976 Omega Real Photo-finish camera that we have to develop the pellicular immediatly during the finish... hard system to operate, but when you know this system, Finish Lynx is so easy to operate.

We use the 50mm 1.4 for most of the races we do. We carry a 35mm, 50mm, and a 24 or 28mm for all bike races. The 50mm with Wide 33 will give you the best overall light gathering ability.