Lens Question

Do you have an F mount adapter or the threaded C mount?

Adding something to the front of the C mount remote focus lens will not help focus. Set the auto gain to something over 200, use the camera at 50% instead of 100%, use as low a capture rate as you can get away with, those thing will try and lower the amount of light you need to get an image. Next, when you set up the system and start to aim the camera put two pieces of black tape about 3 inches (7 cm) apart on the line near the lane you expect the most traffic in, slowly adjust the focus until you have those as sharp as possible. The reason is when the lens is wide open the depth of field will be very shallow, so one side of the track will be in focus while the other side will be out of focus.

We have the remote control lens which I believe is the C mount.

Here is what I use when it gets dark when using my camera. Better and more lighting will definitely help with image quality. If you have access to a local theater equipment rental shop that is your best bet. The light shown here is an ellipsoid theater light - ETC Source 4. I rent it with a 750 watt bulb and you can adjust the shutters on the light so you achieve a rectangle of light. It is extremely helpful.

http://www.etcconnect.com/prod...erview.aspx?Id=20080

GCRacing, how do you mount the light for your events?

Not sure what sport, but we do indoor track and field and have struggled with good focus on the outside lanes and we think we have found our solution. Rather than doing the double black tape for 2/3 depth of field, we push it to the outermost lane and use that for our fine focus. We zoom in and get that in the best focus possible, and then zoom back out. That never seems to effect the really good near focus we normally get. Hope this helps.

To Captureguy:

Sorry for the late response. When I rent the ETC Source Four it comes with a C-clamp. On both of my camera posts that I have, one that is mobile while the other is permanent at our velodrome, there is a horizontal pipe that I attach both my Lynx camera to and the light. I can then angle the light so it covers the finish line and the cool part with the ETC Source 4 is that it has shutters inside the light itself so you can create a "rectangle" of light and cover just the finish line as opposed to have a massive circular spot on the ground. The spectators appreciate that a lot. You can also use a Manfrotto super head clamp with the light - just depends how it comes when you rent it.

Here are some pictures via my Facebook page.

http://www.facebook.com/photo....11975&type=1&theater

http://www.facebook.com/photo....11975&type=1&theater

http://www.facebook.com/photo....11975&type=1&theater

Captureguy - How did everything work out? ANy knowledge you can share?

We did get a ETC Source 4 light and it works really well. The only downside that we can see is that the light does fade as it stretches out across the finish line. We direct the brightest section at the middle of the track and let it fade to the far side of the track. Hope this answers your question. We constantly work at getting the best focused picture possible.

As a side note--We would really like to upgrade to the new Vision camera from Finishlynx. Looks like that would make finding the finish line a piece of cake.

The remote zoom lenses are pretty terrible indoors, lanes 7 and 8 will never be in focus. You need to move to f-mount if you want to see lane 8 clearly. If your facility has LED lights then you might have a chance with the remote zoom lens.. maybe