[Leica] Noctilux, Rapid winder and Basketball

["Robert G. Stevens" <robsteve@istar.ca>]

Hi Lug members:

I was taking some pictures today at the CIAU National basketball
championships ( Canadian University ) today and decided to try my M6 and
Rapid winder for under the net shots.  It is pretty dim where it is being
held and you need 800 or 1600 ASA film.  I shoot slides and these speed
slide films are very grainy.  For a change, I decided to use the Noctilux
and shoot E200 pushed to EI 320.  I am happy with my results.  I had the R6
and R8 loaded with Kodak PJM Multispeed print film at EI 800 and pushed on
stop, but the results pale in comparison to the slide film. 

The speed of the Noctilux allowed me to shoot the slower film and still
have a reasonable shutter speed of 1/500th.  It did a pretty decent job,
but with the slide film, the colour is a bit on the green side from the
lighting they use.  I may try Kodachrome 200 tomorrow pushed to EI 500, as
it tends to shift magenta when pushed and should correct for the lighting.
Tomorrow I will load the R6 with E200 and rate it at EI 640, and will
probably get better results than the print film.

The rapid winder performed flawlessly and I was even able to take a series
of shots while the shooter was still in the air.  I would say it is quicker
than an R8 winded, but slower than the R6 Motor, which probably makes it
just under three frames per second.  In one heated moment, I think I almost
put my finger out of jount winding it, as I did not have it on the lever
squarely.

The picture is at the bottom of my Noctilux page.  It is a full frame image
and if you look, you can see the vignetting in the corners.  As said
before, this vignetting usaully is not a problem pictorially in the average
Noctilux picture.  When I get some time Monday, I will scan and post some
more images.

http://home.istar.ca/~robsteve/photography/Noctilux.htm

Regards,

Robert