Hitchhiking Ghosts -- How to catch them?

[Experiment_626]

And by catch them, I mean on a sensor or film. No need to call the Ghostbusters.

I've been giving this some thought lately. When I ride the Haunted Mansion, I've had next to no luck at all shooting inside. On a dark ride, I turn off my camera's autofocus-assist light, as leaving it on seems almost as obnoxious as using flash. But the Mansion is probably the darkest dark ride, unless you count thrill rides such as Space Mountain. I can get shots here and there on Pirates of the Caribbean, but not so much on the Haunted Mansion.

Of particular interest are the hicthhiking ghosts. It has crossed my mind that perhaps the best method would be to pre-focus and then shoot like mad when they're visible, hoping you get a shot where the focus is correct.

Does anyone know what focal length is necessary for getting all three ghosts in one shot (with a 1.5x crop factor), and any idea of a usable exposure? I don't mind having to do some post-processing to get a decent shot. My camera is a D300, so 3200 is essentially my highest acceptable ISO. My fastest lens is the 50mm 1.8, which I fear might not be wide enough to get all three ghosts in one shot. For those who have tried it and had any success -- or failures from which you have learned anything useful -- what is needed to get this shot? About how far away are the ghosts when you're able to get a good composition?

SSB

 

[Todd_H]

And by catch them, I mean on a sensor or film. No need to call the Ghostbusters.

I've been giving this some thought lately. When I ride the Haunted Mansion, I've had next to no luck at all shooting inside. On a dark ride, I turn off my camera's autofocus-assist light, as leaving it on seems almost as obnoxious as using flash. But the Mansion is probably the darkest dark ride, unless you count thrill rides such as Space Mountain. I can get shots here and there on Pirates of the Caribbean, but not so much on the Haunted Mansion.

Of particular interest are the hicthhiking ghosts. It has crossed my mind that perhaps the best method would be to pre-focus and then shoot like mad when they're visible, hoping you get a shot where the focus is correct.

Does anyone know what focal length is necessary for getting all three ghosts in one shot (with a 1.5x crop factor), and any idea of a usable exposure? I don't mind having to do some post-processing to get a decent shot. My camera is a D300, so 3200 is essentially my highest acceptable ISO. My fastest lens is the 50mm 1.8, which I fear might not be wide enough to get all three ghosts in one shot. For those who have tried it and had any success -- or failures from which you have learned anything useful -- what is needed to get this shot? About how far away are the ghosts when you're able to get a good composition?

SSB

Gdad is the king of dark ride shots around here and he can offer up better advice than me, but I'll share my experience from a couple of weeks ago in the HM.

The Hitchhiking Ghosts are very tough to get all in one frame (and also get a decent exposure). On a crop-body DSLR, you will essentially need a 30mm lens to effectively capture all three and also manual focus (they can be captured at 50mm on a full frame, so 30mm with a crop-sensor to reach the same focal length). I would also push your ISO as high as you can (which I believe is 6400 on the D300 in the expanded ISO range). They sneak up on you quickly and don't all stay in view for very long (maybe time enough to squeeze off 3-4 shots max). I recommend shooting in shutter priority. If you're shooting with the 50mm, I would try to go down to 1/25 or 1/30 if you can hold the camera really steady while using manual focus. So to summarize your settings: shutter priority for 1/30 sec., ISO at 6400 (clean up noise in post or use in camera noise reduction), your camera will most definitely set your aperture to f/1.8, and manual focus. Not sure exactly how far away they are once you can see them all (maybe 10'?), so if you can find this out, I don't see why you can't set your focus ahead and fire away once you see them. Be aware that there is a brief period of time just before you get to them that you will be in complete darkness, so you will need to have your settings ready to go before then.

I just tried to capture them a couple of weeks ago and posted some pix in this thread: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2171942
Some of my shots came out o.k. in the HM, but the Hitchhiking Ghosts were really tough and I'm not really happy with any of my shots of them (so, on second thought, maybe taking my advice is not the best thing ).

Good luck and please post some pictures when you capture them!

 

[JR6ooo4]

Your best bet is to have someone fake a fall while trying to get in the doom buggy. they will stop the line, Hehehehehehe. But you would have to plan the timing to when you are in the right spot.

Mikeeee

 

[Todd_H]

Your best bet is to have someone fake a fall while trying to get in the doom buggy. they will stop the line, Hehehehehehe. But you would have to plan the timing to when you are in the right spot.

Mikeeee

Actually, scratch everything I said above and listen to Mikeeee. That's a much better plan !

 

[Experiment_626]

Well, I kind of figured that the ideal solution would be to go out forthwith and buy a D700 and then get the Nikkor 14-24 f2.8 to mount on it (after I brainwash the Nikon engineers to make a special f1.4 version just for me).

I guess it's time to go knock over a bank. Better make it a good one!

Actually, the plan to somehow get the ride to stop in just the right position sounds a little less likely to result in a lengthy prison sentence. Time to find some bribe money!

SSB

 

[Todd_H]

Well, I kind of figured that the ideal solution would be to go out forthwith and buy a D700 and then get the Nikkor 14-24 f2.8 to mount on it (after I brainwash the Nikon engineers to make a special f1.4 version just for me).

I guess it's time to go knock over a bank. Better make it a good one!

Actually, the plan to somehow get the ride to stop in just the right position sounds a little less likely to result in a lengthy prison sentence. Time to find some bribe money!

SSB

The Sigma 30mm f/1.4 is a really good lens that could do the job for you. If owning one didn't interest you, you could always rent one for your trip and use it on the dark rides.

 

[Experiment_626]

The Sigma 30mm f/1.4 is a really good lens that could do the job for you. If owning one didn't interest you, you could always rent one for your trip and use it on the dark rides.

Owning one definitely interests me, but I can imagine the glare I'd get from my wife were I to suggest such a thing. Actually, now that I think of it, the glare wouldn't be too searing -- she does have a D70 now and loves the shallow DoF she can get by borrowing my 50mm f1.8. She'd probably swoon over a 30 1.4.

She'd still say she would be forced to kill me -- but she might say it reluctantly!

I've looked over some of the online rental sites for lenses and such. I get a little confused at the posted fees. In real-world dollars, how much has to come out of my pocket? Roughly how much do they tend to require as deposit?

SSB

SSB

 

[Gdad]

To be honest I shot that ride many times with a D300 & Sigma 30/1.4 and while I got a lot of nice shots never really had any luck with the three ghosts. 30mm would be the focal length to shoot at but I think it would be a really difficult shot to get.

For example this shots is at 50mm f1.2 - ISO 12,800 - 1/20th Second. Still it was dark and had to be 'pushed' a stop or two in Photoshop.

 

[Todd_H]

To be honest I shot that ride many times with a D300 & Sigma 30/1.4 and while I got a lot of nice shots never really had any luck with the three ghosts. 30mm would be the focal length to shoot at but I think it would be a really difficult shot to get.

For example this shots is at 50mm f1.2 - ISO 12,800 - 1/20th Second. Still it was dark and had to be 'pushed' a stop or two in Photoshop.

That is an excellent capture, Jeff. Hands down the best shot of the hitchhiking ghosts I have ever seen.

 

[Experiment_626]

I see. So, since I don't have a camera that can go that high with ISO, nor an f1.2 lens ... having the ride break down in just the right spot sounds like the best I can hope for.

Disheartening -- but I guess you can't win 'em all ...

SSB

 

[Gdad]

I've been hoping for the ride to break down here for a long time.

 

[ukcatfan]

I've been hoping for the ride to break down here for a long time.

That may be the single most difficult shot in the MK!

 

[Todd_H]

I've been hoping for the ride to break down here for a long time.

I definitely agree. The ride breaking down may be the only way to get this guy!

Here's my attempt. It looks terrible so I desaturated it and left all the noise.