bkyser Loc: Fly over country in Indiana

Hey all,
I shoot a lot of races (not cars, people, like 5K 10K, and Marathon types) My "go to" assistant graduated high school, and now I'm wondering if instead of paying a replacement to stand at the finish line and just press the shutter as people cross it. I always set the focus and frame the photo, but she clicks every time someone crosses the line, so I can get course photos.

My concern is that I don't want to drop $100 on a trigger, if it doesn't work, and I REALLY don't want to anger the race organizers by missing tons of shots. They normally want 1-2 of each person in the race, and one of every person crossing the finish line.

Has anyone here had experience using such triggers for that type of situation? I know they work well for lightning and things like that, but not sure about people, and really not sure about the mechanics of it, and how it knows when to trigger. Since they are running towards the camera, I want them to be shot at the point of focus, not just when they enter the frame (if that makes sense)

What I would love to have is a sensor like they use for security when someone walks in a store and a bell rings, except when they cross the path of the laser, the shutter fires. It won't stop the people who stop right in front of the camera after they cross the line, but I'm hoping that I could get one of the race volunteers to help with ushering people out of the frame.

Thoughts?
Thanks
Bob

art pear Loc: North Dakota

https://plutotrigger.com/products/pluto-trigger is pretty amazing, but I think you are going to need a human. Too many variables in your scenario.

bkyser Loc: Fly over country in Indiana

That's exactly the one I was looking at.Do you have one? I haven't seen any reviews that get into too much detail on how successful they are with it. Just wanted to know if you know if it fires when the person crosses the line of focus, or if it's just when movement is sensed?

It's pretty tough to find a high school kid willing to pay attention to the finish line, and not to their phone.

DaveC1 Loc: South East US

I think that this is one of those cases that a human at the controls is going to be pretty much mandatory instead of expecting automation to handle it. If you had a setup like the classic horse race (closed course, side shot) then yes. But what you describe has way too many variables to automate and expect everyone to be happy with the results.

Catnlion Loc: Arizona City, Arizona

If you really want you could try this lens that Canon made for horse racing. Granted they only made four and it weighs a ton.

https://petapixel.com/2017/04/27/canon-300mm-f1-8-yes-monster-lens-exists/

CaptainEd

Pluto can be setup to trigger by motion or by laser (beam breaking). I have not tried these in situation similar to yours but based on reading and experimentation I don't believe any motion sensor is going to be adequately consistent. Breaking a beam might work but it will take some experimenting to get the setup right. For example if there beam is at the focus point, you'll probably miss some shots sure to lag. If you set the beam a bit back to account for any camera or trigger lag, the moving "object" will arrive at the focus point as the shutter is released.

Bobcat87

Check out Strike Finder, strikefinder.photo.

Jesu S

Why do you need an assistant? Why not press the shutter yourself? What am I missing?

bkyser Loc: Fly over country in Indiana

Because I'm taking course photos. I can't do that, and the finish line at the same time.

Jesu S

Got it. But unless you plan to leave a camera unattended at the finish line, wouldn't you need an assistant anyway?

bkyser Loc: Fly over country in Indiana

Well, call me foolish, but there are a LOT of things left unattended at a race like that. I've shot several, and never worried about any of my equipment. Of course, I'm in the Midwest, and I know several people who don't lock their doors, even when they go on vacation.