Capturing the flash from a black powder pistol

[Bear Dale]

I'm wanting to late one afternoon photograph at my club some black powder revolvers being fired and capture the flame coming out sideways from the cylinder as the ball is pushed into the barrels forcing cone and also the flame coming out of the muzzle.

For target practice using these .44 caliber BP pistols, usually its 20 grains of FFFG black powder and 20 grains of a filler such as polenta so as to tame the pistol down a bit for competition accuracy and also wear and tear on the competitor. Depending on the flash that can be upped to the full 40 grains of FFFG if more flash from the pistol is needed.

The camera is going to have to be to the right hand side of the shooter and a good way back as there is lots of cr@p that comes out of these BP pistols with burning powder, inert filler and the grease to seal the balls in the cylinders and I don't want any of this corrosive stuff on my camera or lens.

My questions are that the shooting line is under a roof so it will be fairly dark late in the afternoon to start with as the sun will be going down and not much light coming in from the grassed outdoor 50 metre range.

What settings would anyone suggest that I should use on the camera as a starting point? I would dearly like to catch the flame being emitted out of the gap between the cylinder and barrel, out the end of the barrel and the barrel of pistol raised up in recoil.

The D850 with battery grip can shoot 9 PFS.

Any help or suggestions much appreciated.

[ameerat42]

Wear EAR MUFFS and EYE protection the first time, or else you won't have to for subsequent shots!
(I got a headache from standing 10m behind a person shooting a 44 magnum because I had no ear muffs. - But I suppose you know all this.)

You'd want a very short exposure time to freeze the fast-moving flame.
To give an eg, I once shot through an apple at 1/1000sec and got a streak of debris about 30cm long.


I was wondering how bright the flash would be and whether it would be enough for a lightning trigger.
(And other exposure considerations when using same.)

Plus or minus burst mode with a high shutter speed, otherwise the flash will s-t-r-e-a-k.

Otherwise, consider a HS video camera. Use something that does about 120 fps. You could zoom in for
some dramatic shots providing the base shutter speed was high.

- - - Updated - - -

PS: Meant to add: Shoot from behind some good clear glass.

[Bear Dale]

Cheers AM hopefully I nail a few images.

[enseth]

Given that the shooters are going to be pretty much in a predetermined position on the shooting line if i was trying this I would start with the following and modify to suit.

Mount the camera on a tripod.
Manual focus
F5 Apperture
Iso 500 (maybe higher to allow for the fast shutter speed)
Shutter speed 1/2000
Burst Mode as high as possible
Remote trigger (desirable but not essential)

I know that with a high shutter speed a tripod is not essential but if you can get everything, including framing & focus set prior to the shot, all you need to worry about is activating the shutter at the right time. I'm sure others may have a different approach. I'll be interested to see other opinions.

[Bear Dale]

Thanks enseth I've printed out your suggested starting settings, appreciated.