Re: [Leica] Photographic reaction time

[Ted Grant <tedgrant@shaw.ca>]

> LRZeitlin@aol.com wrote:
>
> > My old experimental psychology textbooks give the simple reaction time
> > of most people as about 200 milliseconds.

Martin Howard responded:

> This is largely irrelevant.  The way such experiments are conducted is
> by having someone wait for a stimulus, then respond when they detect it
> as quickly as they can.
>
> In the real world, and certainly for most things that photographers
> point a camera towards, rhythm and timing is much more of a factor than
> reaction time.  Photographs catch the height of action by
> *anticipating* the rhythm of something and by *timing* their exposure
> to coincide with the photographically optimal moment.  Read Ted's
> comment on horse jumping, for example.<<<<

Hi Martin,
But you failed to point out that for a month before I go to an Olympic event
I "practice" using el cheapo B&W film shooting on coming cars travelling at
100 KLMS  -- 60 MPH standing at the side of the highway focusing and
shooting their license plates to capture as amny as I can as sharp as I can.
It helps to improve ones re-action to action timing.. ;-) Not to mention the
improvement of manual focus dexterity! :-)

And you folks all thought I was some kind of wonder boy! ;-) heck it's
practice and being there ;-)

Tests in a lab, as far as I'm concerned, are meaningless because the athlete
/ location creates a stimulant atmosphere to stop him dead in his tracks and
no amount of diddling around in some sterile lab is going to produce the
finger twitch re-action time real life does. No matter what their machines
say it is.

I mean if the techie people want to do real stuff research, go to the
Olympics or any international sport event and wire a bunch of the guys, then
make their tests.

It might wipe out a hundred years of test tube testing. ;-) It's called "do
it real time baby!"
ted














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