AboutJohn and Chris Expertise We are both professional photographers, with over 15 years experience. We can answer questions about photography, as well as questions about cameras from the 60s to 90s. (extensive 35mm, quite a bit of other formats.) Please, no darkroom questions.
Expert: John and Chris Date: 1/22/2006 Subject: taking a 35mm photo of a paused scene of a dvd
Question hello john and chris...i am an artist and sometimes see a composition on a dvd i am watching...and pause it, take a 35 mm photo of it...it always comes out unclear...is there a filter i can use that will improve the clarity of the photo...and what film do i use to take the photo in a completely darkened room...taken at night. thank you in advance, john weber, avalanche of art
Answer The way to photograph a TV screen:
The film speed doesn't matter much. Though you may need a faster film if you do not have a "fast" lens. I'm going to assume you don't so lets go with 400 speed film.
You will need to have the camera on a tripod because you need a long shutterspeed so that the CRT has a chance to go through a complete scan.
Set you aperture at f/8. This is usually the aperture that most lenses give the best quality.
Set your shutterspeed to 1/8th of a second.
Just to make sure you get a shot that doesn't have blur from camera shake, take one with:
Aperture f/4
Shutter at 1/30th.
There is no filter that can improve clarity. The quality of the image will depend partly on the quality of your lens, but mostly on the TV screen. But pictures from TV's are never great.
