Please tell me how Bo Butner won this drag race? (1 Viewer)

Keep in mind that it is not the photograph that determines the winner. First car to break the beams at the finish line is the winner, and those beams are accurate. The finish line photography is only for your viewing pleasure to give you an idea how close it was; and it shows why we have to use electronic beams rather than our eyeballs to determine the winner!

Flashback to the 2005 U.S. Nationals....

"Steve Johnson and Matt Smith screamed down the Indianapolis launch pad side-by-side, and as the tandem crossed the finish line Smith’s win light illuminated and his crew began celebration. Smith had just captured his first “Big Go” title – or did he?

Television replays clearly showed Johnson ahead at the finish line – something NHRA officials couldn’t quite explain.

“They (NHRA) hadn’t even put the hat on Matt’s head yet and the ESPN guys at the far end were telling me, we don’t know what’s going on but you won that race,” Johnson said. “They have never had that type of situation come up before, especially in the final round of the biggest race of the year.”

Upon further review, 26 hours later, it was concluded that the leading edge of Johnson’s ultra slim front wheel somehow went unnoticed by the pulsating finish line beam. And so it was on Tuesday night after the race, Steve Johnson had won the 2005 U.S. Nationals."



it's not just for our viewing pleasure....
 
Do you mind if I borrow your picture and explanation for answering my fan emails? That's a perfect way to clarify what they are seeing. The bottom car is always further ahead than it should be. Even in the pic from the final, 0.0007 MOV should be about 2.5 inches at 210 mph, but Vincent looks to be in front about a foot. The bottom car is captured second, so it's still moving after the top car is frozen.

Alan
No problem, go for it.
Again folks, what we are seeing is a digital video still, not a photograph. The two have important technological differences (for this situation).
 
Does NHRA not have the high speed cameras that ESPN had? Might be a good investment, I know they are spendy tough.
 
You'd think if they asked Jim Jannard of Red Camera he could set them up with a Red Raven or something better than whatever it is they're using now.
 
You'd think if they asked Jim Jannard of Red Camera he could set them up with a Red Raven or something better than whatever it is they're using now.

I don't think that would help. The frame rate is 120 frames per second at 4K resolution or 240 fps at 2K. I think you would still see the rolling shutter effect on this fully digital camera (the Red Raven). You need the high speed camera that ESPN used to use on the starting line that was 2000+ frames per second to eliminate this type of distortion.
 
Do you mind if I borrow your picture and explanation for answering my fan emails? That's a perfect way to clarify what they are seeing. The bottom car is always further ahead than it should be. Even in the pic from the final, 0.0007 MOV should be about 2.5 inches at 210 mph, but Vincent looks to be in front about a foot. The bottom car is captured second, so it's still moving after the top car is frozen.

Alan
I know nothing about cameras. Do you know if the NHRA uses the same equipment as other forms of racing? I don't remember Nascar, Indycar, FI, or horse racing having the same problem.
 
I don't think that would help. The frame rate is 120 frames per second at 4K resolution or 240 fps at 2K. I think you would still see the rolling shutter effect on this fully digital camera (the Red Raven). You need the high speed camera that ESPN used to use on the starting line that was 2000+ frames per second to eliminate this type of distortion.
I think they'd work just fine considering all of this was shot with Red Dragon's.
 
The good ol' days when NHRA had a camera suitable for the job. 2016 Southern Nationals.

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Not only is the camera not suitable, the snapshot is 3 feet after the finish line!
 
Not only is the camera not suitable, the snapshot is 3 feet after the finish line!

It's quite a bit more suitable than what is being used now! Lol! But seriously, Dave, you have to admit the quality of this shot is exponentially better than what Fox is using.

Sean D
 
Not only is the camera not suitable, the snapshot is 3 feet after the finish line!

The wheels are perfectly round, so there is no "top to bottom" scanning distortion - I believe the camera is absolutely suitable for this purpose.

So I guess the question is, why did FS1 decide to change cameras? The pic above is in the FS1 days so I wonder why they made the change.
 
The wheels are perfectly round, so there is no "top to bottom" scanning distortion - I believe the camera is absolutely suitable for this purpose.

So I guess the question is, why did FS1 decide to change cameras? The pic above is in the FS1 days so I wonder why they made the change.
Must be cheaper lol
 
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