Good, Bad, and Ugly
Reader reaction to Reuters news
What’s right with this picture?
Email 
Print
U.S. soldiers from the 1-32 Infantry unit fire 81 mm mortars at attacking Taliban forces from their position over the village of Bargematal, Nuristan, August 22, 2009. REUTERS/Oleg Popov
Is it possible to find out what camera settings Oleg Popov used when he took this picture, particularly the shutter speed?
Christine
Yes. Here are the particulars, plus another Popov shot as a bonus:
Camera – Mark III
Focal length – 16 mm
Iso 250
Shutter speed 1/800sec
F-stop – f7.1
GBU Editor
Comments RSSPost Your Comment
We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/
-
Author Profile
-
1/800? Are you sure? Isn’t that still a bit slow to ‘catch’ a mortar?
Mr. Popov,
Bravo! Excellent capture!
It deserved the front page!
michael mcgreevy
The muzzle velocity of an 81mm mortar can be as low as 210ft/sec. If my math is correct, that’s just over three inches in 1/800 sec. I’m guessing there’s three-five inches of motion blur in that shot.
Wow – that was well caught! Great shot (literally)!
1/800 is reasonable. I shoot baseball and a ball coming off a bat with bright lighting can be effectively captured at this speed.
I have never seen that before, I would not want to be on the other end of that.
Popov is an amazing photographer. He really pushes the range of the camera. For examples, go to reuters.com and type in Popov Afghanistan. Most recently he has pictures of the same unit pictured here, waiting for the helo ride in, in the helo and reading maps/ cleaning a rifle by red light. He also has a beautiful shot of kids and cattle at a river near Pashad in early August, and an extremely peaceful shot, dated Feb 10 showing a US lieutenant talking to an elder. Many shots show soldiers with spectacular scenery in the background. His sports pictures are equally impressive. The guy has great eyes.
Great staff mate!!