Hey Gang,
I met up with a couple of friends yesterday and we went out for a bit of railfanning down on the Joint Line. Here are my shots from the outing.
First up is a shot I took in Littleton before my comrades arrived. Fall is starting to work its way out of the high country and down into Denver proper:
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After this, I met up with my friends down towards Palmer Lake. First shot was of an ACe leading a coal drag at a slow pace north of Palmer Lake proper:
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This train was moving so slow that it was easy to beat it into Palmer Lake. Here’s a shot of the train working its way through town:
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We had another Southbound headed our way after this. I decided to break out a wider angle lens to see what it could do with the “standard” shot from where I was standing. I think I like the effect:
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And finally, here’s a Northbound working its way into Palmer Lake:
Sounds and looks like a fun day. Nothing like fall in the higher elevations, is there. Full frame just feels right, doesn’t it?
Chris, what do you mean by “full frame?”
Chuck - I think the thing I’ve loved most about it is looking through that big, bright viewfinder. Even very good APS-C finders like the one on my K-5 can’t compare to a FF finder. Now, if I could just get one that equals my Pentax LX (which reminds me…I have a roll of film in that one to finish off…)
James - Full Frame is a reference to the sensor size. The sensors on most DSLRs are smaller than what a frame of 35mm film is (36mm x 24mm). So, for instance, the sensors on my two Pentax cameras both have dimensions of 23.7mm x 15.7mm. Sensors in that size range are what are known as APS-C. The Micro Four Thirds mirrorless cameras that are gaining popularity have a smaller sensor than those – 17.3mm x 13mm. As you get into the Point and Shoot market, sensors get progressively smaller to the point of being smaller than a fingernail.
There are a few key benefits to having a full frame sensor. I listed one above in my reply to Chuck – the viewfinder is much bigger and brighter because the mirror and prism assembly has to be bigger out of necessity. Additionally, photosites are bigger for a given resolution on full frame sensors than on smaller sensors. Larger photosites are more efficient at collecting photons so there are some performance benefits – usually in high ISO and dynamic range measurements.
Additionally, larger sensors allow for shallower depth of field. This is kind of nice if one is trying to isolate a subject. I shot a wedding a couple of months ago with a friend and I was able to use his 85mm f1.2 for some shots. An 85mm f1.2 on a full frame camera allows for some crazy shallow DOF shots. The subject almost jumps out of the image. It’s a cool effect.
There are a few downsides to using full frame sensors. Larger sensors are more expensive because there’s a higher reject rate from defects during the manufacturing process, so the cameras that feature full frame sensors are often much more expensive than APS-C cameras. The gap is narrowing – Canon and N