BNSF: I am not sure you are picking up what is being said here or I am not at all familiar with Sony cameras. If you plan on taking pictures of fast moving trains your camera needs to be able to focus quickly and above all not have a lag time between pressing the shutter and forming the image. Also not said previously is the ability to take multiple pictures in quick sequence. The SLR’s have buffers enabling you to take some ten or so pictures right after each other. Make sure your Sony can do these things or you are going to wind up missing pictures. Perhaps you can borrow some digitals for an actual film shoot and see what I mean. The ability to shoot at ISO 1000 is NOT the feature you are most likely going to be using and the SLR’s usually go up to ISO 1600 anyway. As for the suggestion of the NIKON FM2 that is one of my film cameras and with the attached MD12 I used it for many a picture. Believe me I know the feel of those beloved Nikons and their superb Nikkor lenses and I hesitated to make the switch but I am afraid that these cameras are going to go the way of 8 tracks, Beta tapes and 8mm movies and in time will not be supported by a chemical film technology. I am just so glad I never went the way of Leica, putting big bucks in what now appears to be a questionable investment.
Hey, a 5 MP does good work too. Only thing i’d change about mine is the zoom. Get plenty of optical zoom, it helps.
http://wctransfer.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=409859
http://wctransfer.rrpicturearchives.net/showpicture.aspx?id=408416
http://wctransfer.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=385292
Mine is an Olympus FE-110, about 300 bucks.
Alec
I won’t disagree with anything anyone else has posted, but do want to add that the best camera is one you will use.
If you buy a DSLR and it sits in the closet because it’s too big and bulky to carry around the bag with all your lenses, then it is a poor choice.
If you buy a “point and shoot” and just don’t bother using it because you are disappointed with the picture quality or lack of flexibility, then it is a poor choice.
I have a Kodak DX7590. It has a 10X optical zoom and enough exposure and control flexibility to get the shots I’m looking for. It rides around in my brief case, so I always have it handy. The picture quality isn’t what you’d get with a DSLR - mostly due to sensor noise and that it only stores pictures as jpgs - but I am more than willing to trade off those for the smaller size.
He could check out my web site to see what type quality you get with a 12X 5MP point & shoot camera[:D]
I have had very good luck with the Panasonic DMZ-FZ5 that I bough back in Feb. It’s 5 MP with a 12X optical zoom. I has fully automatic “simple mode” and can be set to a variety of modes all the way to full manual as a person learns more about setting shutter speeds etc. It took me about an evening of playing around with it to learn the controls and now I can get a lot of action shots that I would have never gotten before. There are 3 burst modes on the camera and in the right conditions it will shoot almost 3 frames per second. That helps a lot with moving targets. There is even a new and improved version out for 2006. The best part was that it cost me less than a either of the otheres I was considering (Fuji finepix and Kodak) It comes in either silver or black.
I got some real good pics of UP 844 with this camera. I would highly recommend it or at least urge you to read the reviews
Here is the link to CNET’sreview.
http://reviews.cnet.com/Panasonic_Lumix_DMC_FZ5S_silver/4505-6501_7-31346140-2.html?tag=nav
Well, you are never going to use ISO 1000 for
railfanning. Are you sure you didn’t mean ISO 100?
Dave
I wouldn’t be surprised by an ISO of 1000. I’d rather have that than an ISO 100 - Bright sunshine or flash for everything.
You are mistaken, sir.
Most digital cameras produce a great
deal of electronic noise at ISO 400 and
above. The Canon DSLRs, 20D, 5D and
pro series, are an exception.
Here is a photo taken at the Carnegie
Museum in Pittsburgh at ISO 800:
http://www.pbase.com/dsktc/image/56377888
If you attempted this with a camera that
generates a lot of noise at ISO 800, the
image would be crap.
Dave
Agreed. I make pictures with a Nikon D1X and its not very grainy at ISO 800 – certainly not unacceptable. Plus, with a good, industrial-strength photo editing program you can really improve on quality if you know how to use it.
If I need more latitude, I use faster lenses or go fully retro and shoot Fujicolor Press film in either a F4s or F5. It’s been so long I bought film, does Kodak still make 35mm in 1600 ISO?
You are getting so good information in this thread.
For anyone who is serious about their photography, here’s a few more thoughts good enough to repeat about maximizing the photos your camera can take –
Lesson No. 1
Some tips on getting the best out of your camera. I’d say a person aspiring to be a decent photographer needs to make several thousand pictures under various lighting conditions before thinking about getting serious. You need to learn how to think clearly and learn how to avoid “photographer’s panic” (the fear of missing a one-chance-only photo of a visiting steam locomotive) when making pictures of quickly-moving objects (like trains) that will soon be out of view. Go down to the local park and practice by shooting the action at some kids’ baseball or soccer games, or automobiles in a 40 mph zone.
Right now, you are an aspiring serious hobbyist. There’s much more to photography than pointing a camera at a subject and pressing a button. Most of today’s digital cameras work well, but they’re only as good as the person handling them. Learning to use a camera with pro capabilities and manual mode will go a long way toward improving your results, although it is not necessary to blow your budget. But do learn how to operate ALL features on whatever camera you buy. Then practice, practice, practice. You’ll also have to practice hand-holding in low light conditions for times your tripod isn’t handy.
You will take much better action photos with a higher-end camera with a hair-trigger shutter release instead of the delayed shutter trip (to eliminate movement at shutter drop) you find in cheap point-and-shoot cameras designed to take pictures of kids’ birthday parties. You also need to have quality lenses. Even the best camera in the world is only as good as the glass you attach to the front. Buy a camera with a good automatic focus system. Then there are things like remote cables, tripods and filters to consider – like polarizing filters to cut
“I’m a professional photographer, and after looking at some of the pictures on railpictures.net, I have no clue as to what they’re looking for because their selections lack consistency, in my opinion.”
Finally! Thats the thing i notice most, i crop an image nicely, and it gets in from a certain screener. I do a good job on the next crop also, just like i did the last time, and they dont like it. The “high sun” rejection is also very inconsistant. Anyone see this shot?
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=147872
Oh ya, beautiful lighting. Just because its the heritage unit they let it go… Clearly the sun is directly above or on the other side of the locomotive.
This shot is different.
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=148075
Alec