I just bought the CNW shells off ebay and I quickly threw it onto another
F7 with a cab interior and snapped this shot right off, I barely got the shells in the door when I did the quick flip and did the shot.
I have a NKP 765 Rivarossi with working classification lights and numberboards and mars light with headlight as well, I’m the expert guy who likes to make his engines light up correctly. I plan to take pics of all my equipment sometime.
This is just a working image, showing off a module and equipment
Its my handlaid South Shore module NKP interchange.
I don’t have much of a layout for now, but working on that.
In the planning stages and this module fits into the scheme.
I am not a professional at all. I like to take pictures. Most of which will not pass muster.
I started off with a 110 film camera… one of those really cheap pocket cameras. Seems like 24 exposures was not enough and watching father take sniper shots with his 35 mm pentax with beautiful pictures kinda taught me get a better camera.
I used a 35 mm Pentax film camera and still have it. But the trouble of acquiring film, taking the pictures… not knowing if they come out… taking the film to the lab at walmart (Previously kodak in the little yellow buildings) waiting a while getting the images and paying for them. Bleah.
I will always use the Pentax 35mm as a sort of keeping in touch with the old film ways.
With that said. I wanted to shoot model trains. At first pictures then videos.
I had a small digital camera where I was lucky to take 3 shots and the lens was too small to be worth anything. I found a walmart Digital concord 3 megapixal with a memory stick, I bought a 64 meg SD memory card to hold 300 pics at 800x600 same as what I have on the computer. So far so good.
It’s field of depth was not great, but the macro is pretty good. Good enough that I can “Lift” a photo print by taking a shot of that and using it on the net.
I took a short 5 minute video of what ever like model trains etc… no sound. My father said he liked the video but there was nothing going on… perhaps it’s time for a video camera.
My spouse gave me a Sony DV camera TRV 460 model upgraded with a large battery, huge memory stick and Tape. I already had Roxio 7 software on my computer and once I equippted it with firewire to communicate with the camcorder I can “Pull” video off and edit it. Frame by frame until I find a shot worthy of a picture.
Off to trainshows I went with the camcorder. Shot everything, went home put it all on the disk and relaxed in the chair and really watched the videos.
It depends totaly on the quality of the scanner that particular photo finisher uses. Ask them what the resoution would be. Or even just take a set in to be digitized and see if you like the results. It doesn’t really matter what the statistics say, what matters is what you need, like, and want.
I know I asked you about your lighting system before; but my memory fails me (I swear, Alzheimer’s is contagious – I work in a nursing home for the elderly).
I have a 10MP digital camera that I picked up on ebay for about $150. Thats right, 10MP for $150!!! The pictures are incredible, better than film in my opinion. However, I have to compress the pics before I post them so the pics I post here on the forum arent near the quality I see on my PC. Oh well…
The lights are 15 watt and 25 watt lights spaced 2 feet apart. The lighting in the above photo is all available light, and as you can see, things are lit pretty well even with such low wattage bulbs. Using the low wattage incandescent bulbs lets me dim the lights and since the watts are so low, the heat buildup in the room is not a problem.
The biggest difference between cameras boils down to personal preference and purpose. Film cameras use film which has a greater spectrum color wise than digital, which has a finite set of colors. The new digital cameras look VERY good, but are still not film by comparison. That being said, I just sold my Canon A-1 and AE-1 and purchased a new digital SLR. I purchased the Nikon D-70. I was wanting the flexibility of an slr, and the convenience of a digital. Most of my pictures are selling things on ebay, or email, or whatever. I am generally using a computer somewhere. The convenience of decent photos, the ease of memory cards… without the hassle of loading film, time for development, and the development cost, I think I made a wise choice. As far as the D-70, it’s great and super easy to use.
What kind of camera is it? I’ve seen ads in Popular Science for small Bell & Howell digital cameras claiming to have 10MP. If you read the fine print it says something like “10MP is interpolated”, which means the camera’s sensor is a lot smaller than 10MP and fills in extra pixels to achieve the so-called 10MP. It’s all smoke and mirrors.
Any camera with real 10MP would be in the multi-thousand dollar professional range SLR from Canon or Nikon or other high end firms.
As long as you are having fun with it, I guess that’s what counts. But you should check into the camera to see exactly what MP it is actually offering.
I personally prefer a fully manual camera, but that’s because I have had bad experiences with automatic cameras. I was once at the Spiral tunnels trying to take a picture of CPRs steam engine, 2816, and I thought it went well, but when I got the pictures back, I found out that instead of the train, it focussed on a small tree slightly to the left of center. I went back to my K-1000, and have been quite satisfied with it.
Matthew
I’ve got a little of all of it. Currently i use a film scanner, flatbed scanner, multiple film slr’s(Nikon, Olympus), digital Sony point and shoot. I’m going to get a digital slr in the near future for computer work. This camera will most likely be a Nikon D70s. I think it all depends on what you are wanting to produce. If you are wanting to produce hard copy prints film is still the best way to go. Computer and web work digital is by far easier. Both my scanners are nice and do a good job but still do not compare to either the film or digital original quality. Printing in digital is a hassle. I’ve got inkjets,color lasers and photo printers none of them really give you a real photograph. They do however give excellent quick shot with very little hassles. I needed 2 shots of my pool equipment last night. Bam and they are on the refridgerator if I need them in less than 5 minutes. If you taking pictures just to take picture either one will do otherwise consider the end products.
WHAT are the KEY elements in a digital camera that make for photos good enough to be published? I know its more than just high mega pixles count. Digital zoom? Aperture? Sensor size? Image resolution? What are the main camera features that make your photos so “good”?
Its an SVP camera. The guy who sells it owns the company or something so gets it direct from the factory. I guess it could be interpolated but smoke and mirrors or not it takes great pictures. I also have a 4MP camera and this is much better.
Everything you mentioned except digital zoom is important. I usually recommend that the digital zoom never be used. All it is doing is cropping the center of the photo and using this area as the full frame of the image. You can do the same with a photo program, it doesn’t give you any more magnification.
As to what features makes a camera take “good” photos, there isn’t really any specific one. The main ingredient in great photos is the photographer. The camera is a tool, it’s the photographer’s eye that makes the photo. Give a really fancy camera with all of the goodies to an inexperienced person, and all they will mostly take is snapshots. Give a simple camera to a person with the artistic eye, and he will produce much better photos.
Photography, like good model railroading, can be an artistic medium. Some people are born with a natural ability to see and take great photos (or paint great ones); others can learn.
It helps to have a lot of practice and experience. Golfing great Arnold Palmer is supposed to have remarked to someone who said that he was very lucky in golf that “Yes I’m lucky, and the more I practice, the more lucky I get”. Practice, practice, practice may make perfect!
Learn all about photography, find out about lighting, and composition - one of the most important aspects of photography. Look at photos that you like and try to find out why you like them, copy them with your own equipment and setup.
Good cameras help, a good eye and experience are vital!
