Grumpys right. Train photos do suck when it's cloudy.

That is a cool picture though.

Since you know this, apparently you still read/look at it. Why?

I tell you one thing. A good Hustler Magazine sure sounds good right about now.

Waaaaaaaaaaaaay too much information, Allan!

But seriously, I took some photos today - grey say, grey train (amtrak), grey ballast. What would be a good spot to meter off of with the camera?
I metered off the grey engine, but my photos came out dark. (I did shoot in RAW)

And can someone explain briefly by what one-half to one stop open means? Does that mean choosing an apperature that is wider open, meaning a bigger f-number? I never had any sort of training and have been learning as I go.

A wider open aperture is a smaller number f-stop. Smallest number lets in the most light. Nearly all cameras have specific values that you can choose from- mine starts at 4.0, then 4.5, 5.0, 5.6, 6.3, and the steps get further apart as you go up. I’m not sure what is meant by one-half a stop, but I would guess it to be going from 6.3 to 5.6 or from 4.5 to 4.0.

Brian, just to be accurate, the stops are not on the camera. They are on the lens ring.

In automatic mode (most cameras) a sensor in the camera sets both the aperture speed and lens opening to get the best middle-of-the-road photo based on the conditions. This is known as “point-and-shoot” and will give acceptable results to those whose interest in photography doesn’t extend beyond kids birthday parties and vacations.

Some cameras allow for the user to manipulate exposure compensation in increments of a third to half step. Setting it to plus-1 in automatic mode (“one stop open”) would still allow the camera sensor to set the shutter speed and lens aperture – by adding one “open” stop to allow more light on every photo taken. This is a good place to start on a cloudy day.

Decreasing one stop does the opposite. You’d use this on a very bright day taking photos on a lake where the light reflection off the water will fool the sensor into opening the aperture too much resulting in overexposed photos.

If you shoot outdoor snow photos

The type of Digital camera I use is Sony DSC-S600 Cyber-shot 6.0MP Camera. I have on my camera what is called the “EV”. That allows me to “Increase” or “Decrease” the abount of light that comes into my camera. I always keep my ISO @ 200. My problem is. I need to learn that when it is very dark out side I need to “Increase” the “EV” by two steps when it is that dark out. That is why my Photos are dark when it is cloudy. In my case. I can eather set the EV over or under according to the light conditions. Or just leave it at “OEV” Which means “Automatic”. Allan.

Heres the best cloud shot I’ve ever taken and it boraderlines into a fog shot. Say what you will, clouds make for bad pictures no way around it. You loose all the detail and color, every turns out dull (flim or digital). http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=153437 The only reason this photo works because of the strong contrast between the dullness of the sense and the dominating red light of the CPL

Ah. Therefore, adjusting the aperture setting for half a stop is only possible on a camera that can electronically adjust the aperture, such as in the aperture mode you describe? In fact, somebody can correct me on this, but I don’t think I even have a lens ring for “manually” adjusting the aperture on my Canon EF lenses. The only control I have over it is in aperture or manual mode, using the electronic controls on the top of the camera, or using the +/- exposure offset control. Hopefully someday (probably after I retire) I’ll spend alot more time getting acqainted with all the features of my camera (or its newer replacement[:D]).

Thanks for the great detailed explanation!

Therefore, adjusting the aperture setting for half a stop is only possible on a camera that can electronically adjust the aperture, such as in the aperture mode you describe?

No. It can be done on non-automatic cameras like we had 20+ years ago. On those, you have to manually set both the aperture and shutter speed – hopefully using some sort of light meter. Then you’d just turn the F-stop lens ring one click open or closed – or two or three, depending on the number of stops available between the standards.

In fact, somebody can correct me on this, but I don’t think I even have a lens ring for “manually” adjusting the aperture on my Canon EF lenses. The only control I have over it is in aperture or manual mode, using the electronic controls on the top of the camera, or using the +/- exposure offset control. Hopefully someday (probably after I retire) I’ll spend alot more time getting acqainted with all the features of my camera (or its newer replacement[:D]).

I looked at images of some Canon EF lenses on the Internet and it looked like most of them had the aperture-adjustment ring. I’m a Nikon guy and know nothing about the Canon line.

Thanks for the great detailed explanation!

Just like using a computer it can be very intimidating at the beginning because of all the strange terminology and concepts. The only way to learn is to be unafraid to make mistakes. At least in today’s digital age, mistakes don’t cost processing and developing fees like they did when I was learning.

You also need to know how to use Photoshop or some other similar program if you’re shooting digital. Adjusting the exposure of an original photo is not “cheating” as someone jokingly pointed out. If you were shooting film, the processor at the corner drug store is set up to automatica

That may be true with standard fixed-focal-length lenses, but I doublechecked my two zooms tonight and neither one of them have aperture adjustment rings. Just focus and zoom, and with the autofocus turned on the only one I use is zoom. I do have UV filters on both of them, and I’d love to invest in polarizing filters as well. Unless Santa reads these forums…[:D]

Brian,

There are no EF lenses that feature an aperture ring. When Canon designed the new mount, they decided that aperture and focus would be handled electronically. On some older L lenses (50mm f1.0L, 500mm f4.5L, etc.) it’s not even possible to manually focus without turning the camera on (the focus motor is still focusing the lens, turning the focus ring just tells it which way and how much).

The last Canon lens to have a true aperture ring was in the FD line-up.

Along the lines of what is being discussed in this thread, but just a little sidetrack -

I’ve been looking at getting a Canon 30D. I’ve read reviews that it isn’t really that much better than the 20D, so I have not committed to anything yet. Well, as it happens, I’m spending more on Christmas than I had originally thought, so it will still be a few months before I buy a camera.

But now I may have to rethink what model of camera to get. The Canon 30D (and the 20D for that matter) uses Canon’s EF lenses. Now, I’m not that hip on digital cameras, and it has been a long time since I’ve owned a film camera. But it makes me nervous to learn that the Canon lenses don’t have the ability to manually set aperture.

So, I did a little more research on the capabilities of the Canon 30D, and I have not found any indication that it allows you to manually set the aperture. It looks like it might be back to the drawing board. My problem is that there are just too many cameras out there and I don’t really always understand the digital lingo until it gets pushed into my face.

Does anyone have any suggestions for a prosumer digital camera that will allow manual focus / aperture?

I think you belong in Pentaxia. One of the coolest features of Pentax cameras is that they are very backward compatible. Not only can you use any Pentax bayonet mount lens, you can also use any M42 screw mount lens with an adaptor. Pentax estimates that there are 24 Million of the lenses that are compatible with their DSLR’s out there (this isn’t including third party lenses).

Oh yeah, if you want a brand new lens with an aperture ring, and a good manual focus feel, check out the FA limiteds (31mm f1.8, 43mm f1.9 and 77mm f1.8). All metal construction and fantastic optics make these some of the best lenses currently made. Check out this article from well known camera commentator Mike Johnston on the matter.

BTW, if you can live with 6MP, you can get a K100D camera with Shake Reduction which turns all of your lenses into image stabilized lenses for under $600. If you’d like some more megapixels, the K10D is now shipping with 10MP for $899, body only. It’s also weather sealed and features an optional vertical grip, which alas, the K100D does not.

Good luck on your decision.

Datafever,

Yes, you can manually adjust the aperture on Canon and Nikon camera when the lens attached lens does not have an aperture adjustment ring. There are commonly two control dials on the camera body. The rear one will adjust the shutter speed and the front one will adjust the aperture of the lens. You can usually change the default for these dials if you like. This allows full manual operation of the camera exposures as well as the ability to set the shutter speed for Tv automation or the aperture for Av automation. If you attach a lens with an aperture ring you will likely have to set the lens to it’s minimum aperture to avoid an Err message on the camera LCD readout.

It all works quite well and the transition is not hard to make. The 30D is an upgrade to the 20D body. Probably not enough to trade up from a 20D but certainly worth spending a little extra up front if you are making an initial DSLR purchase.

Having taken a few pictures of trains myself, trains are not the easiest things to photograph. Besides the problems with sky, background, contrast, light meters, and shutter and F-stop settings, you have the problem with framing the shot.

Trains are, well, long and skinny and they don’t fit well within a rectangular viewfinder. Even if you just want to photograph a locomotive or a particular car, it is hard to fit it all into the picture.

What do people do? There is that classic train “pose” of get the cab of the locomotive framed in the shot with the train trailing off behind it in perspective. I guess that shot gets the whole train OK, but once you see that same shot in slide after slide after slide, it gets to be a little bit of the same all of the time.

I am interested in the mechanicals of locomotives and trains, that information about the mechanicals that can be gleaned from photos. I am also interested in models of locomotives and train cars – I like to see photos that are useful in building models, and I like models because they are like 3-D photos – you can look at the train from angles you never get with the real train.

It is the rare photo that shows a hood unit from on top, but that rare photo gives one the insight that the Diesel prime mover and accessories somehow fit inside a rather skinny hood. It is the rare photo that shows trucks, or at least trucks in the right kind of lighting conditions that one could figure out how they are put together. Does anyone know how the truck on a Genesis is put together and on what mechanical principle it works? On another thread, there is a picture of a BNSF “GP-38” (rebuilt and deturbocharged or reengined GP-40 and GP-35’s) – only shows the cab, but it is flat on from the side to show some of the subtle angles of the number boards. Passenger cars have large numbers of appliances on their undersides – do we have good photos which show what all of these gadgets are?

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EXCELLENT post Paul!

One of the guys on a Yahoo!Group that I occasionally subscribe to was waxing bittersweet about his favorite road’s roster. While it was nice to see everything nicely painted into the company scheme, with nice modern locomotives, it was somewhat of a disappointment that “all of the locomotives look the same”!!! [:P]

My reply to this lament was a little bit of what was posted above: While everybody’s got that “perfect shot”, it was now the challenge to look for new angles, new photo locations, new perspectives. Not unlike what I started doing when I started to see the same locomotives doing the same things every time I visited the various area yards. I found some new perspectives, some different angles, operations that I hadn’t previously known about – I even went about trying to document every single engine in a particular class, on one railroad!

So, while I still get all of the “standard” shots, I’m certainly not afraid to do a little experimentation! (See my site for my photos…)