One other thought, this one concerning the aperture you use to photograph:
I think that when photographing layouts, far too many people make the mistake of automatically stopping their lens all the way down and leaving it there. This is a really bad practice for two reasons
Stopping the lens down further increases diffraction, which can kill the sharpness of an excellent lens. Diffraction effects really start to take hold after about f8 on most lenses, and increase rapidly. This is the reason why lenses for 35mm cameras almost never go any smaller than f32. In fact, diffraction is so bad on 35mm at f32 that, under some circumstances, depth of field can actually seem to increase when going from f32 to f27.5.
If you need the depth of field offered by a really small aperture for a certain shot, by all means use it. If possible, however, you’re far better off carefully focusing and then choosing an aperture just small enough to get the job done. Although depth of field scales are pretty much non-existant on autofocus zoom lenses(and even on many autofocus primes), you can still use your cameras depth of field preview function to get a good idea before the shot of what and will not be in focus.
In addition, many times a photo can in fact be dramatically enhanced by the careful use of shallow depth of field. The classic example is the typical head and shoulder portrait, in which the background is so out of focus that it blurs into a more-or-less solid mass of color. This can be very effective at drawing attention to a certain scene or aspect of your trains, or otherwise get rid of a distracting background. This is an effect definitely worth experimenting with.
I have found if I use a 512 meg SD card it doesn’t crash. It crashes when I use a 1 gig or larger card.(I’m actually using the Fuji S700) Maybe some expert out there knows why this happens???[%-)]
Remember, it is a still picture camera that happens to take small videos…I love it just for the super macro function.
I am a fan of the digital SLRs althought for taking pictures of a well lit static subject they are overkill. Also, the LCD preview may be easier to frame a shot on the layout, MUCH easier if you are going to put the camera down on the layout level.
So… if you want a camera for general photography I recommend you do some research on entry level SLRs, especially Nikon, Canon, and Pentax. There are some awesome camera sites you can find by google. I use a Nikon D80 which I choose because I like Nikon glass, but mostly because after trying out a variety of cameras I liked how the Nikon felt in my hand and I liked the navigation of the menus.
If you want a camera for Model Railroad Photography primarily, I would look at any of the higher end live preview cameras that straddle the SLR - consumer camera line such as the Canon S5, the Pansonic Luimix series, or the Sony Cybershot. The only down side is you cannot interchange the lens… if this bothers you then you probably are already far enough along to want a SLR. For what its worth… you can take fantastic pics without ever changing the lens. lighting and composition count far more then fancy equipment!Also, extra lens cost $$. I use my Nikon 18-200 for 95% of my photography.
Finally… if you want an SLR but still want live preview… the newest batch of SLRs coming out are offering both. Both Canon and Nikon are offering live preview in the latest models. I think maybe Pentax and probably Sony although I am not fond of Sony SLRs.
Regards,
Chris
PS- dont worry about high megapixel. Anything 5 megapixel or higher is fine for all but the largest magazine quality enlargements. More important is how much digital noise the image has which the smaller consumer cameras with a lot of pixels packed into a small sensor have in abundance… its image quality not image resolution that makes the sweet print…
I bought a Nikon D60 a while ago and have been very happy with it. Like Chris I went with Nikon because I believe they are tops when it comes to lenses.
I want to pick up a second battery pack one of these days so I can have a fully charged battery at the ready. Also would like to pick up a reader for the card because the USB is a bit slow IMO.
It’s nice to read a thread with some good, solid information. My pics come from a Konica/Minolta 7d, definitely not a Ferarri, but not a Yugo either. I had a bunch of a/f lenses from a prior body hence the reason for my choice. As mentioned earlier, I don’t think I’ve seen a “bad” digi slr out there recently. Tripods? Heck, they’re holdouts from my Olympus OM-10 days.
The best advice I’ve read here: Make sure the camera/lens has great macro capabilities.
I may have gone a bit overboard but this is what I ended up purchasing along with a full-size tripod. I’ll try to post some pictures in the next couple of weeks. Thanks for all the suggestions.
Since “most” model railroad photos are static (not moving), I’ve found that instead of a remote release, I use the camera’s built-in timer. Mine is set for 10 seconds. That gives me plenty of time to trip the shutter, get out of the way and then stand still to make sure that the camera, tripod & layout aren’t moving from floor vibrations.
That trick was taught to me by a friend who was a nature photographer. That was his preferred method for flowers, plants & anything else that didn’t move.
I’ve used camera self timers for quite some time, in fact this is one tip in my model photography website (see my signature). My Canon film and digital SLRs operate with infrared remotes, and I’ve used this too. But it needs to be pointed at the front of the camera to reach the sensor. A second option is to use a wired remote which plugs into the camera, you can be any where within it’s length.
My most recent remote is a wirelss, radio controlled unit. Plug the receiver into the camera and the remote transmitter can be anywhere - up to 300’ the instructions say. I prefer the remotes to the self timer, as I can trip the shutter when I want, no waiting around for the timer to count down. With the wireless one I can be holding a relfector or doing something with both hands while the photo is taken. I found the wireless remote on eBay for $15.50,plus about $8.00 postage from a large volume seller in Hong Kong. Got it in the mail in 9 days! A great alternative if you can get one for your model camera. One press of the button focuses the camera, the second trips the shutter. Got my wired remote that way too, for about a quarter of the price of a Canon version. These too are illustrated on my website.
I use and love my Konica Minolta 5D DSLR. I wasn’t too impressed with the replacement Sony A100, although the follow on pro-sumer A300 and A350 have promise. If only I didn’t need a new washing machine. [}:)]
My main tripod is a 1970s vintage Vivatar, lightweight aluminum model. I also have a table top tripod, but prefer using sandbags (I borrowed them from my rifle range bag) to stabilze the camera when shooting from the layout surface.
I also equip all my lens with Skylight or UV filters to protect them from dirt, scratches, etc.
If you go for a digital SLR you should get one with
Live view (to aid in framing pictures)
A manual white balance settable in degrees Kelvin.
I’m using a Canon 40D at this time with a Tamron 17-55 2.8 macro lens. The tammie is perhaps not the best lens around but it was half the cost of the Canon 17-55 2.8 (non-macro) equivalent and it also stops down to f32.
Tripods are valuable when the camera is in an aisle situation but much of the time for model rr photography the camera just set on the layout surface itself.
A remote shutter release is nice (Canon p*ssed me off by making the 40D not work with the infra-red controller for my film (Elan-II) camera - the digital rebels will work with the relatively cheap infrared). Canon (and I expect Nikon) will try to rape your wallet for this sort of thing but there are a number of aftermarket alternatives from 3rd parties you can get instead.
Both Canon and Nikon have a bunch of new digital slrs announced at this time.
I’d suggest visiting Ken Rockwell’s site to look at some down to earth camera advice from a pro. A site with lots of camera reviews is www.dpreview.com.
One thing my nice Canon 40D won’t do is get down to a scale person’s height. It’s just too big so all my on-layout photos look like they were taken using a step ladder. Not a hugely bad thing… Using a compact can solve that problem.
Camera requirements for good model railroad photography (imo)
Manaul white balance (prefereably with an option to set the white balance in Kelvin)
Manual (and convienient to use) focus control
Both aperature and shutter priority auto exposure modes
A full manual mode where you control both shutter and exposure
Exposure compensation (making it easy to exposure bracket) - this is a place where a dslr is helpful as they make this kind of control relatively easy to use
That’s good to know. I guess I lucked out when I skipped buying the Nikon 18-200 zoom lens then. I considered that lens but didn’t care for the $790 (canadian) price tag it came with. I ended up with two lenses that provide the same range of focal length but of course they are not as convenient. I can’t say that I have noticed any amount of barrel distortion at 18mm on my 18-55 lens. [tup]
I’m still looking at getting a wide angle lens one day and maybe another zoom lens like the 70-300 for wildlife pictures. I’d like to get a fixed aperture zoom lens too but I just can’t justify the $1500 for that!
Not for the faint of hear (these guys are ruthless) but there are a lot of lens reviews and tests on photozone.de
While the 18-200 Nikon does have lots of barrel distortion (this comes with the territory - there are NO super-duper wide-to-tele zooms without it) it is actually a really nice lens (or so I’ve heard from people owning it). If you’re not taking wide angle pictures of subjects with lots of straight lines (like buildings) you might not readily notice the distortions.
If you do notice there are software solutions to manipulate the pictures you take to compensate for it.
What such a lens does give you is instant zoom across a rather wide range of focal lengths - you’re less like to get caught with your pants down - er frantically changing lenses to catch an unexpected shot. However, in model train photography (or at least in the artsy-fartsy style of model trail photography) there aren’t that many (like none) “Oh my gosh, that shot’s great but I’ve got the wrong lens!” moments.
There’s not doubt though that the cost of a dslr is only the beginning of the red ink. Gettting a selection of decent quality lenses is expensive. Gettting a selection of Canon L series or Nikon Gold Circle lenses will cause you to re-mortgage your house (so far I’ve resisted spending $1700 on a 100-400 tele-zom or $1000 for the 17-55 2.8 Canon lenses).
Another path might also be the Sony Alpha - since they’re just entering (relatively speaking) the dslr market their products have a price incentive on them where as Canon and Nikon are priced with a Name Brand premium.
Definitely true. And significant pincushion at 200. It gets worse though… its not just regular barrel… its almost a mustache effect making it hard to correct with “normal” corrections available in Photoshop. However… its far less then other super zooms in its class. On the rare occasion that I care… architectural pics at 18mm for instance…I use special software to correct.
The software I use is called “DXO Optics Pro”. It is calibrated with specifc lenses and bodies for each point in the focal range to apply specific correction. It works wonderfully. However, the resulting file is either a very large Adobe RAW file or a JPG. Neither is ideal for my use in Adobe Lightroom, my usual image processing software. I only dig this software out on the rare occasions that I am making a large print where distortion is visible.
Right around 28mm the lens has almost no perceptible distortion (to me)… so when I can control my distance from the subject I will use that. When I care to do so, I also select f8 when I have plenty of light and am not trying to control the depth of field as that has been shown as the sharpest aperature for this lens.Its actually a range depending on focal length, but f8 has been close enough for me.
The lens has a great range, rivals macro lenses for close focusing, has VR, and a user friendly focus ring. However, that is not without trade offs in distortion, image sharpness, and weight (heavy lens…). The main reason I got the vertical grip was so the two batteries could balance the lens…
Next on my shopping list is a nice prime portrait lens (like the f1.8 50mm) and a nice fast long zoom for sports (for instance, the f2.8 200mm). The first is on my Xmas list, the second will be a while. In comparison, at 200mm my 18-200 is a min of f5.6.