I thought of buying a better camera for railfaning and I was wondering what kind of camera people use for railfaning?
thanks
Dustin
CopCarSS beat you to it.
http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=40001
For all around versatility i would recommend an SLR, possibly digital SLR with a minimum of 6 megapixels resolution. I use Pentax ZX 50’s which are film cameras. One camera has a 35 - 80 mm f/4 - f/5.6 zoom lens, the other camera has a 70 - 210mm f/4 - f/5.6 zoom telephoto lens. Both cameras can be operated manually (preferred) or aperture or shutter speed priority. They also can be operated totally automatically, but that’s not the way to go.
If the photo store where I buy my film from is any indication it may be difficult to get film in the next few years, much less get it processed.
I’ve had my digital Rebel since January or so, and love it.
Kathi
Currently, I am shooting film/slides with a minolta xt si slr, where as my digitial is a pocket canon powershot a85. however, I plan on purchasing the new Eos rebel 350d (rebel xt elite) or the 20d, hopefullly the 20d…
If you had the choice of Film of digital what would be your choice? I’m leaning twards film even though is fading out.
Film cameras are dirt cheap right now, and you can get a decent kit for a small sum of money. I would suggest looking into an older SLR system. There are thousands of Canon AE-1s and AE-1 Programs out there, and they go fairly cheaply. You should be able to find one with a 50mm f1.8 for $100-$150 (or a LOT less if you look around…got my AE-1 at a garage sale for $5).
If you can get a 50mm f1.4, I suggest going that route. Its a little better lens in my opinion, and its always nice to have a little extra speed in your lens
If you can, I’d get a couple more lenses. There are some good FD zooms, but there’s a lot of crap (even from Canon), so be careful that way. It’s hard to buy a bad prime, though. The 28mm f2.8 is quite a bargain. Sharper than the f2, its also cheaper and lighter. I keep the f2 with my FD system since I’m a lens speed junky, but there’s nothing wrong with the 2.8.
On the telephoto end, I’d look for a 85mm f1.8, or a 100mm f2.8. Both of these lenses are sharp, with the 100 f2.8 being equivalent to a scalpel. I don’t like the 100mm f2. If you can grab the 85mm f1.2L, that is an INCREDIBLE lens. The FD versions are getting comparitively cheap, too.
The 200mm f2.8 (try to get the late one with internal focusing) is a stellar lens. The 200mm f4 is no slouch, but the 2.8 is quite a bit nicer, and a lot easier to focus.
A 28mm, 50mm, 85/100mm, and 200mm would be a pretty good starting kit. And like I said, since its obsolete, Canon FD is dirt cheap.
Good luck with your decision, and drop me a line if I can help you out any more.
I too would lean towards an older SLR - prices on these have crashed in recent months due to the uptake of digital cameras. I favour old Pentaxes though that’s mainly as I started out with one - the K1000 is 100% mechanical (only has a couple of small batteries for the light meter) and will survive anything short of a direct nuclear strike. Now, I’d recommend either an ME Super (just as rugged but with auto-exposure modes - still manual wind-on and focus) or one of their later models like the P30T. Chris’s advice on Lenses is spot-on to my mind - my K1000 has a 50mm that works perfectly for most jobs, though I’ve since bought a 28-70 and a 70-210 for my P30T. Centon make decent lenses for manual focus cameras if you can’t find the own-brand ones - have a 70-210 that I lent to my brother for an airshow trip, the resulting photos were very good despite the speed and altitude of the “subjects”!
One advantage Pentax has is lens compatibility - they have used the same mount for all bayonet-mount 35mm SLR’s, so every bayonet-mount Pentax lens and camera will work together on at least a limited basis. This goes right through to the istD digital SLR - you can use manual-focus KA lenses on it, and its autofocus lenses on the K1000. To get a given feature to work in any body-lens combination, both components must have the feature. For example, an AF lens on a non-AF body (or vice versa) will render the lens manual-focus.
The Canon FD mount, on the other hand, died when EOS was introduced, making used-lens options more limited.
I have a Pentax K1000 and P30t, plus a Canon AE1. The AE1 is almost as rugged as the K1000 and offers automatic exposure, but I retired it in favour of the P30t’s full ability to use the same lenses as the K1000, thus lightening my camera bag. The P30t also offered more gizmology, at about the same price as a used AE1.
My signature is my web site. Check out the piz they were taken with a Olympus 3.2 digital camera. [:o)][:)]
[quote]
Originally posted by trainster1073
Have an old 35mm Canon F1, and a Yashicamat 2 ¼ Twin Lens reflex, both living in the closet.
Replaced by digitals, a Minolta DiMage 7 HI, 5.0 mega pixels, and a Minolta DiMage Z3, 4.0 mega pixels.
The digitals win hands down.
Less cost, the DiMage7, with the big memory card, holds up to 999 photos if you set it up right.
Both have zooms built in, both do Macro photos, both do black and white, both do video.
The plus side is you can download the photos, edit them, and manipulate them with whatever photo program floats your boat.
No processing fees, no negatives to store, just load it all on a C/D.
Before all the Kodachrome junkies get too bent…depending on how you set the camera up, you can get just as rich and deep colors from the digital as the film, with less cost.
As sad as it seems, film cameras are going the way of the LP album, cassette and 8 tracks tapes…technology advances whether we like it or not.
The Hi 7 was a little expensive; the Z3 was on sale, under $350.00 bucks.
Both use standard AA batteries, so your cost there is minimal there, too.
Canon freaks can really have fun with their Rebels, interchangeable lenses, lots of accessories, you can buy as much extra stuff for the Rebels as a film camera, jump up to the Nikons, and you can get as crazy as you want!
Finally, one of the best deals of all…
The junk photos you take can just be deleted…remember when you got POed because you had to pay for the “bad” photos with your film camera?
Nothing gets to cheapskate me like paying for processing and printing, only to find the subject, location, or me, just didn’t work, and none of the photos was worth the effort or the cost.
With digital, the only thing wasted is your time.
Take a test shot, and view it instantly, to see what needs to be changed or adjusted.
No more missed or bad shots because you tried to adjust your camera while takin
…Just a few years ago I purchased a Cannon EOS with eye focusing, with 28 to 200 mm lens and now how I wish i would have waited just a year or two and spent that money on the Cannon Rebel…As Ed says, delete the many pic’s that one takes and that aren’t worth printing, etc…Further more, for myself, I have so many prints now I don’t know what to do with them…and the digital solves that. Put 'em on the computer screen to enjoy and delete when finished or save on CD’s, etc…In general digitals are so much easier to carry around too. We do have a digital …{a small one of 3.2 quality}, and it’s shirt pocket size and does a creditable job for personal use. In my book and speaking of the present…go digital.
Just like computers - buy the best camera you can afford. Consider your style of railfanning and make sure the camera will handle it. If you’re going to shoot NJT, be sure you have a really good telephoto [swg]…
Get the best digital camera you can afford. On a recent seven day trip I took over 350 digital photos and used three sets of batteries. Didn’t waste $$$ on film and developing and printed only those photos I really wanted. Film is toast!
Trainster,what do you do with your photos now? You said you were looking for an upgrade so what do you have now? What makes you want to change? What do you like about what you own now? What do you want to do in the future with your new camera?
Could not agree more with the “film is toast” quote. I use 2 sets of rechargable batteries though & make sure to charge them every nite. Have a 256 MB card which gets me about 275 pix if needed. [:o)][:)][:p]
[quote]
Originally posted by SSW9389
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The camera you want is the camera you will actually use!
If it’s a burden to lug around an SLR sized camera and lenses such that you rarely bother going out, then don’t buy an SLR.
If it’s a burden to have to wait to finish a roll of film, then don’t buy a film camera.
If you want really good resolution for cheap, then don’t by a digital.
The first two tipped the balance for me.
For me, digital is the only way to go. I’ve been at it since 1999, my first digital camera was a Kodak point and shoot 1.3 megapixel. I’ve now graduated to a Sony DSC F828. The reason I decided to get this camera was it’s build quality and the manual zoom. It is fast, has a 28/200 35mm equivlent zoom, which allows me to railfan without carrying around several lenses. It is not perfect, but works well for me.
I also prefer digital for some of the reasons posted above, but I also like the ablity to process images with Photoshop.
Here’s one taken with the 828 and worked in Photoshop (for posting size and dynamic range increase)
Maybe someday a DSLR, but for now…the 828.
Ed