Camera Information

 

Modern Times:

Times change, so does equipment:

September 3, 2011: The excellent results that I received from the A55 along with the A77 announcement caused me to make a further committment to Sony. As a realistic full frame A900 replacement doesn't appear likely until late 2012, I acquired an A900. (This fills the void that was formerly filled by my 5D MarkII). I have ordered an A77 to replace my A55. This will bring stability to my equipment as the A77 replaces my Canon 7D. The A99 has a 24.6MP full frame sensor, while the A77 has a 24.3MP APS-C sized sensor but a 1.5 "crop factor" (400mm lens becomes effectively 600mm) - especially good for wild life.

Although I have two excellent Sony lenses, the Sony/Zeiss 24-70mm and the Sony 70-400mm SSM G lenses, I didn't have a replacement for my Canon 70-200mm f/4 L IS lens. The closest Sony lens 70-200mm f/2.8 SSM G lens costs between $1750 and $2000. Further research led me to two 1980's Minolta AF lenses: the 70-210mm f/4 "beercan" lens. This lens, like the Canon lens I had is an f/4 lens, even though it's an older lens, it is a super lens and a good copy may be found on EBay for less than $200. Like any lens it's not perfect. An excellent review is available on KurtMunger.com. The second Minolta lens that I've acquired is a 28-135mm f/4-4.5. This lens has many fans and many detractors. Again, Kurt Munger has an excellent review. This lens makes a good "walk about" lens. My copy, again from EBay, is in excellent condition. It's a sharp lens, with good color. Color fringing (which I handle with PTLens) can be a factor though.

May 30, 2011: Since Sony took over the Konica/Minolta cameras and brought out the full frame A900 camera as well as their collaboration with Zeiss on lenses, I have been interested in their progress. Recently on a trip I was looking for a simple lightweight camera that I could carry for snapshots or pictures of opportunity when carrying heavier gear wasn't necessary. I looked at the Sony A55V and discovered that not only was it a lightweight camera, but that it has a 16MB APS size sensor. After further research it appears that this camera is the first in a line of "SLT" as opposed to SLR cameras in their Alpha series. The SLR uses a reflex mirror that snaps up, out of the way of the incoming light when the shutter release is depressed. In contrast, the "SLT" uses a translucent mirror that splits the incoming light, requiring no mechanical mirror action. The split off beam of light is used for focusing and electronic viewfinder input. My Canon Pellix of 1966 had a "pellical" mirror which split the light to the viewfinder in this manner (autofocus was not avaiable then).

Although I'm not normally fond of electronic viewfinders, this one has two advantages. First is 100% coverage of the image. Second is an optional level and tilt indicator in the electronic viewfinder. This makes leveling the camera on the fly much easier (especially when one uses a monopod as I do). This also provides for autofocusing while taking videos.

Supposedly all Sony SL"R"'s in the future will be SL"T"'s with the translucent mirror. Rumor (SonyAlphaRumors.com).

One other advantage to Sony cameras stemming from the Minolta days is camera body image stabilization. This means that all lenses "become" image stabilized because the stabilization takes place in the camera body.

Meanwhile however, I decided to take the plunge in late April and purchased a Sony A55VL (with the 18-55mm kit lens). I also purchase the kit 55-200mm lenses. Both of these lenses are my "walkaround" lenses.

To replace my Canon "L" Lenses, I've acquired a Zeiss 24-70mm f/2.8 lens and a Sony 70-400mm f/4.5-5.6 G lens.

The "proof of the pudding" is in the first new images: the KCS 4057 and the Dakota and Iowa RR 4028.

The raw image processor that I use on the Mac is Raw Photo Processor. It is the best raw image processor that I have used. RPP takes more work, but provides image detail that is, in my opinion, superior to Adobe Camera Raw. After comparisons, my conclusion is that RPP extracts more detail from the raw image than does ACR. In addition, the image manipulation capability of RPP exceeds Adobe Camera Raw. The downside that RPP only runs on MacIntosh and, changes must be "applied" to see the result. This is necessary because each change causes a new interpretation of the raw image rather than to the extracted image - better result.

Spring 2005: I felt that the newly available Canon 1DSMKII represented the best that was available for making great images (whether I could or not) and I was tired of the digital treadmill of new cameras each year. Well, 15,000 images later significant changes have occurred. First off, the 50D became available. At the same time the 5DMKII was announced.

I have two cameras. One is a prime camera for shooting full frame images. As these images are the source for canvases 40" wide by whatever long, detail is extremely important. Also, since I'm not perfect, I do need to crop images. Moving trains make split second decisions regarding framing important and sometimes it's simply not possible to get the optimum image on the fly and so cropping becomes necessary. At this point pixel size is paramount. Enter the 5D MarkII with a 21 megapixel sensor. I can make a significant crop and still retain enough image to create a 40"x60" canvas with no compromise.

The 1DSMKII has been an awesome camera. Prior to that, the Hasselblad 500cm or the Nikon F4s produced the best images I could have imagined. However, both the Canon EOS 50D and the 5D Mark II have the capability of producing images far beyond what was possible with film. (Although this could irritate film affectionados, I'm sorry but it's true). More to follow (11/3/2008).

On January 1, 2001 digital photography became real for me with the the Olympus E10, 4mp DSLR camera. I used this camera until Canon released the D60 in mid 2002. Although I liked the E10, the D60 with it's improved features: faster shutter speed, 6mp CMOS sensor and the ability to use my Canon lenses, caused me to return to Canon and at that point I sold all of my film gear. I migrated to the 10D when it was released. After the 1DSMarkII proved itself in the field, I shifted to this camera. It's low-light, low noise full frame capability gives me the images I need to provide large detailed prints. Although with care the earlier cameras also provided excellent images up to 16x24", the additional detail and cropping ability with this camera gives me the flexability that I have wanted in a digital camera. I wanted a rugged digital camera that wouldn't become obsolete in a year or two.

Current Gear:

Camera:

• Sony Alpha A55V camera APS-C 16MP

Lenses:

• Zeiss T* 24-70mm f/2.8
• Sony 70-400mm f/4.5-5.6 G
• Sony 55-200mm f/4.5-5.6 lens
• Sony 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 lens

Prior information:

For railroad photography I now use only image stabilized lenses. All images are taken in RAW mode. The "workhorse" lens is the EF 100-400mm image stabilized lens. The f/4 EF70-200mmL IS lens is my newest lens. Although these are relatively "slow" lenses, the ability to use higher ISO's (200-400 and even up to 800 with the 1DS MKII) with relatively little noise compensates for the lens's "slow" maximum aperture. The 1DSMKII produces essentially noiseless images at ISO speeds of up to ISO 400. ISO 800 is also very useable with little noticeable noise. This allows me to keep high shutter speeds and yet retain a good depth of field.

While the Canon D60 and 10D were excellent cameras, there is a huge difference in image quality with the 1DSMKII when making large (16x,,,) prints. The detail is amazing. The full frame (35mm size) image allows for some cropping and still resizes well. While scanned 35mm and 2-1/4" slides produce excellent large prints, the capability of the !DSMKII's images exceeds 35mm and edges toward medium format (2-1/4") quality.

My goal has always been to produce tack-sharp images of trains at full speed, with as much depth of field as is possible. With today's gear and imaging software such as FixerLabs' FocusFixer it's amazing to see the small but clearly visible "Tool Box Inside " decal lettering on the front door of Union Pacific's newer locomotives or the "74V Bulb" decal under the lights. This is in images taken with the 100-400mm telephoto lens at distances of greater than 100 feet and trains speeds of 40-70 mph. I only wish this gear was available 25 years ago. The image below has been extremely compressed to show the full image. The segment below is enlarged to 100% (far larger than it would appear in a print), and with JPEG distortion. The full original image also suffers from excessive downsizing and compression, but it does indicate the relative size of the extracted example.

Here is the source Image:

Here is the detail from the door/headlight area:

Memory Cards: CompactFlash: Sandisk 1GB Extreme and Ultra II. SD: Sandisk 1GB Ultra II.

Portable Image Storage: Epson P-2000 mulitmedia storage unit (40GB Hard Drive). This device really works if you're on the road and take many images. It even displays raw images.

Gitzo and Manfrotto tripods. Manfrotto monopod.

Middle Ages:

1966-79: My fiirst SLR camera was a Canon Pellix - 35mm SLR with a pellicle instead of a mirror. 50mm lens. 1979-83: Nikon F2. 50mm lens, Tokina zoom lens, Nikkor 200mm lens, Tokina 24? mm lens. In 1983 it was stolen and was replaced with a Nikon F3HP. Lenses included 50mm, 300 f/4.5 EDIF, 80-200mm f/2.8 EDIF, 55mm macro, 35-105mm. 1985: medium format: Hassleblad 500cm, 80mm /f2.8, 150mm f/4. 1988 - Autofocus with Nikon N8008 - my first Autofocus, 1990: Nikon F4 50mm, 80-200 f/2.8AF ED, 300mm ED IF lens. 1999: Traded in Nikon gear for Canon A2, 24mm f/2.8, 50mm lens f/1.4, 85mm f/1.8, 70-200mm f/2.8L.

Films used over the years were primarily slide films mainly: Kodachrome 64, Kodachrome 200 (faster than 64 but the grain - ouch), Ektachrome 100EPP, Fujichrome 50, 100, Fuji Velvia, Fuji Provia - 100. Occasionally used others on trial.

Ancient (!?) History:

My first camera, around 1950, was a Kodak Baby Brownie Special a little plastic camera which used 127 roll film. This was followed in 1952 by a Kodak Brownie Hawkeye when I was a freshman in high school. This camera used 620 roll film. In 1954, a Kodak Pony became my first 35mm camera. This had a 44mm f/4.5 "Anastar" lens and a top speed of 1/200 sec. (tough for high speed trains, but still a neat camera for me at that time). The early color photos on this site (1954-58) were taken with the Kodak Pony.

 

last revised: 9/13/2011