Type of Camera Used for Train Pics

[spankybird]

Only because I flood the forum with so many of my pics, here is what I use.

It’s a Fuji S3100, 4 mgpic with 6 X optical zoom. Extra light is very much the key.

Some of the features that I looked for is the macro setting, and slow expose with low light flash.

Using these setting will require you to use a tri-pot and the timer.

[thor]

Just out of interest because this isn't a practical camera, a student of mine built a pinhole camera for a TSA competition and used a piece of color film, to take an eye level picture of his models and the results were astonishing. Not only was the shot incredibly sharp but the depth of field was amazing. Considering all it took for him to get that picture, you'd have to be a camera nut to even try it and it took several attempts but the final result was as good as I've ever seen. Room lighting and a very long exposure.

[pbjwilson]

I use a digital camera 3.2 megapixel. It's an Olympus D-540 zoom. Pretty much a point and shoot camera, paid aroud $200 for it several years ago. I think the key is to turn off the flash and use available light. I've been interested in photography for a long time. The digital cameras today are absolutely amazing. They can record in very low light levels with great sharpness. I actually designed my current layout so that I could take"night" shots. The color of the carpet is a forest green, backdrop is midnight blue, station and warehouse are white.

[dbaker48]

Chris:
If I could make a couple of suggestions regarding a camera. I assume you want to be able to post pictures on the web, etc.. Obviously a digital camera would be the most effective. Digital has attained the very high quality that can be obtained with a SLR, but it is getting very very close. Also, a digital offers a lot of flexibility with the images that is a little more difficult with the typical "film" or SLR.
Some important considerations:

-3 Megapixels minimum, more than 5, is not really necessary unless you have some real specifics or going professional.

- Check the shutter release delay time. This is the delay from when you press the shutter release to when the shutter actually releases. This can be extremely frustrating especially when you take a picture of a moving object, and it is gone by the time the camera reacts.

A very important feature is called PIM (Photo Image Matching) which is a technique that writes camera settings, definition of colors, gama, and other details to a header on the jpg file of the image, which communicates and syncronizes that information with certain printers, and most photo editing software. This provides a significant improvement on printed images.

- Also, try to avoid plastic lenses if you can. Glass lenses are more stable and consistent.

If you like I can send you additional material on "Selecting a Digital Camera", just send me an email, and you got it.

[Anonymous]

What type of camera do you use for taking pics of your trains and layouts? Whether digital or film-based, what type model do you use and what's the most important thing when taking the shot?

I know lighting is the most important thing. Alot of the pics I have seen here are of razor-sharp quality and excellent color detail and saturation. Were these taken with a digital camera or film? I only have a 2.1MP camera by HPand while it takes good pics, I dont think it will look as good as the ones i've seen at the forum. Of course I know that good camera optics play a part as well.

I'm thinking of upgrading to a better camera, namely a 4MP model with better optics. And there's quite a few I've seen that have good prices.

Chris