BNSF on the Joint Line (5 IMG)

[CopCarSS]

Hey Gang,

I met up with a couple of friends yesterday and we went out for a bit of railfanning down on the Joint Line. Here are my shots from the outing.

First up is a shot I took in Littleton before my comrades arrived. Fall is starting to work its way out of the high country and down into Denver proper:

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After this, I met up with my friends down towards Palmer Lake. First shot was of an ACe leading a coal drag at a slow pace north of Palmer Lake proper:

Flickr Link

This train was moving so slow that it was easy to beat it into Palmer Lake. Here's a shot of the train working its way through town:

Flickr Link

We had another Southbound headed our way after this. I decided to break out a wider angle lens to see what it could do with the "standard" shot from where I was standing. I think I like the effect:

Flickr Link

And finally, here's a Northbound working its way into Palmer Lake:

Flickr Link

That's it for this edition. I've really been having a ball shooting railroading again since I've been playing with this full frame Canon, so I'm sure I'll have some more stuff for you all in the near future.

As always, comments and critiques are more than welcome!

[ChuckCobleigh]

Sounds and looks like a fun day.  Nothing like fall in the higher elevations, is there.  Full frame just feels right, doesn't it?

[The Butler]

Chris, what do you mean by "full frame?"

[CopCarSS]

Chuck - I think the thing I've loved most about it is looking through that big, bright viewfinder. Even very good APS-C finders like the one on my K-5 can't compare to a FF finder. Now, if I could just get one that equals my Pentax LX (which reminds me...I have a roll of film in that one to finish off...)

James - Full Frame is a reference to the sensor size. The sensors on most DSLRs are smaller than what a frame of 35mm film is (36mm x 24mm). So, for instance, the sensors on my two Pentax cameras both have dimensions of 23.7mm x 15.7mm. Sensors in that size range are what are known as APS-C. The Micro Four Thirds mirrorless cameras that are gaining popularity have a smaller sensor than those -- 17.3mm x 13mm. As you get into the Point and Shoot market, sensors get progressively smaller to the point of being smaller than a fingernail.

There are a few key benefits to having a full frame sensor. I listed one above in my reply to Chuck -- the viewfinder is much bigger and brighter because the mirror and prism assembly has to be bigger out of necessity. Additionally, photosites are bigger for a given resolution on full frame sensors than on smaller sensors. Larger photosites are more efficient at collecting photons so there are some performance benefits -- usually in high ISO and dynamic range measurements.

Additionally, larger sensors allow for shallower depth of field. This is kind of nice if one is trying to isolate a subject. I shot a wedding a couple of months ago with a friend and I was able to use his 85mm f1.2 for some shots. An 85mm f1.2 on a full frame camera allows for some crazy shallow DOF shots. The subject almost jumps out of the image. It's a cool effect.

There are a few downsides to using full frame sensors. Larger sensors are more expensive because there's a higher reject rate from defects during the manufacturing process, so the cameras that feature full frame sensors are often much more expensive than APS-C cameras. The gap is narrowing -- Canon and Nikon both announced "affordable" FF cameras at Photokina last month. Both carry a list price of $2100. That's still high, but is a lot better than their next level FF cameras which are over $3000.

Additionally, full frame sensors are usually very demanding on lenses, especially wide angles. So one has to be careful about picking lenses that will make full use of the sensor.

I sort of stumbled into full frame by accident. I had picked up a Canon 5D (the original 5D from 2005, sometimes referred to as the "5D Classic" now) for a very specific purpose. I intended to use it with Canon's magnificent line of Tilt Shift lenses. In the meantime, my Pentax K-5 had an issue and had to get shipped back to Pentax for repairs. I have a back-up Pentax body, but as time went on and I couldn't even get a quote from Pentax I got frustrated with them. I picked up a couple of affordable, but optically decent lenses for the 5D and I've been shooting it more and more.

Of course, that leaves me with a new dilemma. My K-5 is supposedly getting fixed and will be on its way back to me soon. I have to figure out where I go when it gets back. Pentax has really resisted implementing full frame cameras in their line-up, so I'm not holding my breath for them to come out with one anytime soon. I love the size of my Pentax cameras and lenses -- they're great for hiking with -- and my K-5 has amazing Dynamic Range performance -- 14.1 stops at ISO 80. I might keep both Canon and Pentax systems, but I kind of dislike the idea of having two complete sets of cameras, lenses, batteries, memory cards, etc. etc. It would be nice to be a one system shooter.

At the moment, I'm just going to adopt a "wait and see" approach and see what feels best. For the time being, though, I really am enjoying this FF experience...