Archive for the 'photo gear' Category

It always seems to take a major disaster to get people’s attention. I’m no different. I’ve been putting off creating a household inventory for, oh, 20 years now. After a good friend and his wife had their camera gear stolen from their vehicle I decided I’d better take their advice and put together an inventory of the gear I use when I’m railfanning.

Using the KISS principle I threw together a simple spreadsheet that contains the columns shown above. I then methodically proceeded through the camera bag documenting all the pieces including CF cards, extra batteries, remote cables, and lens hoods. I obviously included serial numbers where applicable. In many cases I filed away the original receipts in the fire safe so I pulled those out and documented the date of the receipt so I could locate it quickly.

After an hour and a half I had a complete inventory of my camera and radio gear that I use while railfanning. Its not a household inventory but is one step towards one. My hope is this data slowly rots in the fire safe and I never have to use it. If I do need it though I’ve got it all in one place.

How’s your inventory?

April 20 marks seven years for me of using a digital camera to capture railfan photos.   Seven years seems like an odd milestone doesn’t it?  As I thought this through I realized seven years represents about one third of the time I’ve photographed trains.  When you do something the same way one third of the time you get used to it and it becomes natural.

The morning of April 21, 2001 was quite busy on the Lakeside Sub.  The plethora of trains would later come in handy for the 700 and crew.

I purchased a Kodak DC4800 3.1MP camera as a Christmas present for my wife in November of 2000.  After Christmas I used the camera a little bit for railfanning around Vancouver but I hadn’t yet taken it on a week long trip.  I stole the camera away from her for my trip to Spokane and back to chase the ill-fated Homecoming Excursion.   With that bit of thievery this trip became my first time using digital to capture railroad images on a road trip.

April 22, 2001.  Still on the rails.  This day would be the last relatively good day of the excursion.

What did I think?  Well, unlike some, I didn’t waffle back and forth between film and digital.  My experience on this trip convinced me digital is where it is.   Despite being a point and shoot, the 3.1 MP camera did a fine job and captured some great memories for me.  Its ease of use, instant feedback, and ability to correct photos really sold me!   On top of that I was still used to prints so I did print some photos…but only the ones I felt were worth the cost.   These advantages were too great to ignore and I never looked back. 

Seven years later digital imaging seems so natural that I feel like I’ve been doing it all my life.

Well, it was finally time. In the middle of downtown San Francisco I decided Joleen and I were going to get our Digital SLR Finally. Already we’ve blazed through about 600 pictures figuring out various things about the camera. San Francisco being an awesome place to do just that.

Over the next couple of weeks I’ll be pulling some of our “ok” newbie pictures out of the lot and posting them online. Of course at this stage of learning about the camera I like about everything that comes out of the thing. I also will definitely have some street running light rail shots of the MUNI LRVs coming up. Unfortunately I haven’t shot much heavy rail yet, lacking the opportunity.

Within the first day of shooting I already have had warnings and interrogations about what I’m taking pictures of. America’s paranoia is definitely two things; lame and absurd. My friend Mike and I had a conversation with a member of San Francisco’s SWAT Team that patrols the corridors of the BART System. Mainly after being reprimanded for taking a picture or three of the platform. Maybe I’ll post those just to be hard headed.

Anyway, beyond the interesting experiences, fun learning lessons, and the rip roaring fun of San Francisco I must finish this entry for now and am looking forward to many great pictures and future postings of said pictures in this space!

So cheers, I’m stoked to finally have joined the Digital SLR crowd!

In preparation for my upcoming adventure to Southern California and Arizona I purchased a 1.4X extender. With the vast desert landscapes there are certainly opportunities for interesting tele-smash photos including trains and the desolate hills in the background. To achieve some of that style of photography I thought I’d expand my reach a bit with the 1.4X extender. While an extender is a compromise it works well with many of Canon’s L lenses including the 70-200mm f/2.8 that I have. This morning I thought I’d try it out at my familiar stomping ground to see how it works in the real world.

All photos are at 280mm…because I could…

UP’s GLSE heads north of the Columbia Draw

UP’s A SEBA crosses over at the Center

For photographers late February and early March can be the most interesting time of the year.  This is not because of great photographic opportunities but rather the annual Photo Marketing Association convention and trade show.  The PMA as its known is usually the excuse that manufacturers use to announce new products and components.  So far my assessment is that the products released are just evolutionary improvements, but I see that some are pushing the envelope.  Here’s my list from a Canon owner’s point of view…

1.  Canon EOS-1D Mark III Digital SLR
2.  Canon EF-16-35mm f/2.8L II USM wide angle zoom lens
3.  Lexar Professional UDMA 300X CompactFlash card (2GB, 4GB, 8GB) & Lexar Professional UDMA FireWire 800 Reader
5.  Miscellaneous accessories from Canon that I wasn’t interested in (wireless remote and flash)
4.  A variety of point and shoot cameras from both Canon and Nikon

I’m not likely to pick up a 1DMkIII, but the 16-35 and the fast Lexar card and reader are intriguing. 

With the new card Lexar has caught up to and passed SanDisk who with their Extreme IV series and FireWire card reader introduced high speed download.  With UDMA, Lexar raises the bar a bit higher, which is nothing but good for all of us.  Now, when will camera manufacturers improve their throughput to match the cards?

The 16-35 improves on a lens that originally received mixed reviews.  Some liked it and others hated it but if you could live with the known issues it would work for you.  With the II version Canon is attempting to correct the known issues and I believe finally provide a respectable wide angle zoom.  I mentioned to Aaron a couple of weeks ago that when I started research on wide angle lenses for Canon gear I was disappointed in the lack of consistent quality Canon usually provides in that category.  Hopefully this will correct that deficit.

For now these are just announcements.  I’m looking forward to when these products hit the streets and then seeing the reviews and how these devices work in the real world.   Ah, Christmas in February (and hopefully throughout spring).  

Here at Dogcaught, we’re all about helping out our readers.  We’ve previously talked about my experiences with the Copper Hill method of cleaning a DSLR sensor, and Steve pointed out the Scottish method.

Today I learned of another method.  It gives me the chills.

Here’s some new camera accessories of interest to railfans and photographers:  Canon Accessories  After viewing these new items, one railfan was quoted as saying “I was hoping they’d add a nice set of grain elevators as grain elevators are something quite few and far between here”

Check out this blog post on the New York Times site where they’ve taken three different sized images — 13 megapixels, 8 megapixels, and 5 megapixels — and blown them up to 16×24 then asked John Q. Public to tell the difference.

Folks couldn’t tell.

As the commenters rightly point out, there are other factors which aren’t divulged in the experiment, but regardless of those other factors, it reiterates something I’ve long believed and stated: megapixels aren’t the most important thing.

Oh… and you railfans might notice a familiar name down on comment #51 on the site…

I’m currently in the market for a good tripod.

I just popped over to check out the Fred Miranda review page for the Bogen/Manfrotto 3021:

Based on the “Recommended By” numbers, this must be one damn good tripod!

We’ve talked about sensor dust and cleaning the sensor a few times on here, so I got a chuckle out of today’s WhatTheDuck comic strip about it…

It’s about time I talked a bit about the photography gear I use.  While I believe its not the gear that makes the photograph, a quality body and lenses do help with ensuring the technical aspects of the image are the best they can be.  With that in mind, here’s what I carry…

My camera body is a 8 mega pixel Canon EOS-20D DSLR.  I purchased it in February of 2005 after I watched the excellent quality photos produced by my FoamersNW cohorts and their DSLRs.  As is typical with the digital camera arena it was pretty much outdated 6 months to a year after purchase, but balancing budget and quality I feel like it will serve me well for a solid 5 years.  I figure by then the ‘gotta have a new one bug’ will bite.

Again, learning from my FoamersNW cohorts I chose to take the extra time and save up my money to purchase good quality lenses.  I read lots of reviews and opinions and came to the conclusion that if I spent the extra money on a couple of quality zoom lenses I would be very satisfied with the quality of the photos and I would be able to retain the zoom feature that seems to work well for railfanning.

The first lens I decided on is the EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS.  I don’t know exactly where to start with my comments on this lens because honestly it does everything I ask it to do and the images are consistently outstanding technically.  It is a workhorse that retains excellent quality throughout the zoom and aperture ranges.  The trade off here is weight, to obtain f/2.8 there is a lot of glass in this lens which weighs in at 3.5 lbs.

To complete my zoom range I purchased the EF 24-70mm f/2.8L.  At the time I was planning to purchase this lens the reviews were very mixed, some had superior results and some had images that were consistently soft.  About 6 months before I purchased Canon recalled all of the lenses and replaced them because of a manufacturing defect.  From that point on everyone raved about the lens with the only gripe remaining that the lens was soft around the edges at 24mm with the aperture wide open.  I purchased and have been consistently happy with it.  The color it produces is always vibrant and accurate and the photos are always sharp (I tend not to pixel peep, so the claims of softness in the corners has never been proven by me).

In early 2009 I found myself wanting to satisify my need to have a wide angle zoom. My good friend Ross enjoyed his EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 and produced what I thought were spectacular wide angle images. In January I took the plunge and purchased one to give myself some other options. I certainly considered other L lenses in the wide angle zoom category but after several photographers I trust declared the 10-22 to be all but an L I decided it was for me.

I wanted to extend my reach a bit without a big cash outlay so I purchased an EF 1.4X II Extender. Extenders are somewhat of a compromise but combined with the EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS the results are outstanding.

One nice feature of the lenses I purchased is they all accept 77mm filters! Last spring I purchased a B+W Slim MRC Circular Polarizer.  The best use I found for this tool was during my visit to Stampede Pass.  At the high sun times the glare off the green trees was tremendous.  I used the polarizer to cut that a bit.  This polarizer works quite well and in most applications just using a bit of polarizing is sufficient.  Apply too much give you that “I have a polarizer on” look which I’m not a fan of.

To hold the whole kit I purchased a Tamrac Expedition 5 5575 backpack-style bag.  This bag is designed to hold a body with the 70-200mm f/28.L mounted down the center pocket.  All of the interior walls are Velcro mounted to the outside wall so this bag can be configured most any way to hold additional lens and accessories.  As I’ve added accessories or reconfigured to carry other items (like food when hiking) I found it quick and easy to rearrange.  A tripod can be strapped to the outside to form a complete kit.  I have used this bag on a couple of hiking trips (for railfanning and pleasure) and even though it weighed nearly 15 lbs. with camera, tripod, food, and water it was very easy on my back and shoulders. 

I use a Gitzo GT2530 Mountaineer 6X tripod with a Really Right Stuff BH-40 LRII head to support my camera.  The Gitzo is rock steady and doesn’t deflect under the weight of my gear.  The BH-40 is a fabulous piece of gear that is designed for the success of the photographer.  It is wholly capable of handling all my gear and does not go overboard with its size or weight.  Both the tripod and head operate very smoothly and make the business of camera support simple and easy. I also have Bogen leveling base for panoramas and a Cabellas window mount just in case I get really lazy and have to sit in the truck to take photos.

I of course have the usual extras in my bag, a remote release (Canon RS-80N3), extra memory cards (mostly SanDisk Extreme IV and Ultra II) and lens cleaning rags.  What I consider my best accessory purchase is an Op/Tech Pro Loop Strap for the camera.  This strap is quite wide, made of foam rubber and has several elastic pieces around the neck area to absorb shock.  It literally turned my camera with 70-200mm f/2.8L mounted into a feather weight.  Its a bargain at just over $20. 

A few days ago I received an e-mail from a reader:

…should I spend big bucks on prime lenses or get a workhorse zoom? Never really gave it much though until now. Do you really have to sacrifice portability for quality, and vice-versa?

Seems like a reasonable question to ask, and I figured I’d offer my thoughts publicly in response. I think the camera industry is at a point where the prime vs. zoom issue doesn’t really matter, and that the quality of the lens is more important than if it has moveable parts. I started out with cheap lenses, and while they produced adquate images, they weren’t quite up to par with some of the higher-quality glass that’s available.

A good quality zoom will produce a better image than a poor quality prime. I seem to be going the prime route with my latest lens purchases, but Steve (also posting on this site) uses good-quality zooms including the excellent Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L and gets excellent results.

For a great resource on evaluating lenses with some first-hand stories, I recommend the reviews section at FredMiranda.com

Three new items are coming from Canon:

• EOS-400D: 10.2mp DSLR.  Inherits the autofocus and 2.5″ LCD from the 30D.  It’ll be interesting to see the pricing.
• 70-200mm f/4L IS lens, with expected pricing in the $1250 range.  Ouch.  That’s twice the price of the current non-IS lens, and I really don’t see IS being worth $700 on this lens.
• 50mm f/1.2L lens, expected price around $1600.  If someone needs a really, really good 50mm, now they can get one.  Only for the very serious roster shooter

Camera information from Canon Japan.  Lens information at Rob Galbraith.  I doubt I’ll ever own either of these lenses, but I may have to take a look at the 400D whenever I start considering a new body.

Late last year Aaron posted about his sensor cleaning.  Like Aaron I subscribe to the Copper Hill method and have been very pleased with the results and the gentleness on my equipment.  Tonight though I stumbled across another sensor cleaning method that all DSLR owners should have a look at.  Its called the Scottish method.

While I can’t recommend this method for Canon owners, it appears from the photos it works fine for Nikons.  Good luck and bottoms up!

Those folks over at B&H Photo in New York have never disappointed me with any service issues.  My latest tale of good service came this week.  Sunday night around 23:00 PDT I placed an order for three items, with ground shipping.

Monday morning I checked my mail around 06:30 PDT, and had a notification that my items had shipped.

That’s good service.

I saw this thread title on photo.net and was momentarily puzzed: “Good, non-SLR digital camera for my brother (around 150 pounds)”

My first thought was damn, that’s a heavy camera.  Then, as my mind realized that wasn’t what the poster meant, I thought what the hell would his brother’s weight have to do with anything?

Finally I figured out he was talking about the British unit of currency…

Today while shooting some photos at lunchtime (will be posted later) I managed to have a new camera situation come up, that being my camera blinking “Err 05″ and refusing to take a picture right as I got set for the shot.

As I now know, that’s what happens when I accidentally hit the button for the pop-up flash, but my hand is in the way so the flash can’t extend fully.  Instead of just letting me shoot without the flash, the camera blinks the error message and prevents anything else from happening until you’ve turned the camera off, turned it back on, and missed your shot.

This makes wading through a lot of useless crap on photo.net worth it…

Over at DSLRBlog, there’s a post discussing When to Buy a New Camera. The case in point given is someone who purchased a high-end Nikon DSLR for about $5000 and is now disappointed they’ve released a new model… should he upgrade?

I’ve pondered a new camera body myself. I currently use a Canon EOS-300D which isn’t the newest kid on the block. Every time I think about it, I can’t come up with a good argument for upgrading. The pictures that come out of my camera are just fine, and are just as good as the day I bought it. Sure, a newer body would give me a few more pixels or a slightly larger buffer or another shot per second, but are those things really worth another $1,000? Not yet.

Every camera will be obsolete at some point. But what does that mean? Does it matter if the camera is “obsolete”? Will the fact that it’s obsolete prevent the camera from serving its purpose? No.

To me, determining when to buy a new camera isn’t that hard of a question to answer. One should purchase a new replacement camera when the set of new features becomes worth the re-investment price. If a new camera is only going to offer a small marginal improvement, then spending the money to buy something which is 90% the same as something one already owns doesn’t make much sense. That money could be spent more wisely on better glass or accessories which will outlive the camera body.

Luminous Landscape has done an extensive test comparing medium-format digital backs along with traditional 4×5 cameras. They compare backs from Phase One, Canon’s high-end DSLRs, a few selections from Linhof, along with the Hasselblad H1 and Mamiya 645.

I don’t feel that I’m qualified to comment much on this, but it’s interesting reading if you want to find out more about the big boys of digital. 39 megapixels, anyone?

Read the article here