A few trial views with a "new" camera....

[doctorwayne]

A while back, I was taking train photos on my layout, using my el cheapo Kodak as usual. The camera was on a tripod and hooked-up to an AC adapter - the latter feature very useful when it may take a half hour or more to set up a scene for photography. Turning to grab another freight car to add to the train, I caught the adapter's cord, knocking the tripod off balance and sending the camera to the concrete floor. The mechanism which holds the lense in alignment was broken, and while the camera still works, the lense is no longer on a fixed axis. It can be manually aligned, but is a hit-or-miss proposition. That, coupled with erratic focusing capabilities, lead me to a search for another camera. Yesterday, I picked up its replacement - another Kodak (used) of a different model, but also running on two AA batteries, capable of accepting the AC adapter, and able to use the one gig memory card from my old camera. While looking it over before purchasing, I was trying to find the white balance feature and found, in addition, some manual options of which the owner was unaware, and which were not available on my older camera.
Though I've yet to master this new toy, I took a few random shots (before downloading and printing the user's manual, of course). , which I'll offer here for your consideration.

While none qualify as "good photography", some aren't too bad (the rolling stock views, particularly of the black cars, seem to show the details a little better than the previous camera did), although some others aren't too good at all.
However, these latter ones struck me with their way of showing the layout as segments of landscape more-or-less isolated from their "train room" environment. If you ignore the all-too-obvious elements like the layout support framing for the second level, ceiling and light fixtures, and other incongruous articles in the background, the views seem almost what you'd see if you were trapped in a small-town environment somewhere, with the only means of possible escape being that ribbon of track disappearing in the distance.

A couple of loco shots - the depth-of-field could be better, but the details on the loco show up well:


This one's a little out-of-focus, but the lighting seems pretty reasonable over most of the image:


A Proto2000 gondola:


A Walthers USRA gondola:


Bowser Pennsy H21A


Stewart U-channel hopper:


Accurail USRA hopper:


A view looking east near the Lowbanks station. Surely those tracks must lead somewhere...


Heading east, this is what you might see looking back from the caboose as it heads out onto the Maitland River bridge...


If you'd been sitting in your car at Indian Line while this train passed, you might have caught this last glimpse as it trundled across the multiple spans over Chippawa Creek, about to disappear in the distance...


Perhaps you were near the Elfrida station when that train rolled into town, wishing you had a ticket to take you wherever she was going...


Maybe you were working nearby, pausing for a moment as she whistled prior to departure...


Or maybe you'd already been where she was headed, and were coming home again...


Wayne

[Gary S]

Great photos, docWayne. The shots looking down the tracks are good, and somewhat unusual for a model railroad. Your long shelves fit right in for this type of shot.

[SP1]

Great photos, docWayne. The shots looking down the tracks are good, and somewhat unusual for a model railroad. Your long shelves fit right in for this type of shot.

I second this.
In addition I think you really, really should try the helicon focus software on these scenes. While helicon focus is rather expensive, there are also freeware programs that do the same.

[doctorwayne]

Thanks for the kind comments, guys.

While I'm aware of the Helicon Focus software (thanks Crandell ), I'm certain that the images shown can be improved upon somewhat once I gain a little more familiarity with the camera. Beyond that, though, I doubt that such programmes would be of much use for my circumstances: the excess background distractions would require photoshopping, or, as was done with some of the images, severe cropping. While the latter is easy enough, the former is both beyond my means and my interests, too.
If I make any progress with image quality, though, I'll add them here as they become available.

Wayne

[MasonJar]

Great shots Wayne. Glad you found a suitable replacement for your "manually aligned lens" camera. Those views down the tracks are fantastic, and the stories (even short ones) are great.

Andrew

[Steamtrains]

Just gotta love that little yard goat....Guess I'm a sucker for 0-8-0's...
And those other scenes aren't half-bad either....

Does you camera have a "macro" setting..?? This helps to shorten the out-of-focus area in the foreground, while keeping everything beyond in focus...

[P5se Camelback]

Ah! The Scale Test Car dutifully tagging along behing the combine rolling out onto the bridge over the Chippewa Creek ...

That's gotta be my favorite ...

,,, but then ...

... I have this thing for the old scale test cars!

[doctorwayne]

A little more foolin' around....

Looking east towards the Maitland River:


...and west from the opposite side of the river:


The "Macro" setting should lessen the need for shooting through my Opti-visor:


This one's a little too "in your face" for my tastes, but the depth of field isn't too bad considering that I didn't alter the settings for the focus zone(s). It was shot at f6.7, the smallest aperture available.


Not much in the way of a subject here, but I see that coal bin needs to sit on the ground instead of hovering. Hmmm, and the water tower may be trying to take-off, too. Man, this camera is terrible - it's showing too many things that need attention.


Next round of pictures, I'll keep a record of the camera settings.

Wayne

[P5se Camelback]

Thaose are some nice, crisp in-focus images, doctorwayne.

Which model is that camera. It has some interesting features! Mine has only a few, aperature opening for depth of field is not one of them, nor is manual focus!

[Loblolly Logger]

Love that "on the tracks" perspective. I especially like the shot through the bridge!

[Steamtrains]

Now that's what I'm talkin' about..!! Great shots..!!
And most timely, too...That picture of #630 is just what I needed to see...I'm getting ready to bend some iron for the handrails, and that configuration is exactly what I have in mind to do...Now I know what it's supposed to look like....