Re: Digital Cameras

[Ron Goodenow <rkgood@mindspring.com>]

I've been doing [amateur] railroad and scenic photography for almost 40
years, and have gone through several generations of cameras. Now slipping
into digital.

I've reviewed many of the posts in this thread and would generally agree
that in terms of flexibility, high speed photography, and getting results
for larger than 11x14 prints there is still some advantage to a good slr
and fine grain film. And, who cannot want the exteme wide-angle and
telephoto lenses that are in many 35mm gadget bags and are dreadfully
expensive for most users of digital cameras? In fact, it is the 135mm +
telephoto I miss the most right now.

This said, as a cost-conscious amateur who publishes increasingly on the
web, I am just about converted to digital, and this on the basis of
experience primarily with a $300 Olympus D340R [and a little Epson 550
before it]. Here are some reasons:

Cost:  I've invested in four 8meg SmartMedia cards [they cost me ten bucks
each at CompUSA] , each one of which is capable of 36 megapixel photos, or
upwards of 100 at lower resolutions [which I find to be surprisingly
excellent]. With a card reader [an extra $80] I can offload to my tiny
subnotebook or desktop in seconds. Two sets of NiMH batteries at fifteen
dollars a set, charged in a cheap Rayovac charger that also handles NiCads
[which work very well] and alkalines, kept me going in remote parts of
Ireland for over a week [each set will handle a hundred photos with ease].
Being able to go home at night and review photos either in my notebook or
on the lcd screen assures that when traveling I need only keep the shots I
want.

Editing: With any number of photo editing programs [some of which are
bundled in OEM packages of various kinds] one can do an amazing amount of
cropping, making up for poor exposure, sharpening, etc. to compensate for
focal length limitations.

Output: With the growth of the web and internet, and the plunge in the
price of decent color printers, more and more publishing will be
electronic -- almost daily I exchange photos with friends, family and
professional associates around the world. For hard copy up through 8x10,
my $200 Canon BJC6000 printer turns out stunning results that are cheap [I
use bulk ink] and fast. And, even with one hour film processing [which
gives very uneven and limited results] there is no comparison if one is
under a deadline. And, being able to review on a small lcd screen has
enabled me to 'practice' in many situations. I have noticed that one does
not get the latitude one sometimes needs for high contrast situations, but
I have also found that color tends to me much more 'true' than with many
films. I have been going through thousands of slides recently and have
been appalled by the deterioration of many, even though I have kept them
in optimal conditions and used premium processing. A digital imaged saved
is a digital image kept; I keep sets of original megapixel 'raw' shots on
cd-roms, can back up as many as I want for safety and can always go back
to them when editing programs improve.

Exposure control:  I have learned to compensate for backlighting, and with
a little tripod can handle many nighttime situations. The self-timer,
while it cannot be set for a specific period of time, has been great for
many situations. And with rapid fire capability one really can catch a
pretty fast express. The Olympus is excellent in its macro setting and it
has several flash options.

I have been slide scanning with surprisingly good results on an Olympus
scanner that cost well less than $350, and use flatbeds for old prints.

At the end of day I would probably want to bring along my trusty Pentax ME
Super, my two Tokina ATX zooms which cover 25-250mm and assorted
peripherals were I to take a long train trip or to set up for a day of
shooting on the NEC, but it feels to me that within a year and probably
one more investment that will be unnecessary. I guess the old axiom that
you need to think your needs through pretty carefully gets a real test
here. All in all, however, for someone who loves to take and share photos,
digital is a whole new and very exciting world.

You can see a mix of my photos on the Friends of Amtrak site. Most were
taken with conventional 35mm equipment and digitized, but there are
several, including a Coast Starlight trip report, which were photographed
with a digital camera. Go to:

http://trainweb.com/crocon/amtrak.html

The Ireland trip I mentioned [sorry no trains] which was all Olympus
digital is at
http://www.teleworkllc.com/Ireland    I think these photos show what can
be done, and with surprising ease!

/ron