I have a Kodak EasyShare CX7530 digital camera. It is great for everyday photos but I can not get a crisp clear up close photo of my Z items. What digital camera do y'all use for crisp clear up close photos of Z scale? John Bartolotto
Hi John, I'm using an older 2.1 MP Nikon 800 with a couple of Tiffen macro lenses. A very inexpensive setup for macro shots. I just now snapped a couple of example pics of the Marklin Mogul: Here's an older shot of the GG1: It's an inexpensive rig, but I'm pretty happy with it. John
I have a Canon D10 with a Macro. Not cheap, but worth every penny. The covers of the recent Jan/Feb 2006 and July/August 2005 issue of Ztrack were shot with this camera. Also, all the photos from the Swiss trip article that ran in the Nov/Dec 2006 where form this camera (28 -105mm lend and 70mm - 300mm). Below is one closeup. I can get tighter if need be. I have found that you need a really good tripod to shoot Z. You can't have any shaking. I use very little flash and go more so for longer exposures. This is how I did the cover shots and the closeup. Rob
I work for Nikon so my recommendations are obviously biased. This is a quick example I made of a MOVING MTL F7 using Macro mode on the Coolpix P2 (5 Megapixel); I would normally have positioned the flash better and I did some touch-up (thus the noise), but take a look at the detail. For Macro/Close-up, Nikon Coolpix cameras are the best. For SLR, use our 60mm Micro or brand new 105 Micro-both amazing and often discussed in the Trainboard Rail Photography forum. I prefer an SLR but I like using compacts at train shows. This was from the Springfield Mass. show, cropped; from February;.
I use a 4M pixel Olympus C765Z with a Supermacro feature that lets you get within 1/4" from the subject and be in focus. It works real good, but like any camera, you need great lighting for it to work well. -Robert
An older Fuji Finepix S5000 is mine, and it can do this: N scale shots, haven't tried macros of Z stock yet.. MT boxcar: Kato E9: Alaska RR SD70MAC:
A couple of thoughts after telling you my camera and reading comments here. If you want a POCKET camera I still like my Olympus 5500 [your mileage WILL vary]. Now if you want a professional type, then I would go with something like a Nikon and use Macro lenses either fixed or zoom focus and Stop way down like f 1/32 and take exposures on a STRONG tripod of about 2 to 3 seconds. I can climb on my tripod. The zoom macros are EXPENSIVE but they sure produce spectacular photos, and would be the preferred lens. This comment is after taking about 30,000 photos at f 1/32 with about 3/4 of them macros
All the photos exhibited are great, however, all of them do not require much depth of field. It takes more than a micro lense to take a photo like this by Henk Oversloot. (I think that I spelt it correctly) He models in 2mm scale. That is close to N I think. http://www.raw-nette.de/h_g8re.jpg By the way, I cannot take pictures like that. One hint that I read recently was to step back and use the telephoto feature of your camera. I haven't tried this yet. Have plenty of light and use a tripod to hold the camera steady.
