Friends of the Rail Forum

Any thoughts on what you consider the ideal general purpose lens for railway photographs?

The ideal?

The most most economical choice?

Etc.........

12 x optical zoom?

I use a 20mm fitted to the camera for closeup shots and a 75 - 300mm as an alternative for the rest as I find that gives me the most coverage that I require. All I need now is somebody behind the camera who knows what he is doing! After over 50 years of using film my daughter 'persuaded' me to change to digital, and as they say I am a little out of my comfort zone. You did not mention the camera so I cannot mention any variations of zoom, etc..

Malcolm

I find that you need a good range from 28-200mm. Most shots are taken around the 40-70 mark but you need the variation. Anything over 28-125, which is what I have used a lot, the lens becomes heavier and bulkier, although I see the new issues are light. I currently use a 28-85 with image stabiliser, but I suffer with lack of zoom, so for zoom one would need 2 cameras to do different shots in the same location.
Price is the big obstacle- the nicer the lens the more unaffordable it is! But one can see a big difference between lenses of different quality.

Malcolm - do not panic. I have been using a digital SLR for a long time now and I still stuff up. I actually do not believe anyone would be 100% au fait with all the features.

I have now established a basic train set-up and a bird set-up - anything else is often a mess.

I haver spoken to photo professionals as well - and they do not know all the features. But then, you do not have to!

Kevin,

I changed from a Mamiya ZD and bought a Minolta 7D as that model had the anti-shake - needed after the dram of Glenfarclas - and now they have closed down and handed it to Sony. So I am trading it in for a Nikon. The 20mm lens is fine as I need to take photographs inside the mountain and have found it rather difficult to step backwards to get it all in!. Outside on the Gotthard the zoom lens comes into its own as there are many places where closeups are not possible, although the railway company has built a footpath alongside the railway track for most of the Northern Ramp we shall see if anything happens on the South Ramp.. I have found that in stations such as Zürich or Luzern a 100mm lens is best to get the coverage that I need. As a present I was given a 500mm lens for the Minolta and found it a waste of time trying to use as the light had to be exceptional to make it work correctly, and for that reason I would advise anybody against going for the long range lens and go for the best lower range lens that you can get. Out in SA where the sun splits the stones for most of year, a long lens might work.

I shall away and process [Photoshop] my shots of Sedrun from this morning.

Cheers

Malcolm

If I may add my five cents worth to all you Pro's. I have a Canon 350d. I have the standard 28 to 55 lense. Taking photos in raw mode and then converting them with photoshop works the best for me. Because of the size of the photos I can crop without losing to much size. My zoom lense is a Sigma 75 to 300. This I need a Tripod or Mono Pod as using it to the full 300 without the tri or mono some of my photos are blurred. No wonder I was never a good shot in the Air Force.

Everyone is a pro! What I mean by this is that I have see some excellent pic's taken with pitiful little cheap cameras. I have also seen rotten pics taken with equipment I would give by eye teeth for - if I still had them (they may ion a packet somewhere).

The lens issue is interesting - I have been through this debate with "experts" (and indeed they were/are) and what is interesting are the lens choices - often to achieve the same ends.

I am interested in a few more replies, so hopefully other readers will respond.

Aiden????

Hi All.

I am using a Sigma 18 - 200mm zoom with OS. I find this lens works well for trains as it provides full wide angle and reasonable telephoto. Also it is not too heavy to handhold as I don't use a tripod for trains and this lens can allow me to get 2 or 3 shots per run past if I am lucky.
In most run pasts it is more important to have wide angle as you are normally standing near the train as it comes past than a telephoto.
It is not the fastest lens, but in SA there is normally enough light.

As railway photography is action photography the critical thing is to use the fastest shutter speed possible to prevent blurring. You should either use shutter priority mode or sports mode to set the shutter speed. With digital I would rather underexpose, but get a sharp image and fix exposure in photoshop. You cannot fix a blurred image in photoshop.

Cheers

Aidan

One point that I think is worth making is the focal length of a lens for a film camera will not be same if used on a digital one. Multiply by a factor of 1.6 - I think - to get the equivalent range. Also be very careful in the use of multiplier lens especially the 3x versions as they will NOT work properly with a lens under 100mm, or at least on Sony/Minolta.

Malcolm

I see their are few Nikon R5999 with (18-55mm)and Canon DSLR at Incredible connection for sale.

Bought a re-furbished Nikon D40 with 18-135mm (ideally would have liked a 18-200mm)
for $485 from warehousedeals.com paid for the shipment and then of course in SA VAT on that
The lens is the most important for me and then I will get a 80-400mm for my aviation shots.
Wide angle 18mm perfect for cab shots