American Trains in Cuba
Adolf Hungrywolf’s stunning 320-page all- color book on Cuba’s railroads, 1993-2005. Over 1,000 images, including historic photos.
Hayden Books, 7 South Hijo de Dios Santa Fe, NM 87508 505-466-4970 Or order at
www.bobhayden.com
“MAKE NOISE”
Amtrak’s California Zephyr hustles westbound through Arvada, Colo. Note the tele’s shallow depth of field, letting the crossing gate arm in the foreground go soft while the sharp focus is on the train.
tive 35mm format equivalent power is small- er by a factor of about a half. For example, a 100mm lens that is a small telephoto on a DSLR is only a “normal” lens on a medium format camera, and a medium format 200mm equates to a small tele of about 100mm. Why does all of the above make sense? The
mm focal length of a lens is the measurement in mm between the optical center of the lens and the film or digital sensor, not the overall size of the lens. Hence a 50mm on a DSLR is still a 50mm on a medium format or compact camera, but with the lens being much small- er physically on the compact and physically larger on the medium format camera, the an- gle of view the lens provides to the smaller or larger sensor or film frame will result in a narrower telephoto effect or wide angle ef- fect, respectively. Now is that clear as mud, or what...? All we really need to know is that for most
railfan uses, a 200mm tele (35mm film equiv- alent) is about all the power we will ever need. For the SLR camera most often used track- side, this can be a single focal length lens of 100mm up to about 200mm; the tele end of “consumer” zoom lenses, such as a 35-105mm, 80-200mm, 35-300mm, 70-300mm, 150- 600mm, or similar; the very compact (short) catadioptric (“cat” or “mirror”) tele that uses a mirror system rather than multiple glass elements; and the built-in zooms in small point & shoot cameras that generally range from around 24mm up to as much as 700mm. (Again, “35mm equivalent” and be sure this is an “optical zoom” range, not “digital zoom,” which simply magnifies a smaller digital im- age that will be degraded, as opposed to the lens capturing a larger image.) For medium format, a lens on the order of
200 or 250mm will yield a mild telephoto ef- fect without being too big and heavy to hand- hold (see below). What is not needed are the big, heavy and
super expensive ($3000 to $11,000 or more) “Pro” class 300mm and larger “small can- nons” that have a fast f/2.8 or f/4 aperture to allow the fast action stopping shutter speeds in low light that professional sports photog- raphers need, and use expensive high optical
quality APO (Apochromatic ), ED (extra low dispersion), SD (super low dispersion), or LD (low dispersion) glass that allows top sharp- ness wide open rather than stopping down as is needed with non-APO glass lenses. (Long- time readers of R&R may recall a CAMERA BAG column on these big lenses many years ago by Bruce Kelly when he was an R&R associate editor,) and the APO glass has found its way into many smaller, more affordable telepho- tos and zooms.
Telephoto Problems
A drawback with teles of much over 200mm is a large size and heavy weight, which make hand-holding steadily enough to negate camera shake more difficult, since the tele power also magnifies the slightest camera movements. A standard rule of thumb with any lens to avoid hand-held camera shake is to use a shutter speed at least as fast as the mm power of your lens. For example, 1
/100 /500 of
a second can be used when hand holding a 100mm lens. Of course, as a faster shutter on the order of at least 1
is needed to render a
speeding train sharply, this rule with smaller teles is a moot point unless you are shooting a stationary subject. With teles of 400mm or greater, you can
also generally throw this rule out the win- dow. As an example, even 1
/1000 of a second
hand-holding my big and heavy 500mm tele yields slightly soft looking photos (I generally use this lens only for wildlife, and with a tri- pod or monopod). In addition to controlling hand-held shake,
a tripod is de rigueur to stabilize a big tele- photo to keep the horizon line from “tilting,” from cutting off part of a tightly framed sub- ject at one side of the composition, and to help zero in on critical focus if manually focusing since just a slight movement of the camera side to side or front to back can throw your composition and focus off. Monopods are a real asset when you need to steady your tele lens but do not want to lug a tripod any dis- tance or do not have time to set up a tripod when a train is fast approaching. Some cameras and lenses have an an- ti-shake “Vibration Reduction,” “Vibration
From Nathan Six Chimes to Leslie models, mono- tone honkers to Hancock Air Whistles, a Sonic Feast awaits!
Many in-cab as well as close range and distant perspectives. HAVE A BLAST !! 70 Minutes. $24 Postpaid USA - Add $5 for Canada and International
WRP_Susquehanna_Jan15_6v_Layout 1 11/30/14 6
To order: Credit Card (Visa, MC, Disc.) or Check to: Revelation Video, Box 129, Tallmadge, OH 44278. Credit Card Orders: 330 630 9817
Susquehanna and Western
Before the era of container trains and big diesels, we take a fond look back at the old Susquehanna operations from Jersey City tidewater into the mountains and coalfields of eastern Pennsylvania. You’ll enjoy rare black and white views of Ten-Wheelers and Decapods, early Alco and EMD diesels, as well as streamlined motorcars and Budd RDCs.
SHORTLINE CLASSIC
$16.95
Plus shipping & handling Order Item #NYSW-CRS
(877) 787-2467
WHITERIVERPRODUCTIONS.COM P.O. BOX 48, BUCKLIN, MO 64631
55 New York,
Whistles, Air Horns, and Bells form the "Language of Trains".
SAVE! $60.00 +
$8.00 S&H in U.S. with
FREE DVD!
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70