Model Railroad Photography

[Sakman]

Hello folks,
I have decided to get a Canon T1i before the year is out but not quite sure what lens to get. Might someone suggest a decent...not too expensive lens for taking model railroad photos. There are a few pics on my personal website taken with my Canon S-80. Site URL is PC-Models

Thanks
Paul Cesak

[sybren]

It all depends on what kind of photos you want. In case of scenery-with-a-train shots any kitlens would do, but for closeups you may want to grab a macro lens.

[jofrost]

I would have to agree with the previous reply , and being and avid modeler myself would definately recommend a good macro lens for capturing the type of detail that is involved in model RR . If you are going to put the time into your modeling you may as well get nice crisp photos of it

I know my next lens addition will be a Sigma 50mm Macro ...

Nice little website there BTW ( I bookmarked it )

-John ( Who still likes to play with trains too )

[Quo Fan]

What you will need:
lens that is sharp at f16 (greater dept of field)
tripod - with center post that can be turned horizontal
lots of lights with diffusers

I also, am (or was) a model railroader. I currently don't have a layout, due to lack of space and time. (I still have all my trains.) Use a larger DOF so your shots don't look like models, you want them to look like prototype. If you look at the photos in the model railroad mags, all the shots have huge DOF's, unless they are specifically focusing on a detail.

[daft_biker]

If you save up for a tilt/shift lens you could get pics like in Thomas the tank engine

If you get the kit lens with your new camera it should be able to give frame filling shots of things about 60mm x 40mm at it's minimum focus distance. With the kit lens you can also zoom to experiment with perspective and angle of view.

A macro lens would be able to fill the frame with something about 22mm x 15mm and give better quality than the kit lens but it may not be much use for photographing layouts and wider views or larger subjects unless you have masses of space.

I'd probably stick with the kit lens to start with and go with the advice to use a tripod.