Western Railroad Discussion > my digital dilemma

Even though I have pretty much said goodbye to my 35mm, this trip I tried a few times to take both at once and messed up a few shots due to the ever present "digital delay", at least on the Sony Cybershot that I have. Most of the time things work out fine but I still am learning how to "spot" [rr term for stopping a car or train in an exact spot] or stop the train in a specific place in my photograph. A couple of times it was because of trying to duplicate but a couple of times I simply blew it by waiting a literal second too long. Now I'm sure that I'm the only person in the world that has this problem? It seems to happen the faster the subject is moving. I am unfortunately a slow learner. Most of the time I shoot too early when trying to take two at once and most of the time it is just a matter of cropping. Here are a couple of examples from my latest trip.
top: a southbound BNSF coal load leaving the Orin Sub at Bridger Jct trying to shot just before the tree shadow. Had this been a slide it would have worked.
middle: CP unit pipe train on BNSF leaving the yard at Greybull, WY.
bottom: trying an artsy crafty at the east end of Bonneville, WY, siding came pretty close.
JB

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For a point and shoot digital camera...those images are top notch. Shutter lag is the problem you're describing JB. I am not sure about the latest generation of point and shoot cameras, but that was one of the main reasons I switched over to DSLR 3 yrs ago.

It took me about two missed shots to realize that the only solution to the shutter delay was to buy a DSLR, so I bought a Nikon D50. As I have said many times on here, I LOVE it. It operates just like your 35mm SLR and produces wonderful digital images. Canon and Nikon both produce a number of DSLR's, from "entry level" like the Nikon D40 and D50 to the Sublime Canon and Nikon $2,000 versions.

Hey Joe,

Get a Canon Digital Rebel XTi and you'll never have that problem. It's the best investment you'll make and the prices have dropped quite a bit. I have the Rebel XT and I think to myself now "how did I ever do without".

I still use a digital camera with a significant shutter lag (Fuji S7000). However, I always manually focus first - and the delay is consistent so I've learned through practice just when to snap the shutter. I think it will seem strange when I step up to a DSLR and not have the delay.

Rich

Most cameras PS wont delay if you hold down the shutter hafe way down. I gets the focus out of the way and its down to milliseconds delay.

Thanks for the comments and suggestions they are much appreciated.
JB

I use a point and shoot too, I noticed a little lag. I've missed 2 shots because of it, but I'm not mad. Christmas should bring a Nikon D80, so I can toss that PnS out! (Not really, still good for videos)

I was thinking of doing what you are doing, slides and digital, but digital and camcorder is hard enough for me.

SMW

The real problem [with me anyhow] in taking slide and digital at the same time is trying to take them both with different lens settings. If you get the lens exactly the same then it works fine but I try to zoom a little in or out for the "perfect" image on the digital and get the 35mm ok as I am holding it in my hands and looking through it's view finder while the digital is on the tripod and I try to pick a spot and hit each button at a slightly different moment.
JB

3rdswitch Wrote:
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> The real problem in taking slide and digital at
> the same time is trying to take them both with
> different lens settings. If you get the lens
> exactly the same then it works fine but I try to
> zoom a little in or out for the "perfect" image on
> the digital and get the 35mm ok as I am holding it
> in my hands and looking through it's view finder
> while the digital is on the tripod and I try to
> pick a spot and hit each button at a slightly
> different moment.
> JB

I shoot film and digital at the same time, however I set up each camera for distinctly different focal lengths. I'd never try it with my point and shoot however, takes too much concentration to get the right shot with the point and shoot. However, with the DSLR, its faster than the film camera I'm using these days, so not a problem.

Both SLR cameras are on separate tripods. Sometimes I even do three cameras and three tripods. F'nuts I am.

Joe, as others have suggested, a digital SLR is really the way to go. Prices have come way down, and the "digital delay" is not an issue.

I've got a Canon Digital Rebel XT, and while there's no shutter lag, if you're
shooting a moving train and don't prefocus, sometimes it has to "think" about
it for a second and you can miss the shot. If you set it to the sports setting,
it doesn't do this, as it focuses alot quicker on that setting.