Looking for the "perfect" camera (for my needs)

[Lemosteam]

Could we use a photography board here?  Tips/reviews/technique discussion/critique...

 

Yup.  This thread could be the first topic...

[havingfuntoo]

Ok since we have now cranked the lever to level 8 by introducing the new Olympus, (a brand I like and use but I drifted off them when they put all their effort into the smaller and more compact cameras) let us introduce to the discussion with minimal fanfare the Sigma SD1 Merril Digital and for those not so flush with back pocket reserves the SD quattro. (anything with the word quattro associated with it gets my attention)

I have only been able to view the specs on these, I have been waiting for the dust to settle so I can not comment from experience, hence they are presented for your consideration gentlemen (and I do use that term loosely), and possible constructive comment from those with an open mind set. (entrenched Canon and Nikon fans just relax we know where you are cumming from) 

[peteski]

(anything with the word quattro associated with it gets my attention)

Do you drive an Audi Quattro?
 

[wazzou]

Do you drive an Audi Quattro?
 

Shaves with a Schick Quattro?

[robert3985]

... (entrenched Canon and Nikon fans just relax we know where you are cumming from)

"cumming"??????? Wrong forum. 

However, the camera you are asking about, the Sigma DSLR is just another DSLR...but introduced in 2012.  So, it's obsolete by now, even with the much-touted Foveon 40-something mp sensor. 

I am a dyed-in-the-wool Nikon fanboy, and have been since 1974, when I bought my first Nikon professional, two body, seven lens outfit. 

That said, a DSLR is not "ideal" for getting down close on a model railroad subject simply because of its size.  However, the smaller the body on a DSLR, the better, which is one of the recommendations for the top-of-the-line Olympus whatever.  In addition, it has in-camera focus stacking, which is the main reason it was being considered in the first place, and is the only pro-level DSLR that has it.  Maybe lesser Olympus DSLR's have focus stacking also, but I'm not sure.

Another feature that really aids in getting the close-up shots is an articulated screen, which the old Sigma hadn't even dreamed about five years ago...which is ancient times for digital cameras.

Although image quality is important, it is NOT the most important thing for model railroad photography.  So what if when you blow a file up to the size of a billboard, the larger sensors on a full-frame chip give better dynamic range than a APS-C or Four Thirds or 1/1.7" sensor or smaller?  Overall resolution is most likely the most important thing you want the sensor to have, and 16mb is plenty large.  Low-light sensitivity, face recognition, lots of focus points...all these things are unimportant because model railroad photography is 99.5% still photography.

Ideally, I'll look for an interchangeable lens, mirrorless body, Four Thirds or larger sensor of at least 16mb, with full manual control, a fully articulated touch screen, with a remote, wireless release...or the ability to be controlled by my smart phone...and the smallest body I can get with the aforementioned features.  I'd get the widest angle macro lens for it I could find, and the most "super" zoom for everyday, general photography.  I'd use a focus-stacking program in my computer to do the infinite DOF stuff, and not worry about in-camera focus-stacking, because I'm not a big fan of in-camera file manipulation anyway.   I much prefer to work on my photos on my big, color-corrected monitor, than on a dinky 3-something inch screen...even if I can zoom it.

I haven't done much research into this, except for about half an hour snooping around at various photo reviewing sites, but there seems to be quite a few candidates that meet my off-the-cuff model railroad photography givens.  I'm finding the ones that interest me the most are the Four Thirds sensor models because of their smaller size, although APS-C sensor models are also pretty small.

Part of the equation is that most cameras which do general photography, have gotta be big enough to have something to grab on to.  They are never going to get below a certain smallest functional size.  Truthfully, if there was an app that would allow full manual control of a smartphone camera, with being able to select focus points by touch screen...that would be near ideal.  Anybody know of an app that will do that?

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

[Ron McF]

Truthfully, if there was an app that would allow full manual control of a smartphone camera, with being able to select focus points by touch screen...that would be near ideal.  Anybody know of an app that will do that?

This app for iPhone says you can manually adjust focus by tapping the AF button to select it and use the slider. Or, alternately, the stepper buttons on each end can be used to make incremental adjustments. It also offers a bunch of other manual options.
http://www.procamapp.com/tutorials.html

My phone is an older Android model, so I installed the paid version of Camera FV-5 (http://www.camerafv5.com/) to test it out.  It does add more control of the features the camera supports, but of course doesn't add control over anything that the phone doesn't support (such as, in my case, manual selection of shutter speed, etc.)

Although image quality is important, it is NOT the most important thing for model railroad photography.

I think that the issue isn't what you're taking photos of, so much as what you intend to do with them.  In my case, most of my railroad photos are either for my own (future) modelling reference, or to post on my blog.  In the latter case I resize the image and shrink the file (jpeg) size.  The features that I require are (i) low-light sensitivity (as many layouts do not have great lighting), (ii) good DoF, (iii) image sharpness and (iv) camera compactness so I get down into the layout without disturbing anything.  My phone camera is great for that sort of photography, but I wouldn't use it for family portraits, etc. which might be printed out and framed.  I don't think we're at the point (yet) where one camera can do everything that we (or at least "I") might want of it.

Regards,
Ron

[tom mann]

I would like someone to buy the Olympus and take some shots with the 12-40 pro lens with either focus stacking or 40 mega pixel mode (or both at the same time if possible).

[Cajonpassfan]

Lol, yea, I'd like *someone* to buy one too, and give us a good review. You know, take one for the team..
Otto K.

[tom mann]

With the new Olympus coming out the previous model has been discounted to $1300 with the 12-40 Pro lens:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1278847-REG/olympus_v207010bu040_om_d_e_m1_mirrorless_micro.html

[nscaleSPF2]

This camera got high marks at dpreview.com:

https://www.dpreview.com/products/olympus/slrs/oly_em1

But I don't think that it has the in-camera focus stacking feature. 

Apparently Olympus uses a lot of in-camera software to overcome some of the limitations of the smaller 4 thirds sensor.

For my own personal preference, I prefer a camera that has an optical sensor.  When you look thru the viewfinder of this camera, you are actually looking at an LCD screen.  This makes it hard to see really fine detail.