Steam Dreams 2023

The fence posts are reflected, however the wire and mast in question have since been removed.

 

Indeed, but it's really not that hard.

 

I use slide film for many photos and it does have a certain richness in the colours which is sometimes lacking from digital images which are limited by the quality of the screen being used..
It's analog, not digital, just like our eyes?

Cheers, Neil

 

Absolutely. However, the ease of viewing, sharing, etc., now outweighs the quality margins, unless one has slide shows for groups, etc. Even copying them will almost always be digital. Even film has grain, of course.

 

The colour quality of a digital image is whatever you want to make it, assuming you have used RAW format.
Just select Adobe Vivid in the raw converter as a starting point.

 

The Steam Dreams tour to York (23rd Sept 2023) filmed north of Babworth(Retford) and earlier at Lolham, recovering from a 20mph junction onto the ECML slow line.

 

What are we talking about the autofocus "bleeps" or the actual shutter noise. That cannot be turned off on my DSLR.

 

That may be true of compacts, but certainly not of DSLRs, which constitute the higher end of the camera market, and where the 'shutter' noise heard most likely isn't the shutter itself, but the rapid rattle of the mirror being lifted out of the way and dropping back into place before and after each exposure, so that light can pass from the lens to the sensor, rather than to the viewfinder.

Some DSLRs can mitigate this to an extent (but not eliminate it), such as my old Canon 7D2, which had a normal burst rate of 10 frames per second, with a quite noisy mirror. There was 'quiet' mode for use in birdwatching hides and such, that reduced the mirror noise by slowing down its action, but it still wasn't anywhere near silent and the major downside was that the burst rate was reduced to 4 frames per second. A train at 60mph moves 22 feet in the time it takes the next frame to be ready.

Mirrorless cameras don't have the drawback of mirror noise, but still can have a noisy mechanical or semi-mechanical shutter in normal use. My Canon R5 has a very quiet shutter compared to the 7D2, but it also has an electronic shutter function that is absolutely silent. The drawback to this is that even though it has a burst rate almost twice that of the normal shutter, a phenomenon called 'rolling shutter' kicks in that effects all but the most expensive and rare mirrorless bodies when using the electronic shutter. This is because it takes the electronic shutter slit 1/60 sec to scan the sensor from top to bottom, much like an old TV, no matter what the chosen shutter speed. You can be taking a photo at 1/2500 sec, and it still takes 1/60 sec roughly for the shutter to scan the frame. The impact of this is that when panning to follow a rapidly moving subject, such as a car, train, or bird, although the subject might, but not always by the correct shape, fixed vertical objects, such as trees, buildings and OH supports all lean at an angle to one side, rather than being vertical. Not ideal. A football moving rapidly across the frame can appear oval rather than round.

If I'm photographing with my R5, my camera of choice for trains, I use a semi-mechanichal shutter to avoid rolling shutter, but if I'm standing next to someone videoing (or next to my second body taking video on its own), I take my chances, avoid side panning views and switch to the silent electronic shutter.

I can do it, but it's just not true to say that 99% of modern digital cameras can switch off shutter sound altogether.

 

Good post - well explained. My 99% was an unintended exaggeration. I use an R5 too, and a Sony RX10mk4, both of which have very quiet/silent shutter options. I also tend not to go to busy spots for videoing mainly for this reason. I got caught out this morning when my R5 video auto-focus locked onto a foreground single tree branch, rather than the train (34046 near Reigate) as it approached and I, rather unusually for me, zoomed out - serves me right for lazily using auto-focus!

 

I have an R7 that I normally use for wildlife, 95% birds, because of its extra crop body 'reach', and earlier this year it dawned on me that it was a good companion to take for trains too, so I started on the video route. I use the R5 hand-held for stills and have the R7 next to me with a 24-105 recording video in 4K. I prefer to fix the video focus on a specific point manually and let the F11 aperture do the rest, utilising its large depth of field, rather than trust the autofocus in these cases. The camera eye-detection is great, but I've had far too many cases where the camera finds 'eyes' in grass or bushes than where the eye actually is to trust it 100% in a changing situation and I'm yet to see if its 'vehicle detection' focus mode stretches to recognising a British steam loco.

Regarding busy spots to avoid, I agree 100%, but my fear is the bloke with the inevitable red or fluorescent green coat and a phone held at arm's length (most often held in portrait format to record a landscape-shaped subject like a train), who is bound to step right in front of the lens at the last moment as the train finally approaches after an hour's wait and shot planning.

 

I find the R5's 8K video excellent for stills extraction - they are high quality and amazingly sharp - it's often hard to tell that they are video frames at all. My error this morning was that I had forgotten to reset the focus area for the video sequence and as I zoomed out a stray (thin) branch caught the camera's attention. Of course if I had WANTED it to focus on the branch it wouldn't have! Anyway, back on topic, 34046's run today seems to have gone well so far - it'll be dark long before it gets back to me here in Surrey but it's only over the road so...

 

Back to actual trains.
Bath Spa via Surrey Hills, 34046 Braunton, 27th September 2023.
Filmed at Thatcham and Bradford-on-Avon:

 

I think you'll find that's called a rugby ball!!!!!

 

Braunton through the Surrey Hills yesterday, firstly making the rare sight of travelling towards Guildford passing Dorking, and then the more familiar direction through Gomshall.

 

Nice - I was just east of you , at Buckland. Were those police at Gomshall, the one in shorts 'saluting' as if he was on the track!?

 

Yes it seemed to be a BTP officer and a NR worker, they turned up about 10 minutes before Braunton was due. Not that there was any need for them, I was the only one there! Still, meant I wasn't alone on a ghost town station in the dark and was probably a highlight of their evening shift!

 

Bizarre. I've only ever known BTP appear for 60103 - perhaps times are quiet for them, despite supposed under-staffing!

 

More quality journalism, although it is a good advert for the SD product (and maybe Belmond as well as the British Pullman keeps getting mentioned). I checked the video by @D1002 only blood and custard coaches, not even that Pullman livery Mk2. Still I suppose SD use misuse the term Pullman for dining.
Includes this line "1940s steam trains that only grace the railways a few times a year". So I guess the 3 that ran yesterday or the five that were scheduled to run do not count.
https://www.dailystar.co.uk/travel/travel-news/i-felt-like-royalty-uk-31023974

 

The Daily Star! Did you really expect anything but complete rubbish?

 

I thought it a pretty fair write up. Did the young lady enjoy herself - of course. It was a good promotion for Steam Dreams and indeed Belmond Pullman. I would love to travel aboard one of the trains ....I'll keep saving my pennies. Let's be grateful that main line steam trains are still running in 2023 and tickets are selling well. Long may it continue.

Hopefully Clan Line will soon return to the main line to haul another series of Belmond Pullmans. [BJ]