Modellers Tech

[Guest nzflyer]

Hi all,

 

I need upgrades in what I consider to be 'The Big Three' in technology....a new laptop, camera and phone. I'm posting this here because I was curious as to what railway modeller's use. A decent camera and laptop seem like essential 'tech' for any model railway club and I was curious as to what railway magazines use, especially the tech by Chris Nervard of Model Rail, as the quality of his work both in the magazine and on his personal blog is outstanding. 

 

A decent laptop for railway modellers would have to be able to support a number of applications, including planning and CAD software, DCC software if the more tech savvy modeller wishes to run their railway using a computer system as well as being of sturdy construction for accidental drops or rough handling in club rooms and modelling dens. A modellers laptop should be able to run with multiple internet tabs or windows open, as well as numerous programmes running at the same time, without crashing or freezing. My current HP laptop that I purchased a year ago is showing signs of wear and tear after a year of being knocked around, and I really want to download Rail Simulator 2017 onto it, but I don't think the processor or graphics card would be able to cope. (The main draw for purchasing and downloading Rail Simulator is being able to construct my own stations, just like a real model railway, can anyone confirm this or offer a better simulator system?) 

 

I read a National Geographic article in which its most famous photographers outlined their favourite cameras, almost all of which were DSLR equipment. I was thinking of diving into the world of photography especially for nature shoots around New Zealand, but also to shoot railway related photography and on a smaller scale (no pun intended), model railways at club days and the sort. It would also help to take some photography night classes to further my journalism degree. Although I had some money put aside for a camera, it may just go towards a new phone, probably an iPhone, which has an excellent camera. My Dad is a real Samsung advocate although my Galaxy S4 Mini has a horrific camera and I don't want to go on using it, not unless I can find an app which can further the quality of my camera. I have trawled through the Photography section of RMWeb and it hasn't offered me a lot of help (yet, I'm still looking as I write these words before I sign off for the night).

 

Can anybody recommend any tech that they are using currently that does the job for them, or can recommend a decent rail simulator. I'm really, really partial to Rail Simulator 2017 but I haven't had any experience with it. Sigh, to the YouTube reviews...

 

Cheers,

 

Jim. 

[Quarryscapes]

If it can run Lightroom well, it can do any modelling application just as well - so look into bets photography laptops. Mine is an older 17" Dell model, no issues with any of the CAD or design software I use or Lightroom. Screen could be better but 17" laptops with IPS Screens are rare and expensive. 

Camera wise, DSLRs are a bit overkill for railways, as the bigger sensor you go the less depth of field you have putting a lot more pressure on nailing focus and use of tripods and additional lighting. A good high end compact will prbably be a better choice if it were not for your wildlidfe interests, a modest crop DSLR and a decent long range lens are pretty much your only cost effective options there, Superzoom compacts don't really cut it sadly, not if you're really serious about your results.  My own personal setup for photograhy is a pair of Fujifilm X-T1s, half the entire Fuji lens catalogue and various filters and accessories to match. This is an APSC crop camera, and at f22 with the Macro lens this is the sort of depth of field you can get:

 

LNWR in Pen Llŷn by Alan Jones, on Flickr

 

Can be increased by focus stacking of course, but all these are going to be things you'll have to learn if you get into decent camera kit - exposure triangle, technique etc.I suspect even the terms I've used here will be meaningless to most!  

 

Phones I don't care about, I have a Sony Xperia Z2 FWIW, but it has 0 modelling application for me. 

[JeffP]

Camera, forget DSLR, I have a Nikon D300 which is superb, with a 17-55mm F2,8 lens, and it rarely gets an outing.

 

I cannot recommend Panasonic Lumix highly enough. I have a TZ40, it goes up to 20x zoom and will take decent shots down to 50mm or so, see here:

 

 

These are 7mm scale 3-D printed brake blocks from Modelu, http://www.modelu3d.co.uk/, who I also can't recommend highly enough.

 

And here:

A4 valvegear closeup taken at the Great Gathering.

 

(Both taken on relatively low res as you can't post more than 1MB on here) The camera allows easy change from one resolution to another.

 

The latest configuration of my camera is the TZ80, with 30X zoom, they have a Leica lens and loads of different settings, but I use mine almost always on iA, intelligent auto, where it chooses the settings for you, even taking multiple shots and then using it's own software to correctly expose every part...difficult to get a poor shot.

http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/cameras-and-camcorders/digital-cameras/compact-and-bridge-cameras/panasonic-lumix-dmc-tz80eb-s-superzoom-compact-camera-silver-10142524-pdt.html

 

If the zoom isn't so important to you, the TZ100 has a larger sensor, but you pay for it:  http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/cameras-and-camcorders/digital-cameras/compact-and-bridge-cameras/panasonic-lumix-dmc-tz100eb-k-high-performance-compact-camera-black-10142525-pdt.html

 

Phones, I have a sony Experia Z3 compact, does everything I need it to and has the same camera as it's big brother the Z3. The latest range of Sony phones wins plaudits too, but the compact no longer is the same phone as it's bigger brother in a smaller package. Sony make the cameras for almost all phones, by the way.

 

Laptop, I would recommend ASUS, HP or Dell, look for a faster processor, so i5 rather than i3 etc. You probably won't need more than 750GB storage but iTB is common now. Don't accept less than 6GB RAM. I'd avoid Acer, nowt wrong with them until they go wrong, then apparently, very difficult to repair as parts aren't standard with other types.

[RexAshton]

Camera, forget DSLR, I have a Nikon D300 which is superb, with a 17-55mm F2,8 lens, and it rarely gets an outing.

 

I cannot recommend Panasonic Lumix highly enough. I have a TZ40, it goes up to 20x zoom and will take decent shots down to 50mm or so, see here:

 

brakes 1.jpg

 

These are 7mm scale 3-D printed brake blocks from Modelu, http://www.modelu3d.co.uk/, who I also can't recommend highly enough.

 

And here:P1010008.JPG

A4 valvegear closeup taken at the Great Gathering.

 

(Both taken on relatively low res as you can't post more than 1MB on here) The camera allows easy change from one resolution to another.

 

The latest configuration of my camera is the TZ80, with 30X zoom, they have a Leica lens and loads of different settings, but I use mine almost always on iA, intelligent auto, where it chooses the settings for you, even taking multiple shots and then using it's own software to correctly expose every part...difficult to get a poor shot.

http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/cameras-and-camcorders/digital-cameras/compact-and-bridge-cameras/panasonic-lumix-dmc-tz80eb-s-superzoom-compact-camera-silver-10142524-pdt.html

 

If the zoom isn't so important to you, the TZ100 has a larger sensor, but you pay for it:  http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/cameras-and-camcorders/digital-cameras/compact-and-bridge-cameras/panasonic-lumix-dmc-tz100eb-k-high-performance-compact-camera-black-10142525-pdt.html

 

Phones, I have a sony Experia Z3 compact, does everything I need it to and has the same camera as it's big brother the Z3. The latest range of Sony phones wins plaudits too, but the compact no longer is the same phone as it's bigger brother in a smaller package. Sony make the cameras for almost all phones, by the way.

 

Laptop, I would recommend ASUS, HP or Dell, look for a faster processor, so i5 rather than i3 etc. You probably won't need more than 750GB storage but iTB is common now. Don't accept less than 6GB RAM. I'd avoid Acer, nowt wrong with them until they go wrong, then apparently, very difficult to repair as parts aren't standard with other types.

I'd partially agree with you. Bridge cameras are very good but you need to make sure it has a proper manual focus option and full control of manual shutter speed and aperture. I use both bridge and dslr and find both perfectly acceptable. I seem to be able to get better depth of field with the dslr (Canon 500d) but generally picture quality is acceptable with either. This was taken using the Canon with a Tamron 18-200 lens set at f22. You do need a tripod with it though