{"id":8284,"date":"2014-09-27T02:22:45","date_gmt":"2014-09-27T06:22:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/?p=8284"},"modified":"2014-09-19T03:01:57","modified_gmt":"2014-09-19T07:01:57","slug":"alco-diesels-at-emporium-pennsylvania","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/alco-diesels-at-emporium-pennsylvania\/","title":{"rendered":"Alco Diesels at Emporium, Pennsylvania."},"content":{"rendered":"

Experiments with a Digital Camera.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

On the afternoon of February 6, 2010, Pat Yough, Chris Guss and I were photographing along the former Pennsylvania Railroad at Emporium, Pennsylvania. This route is operated by the Western New York & Pennsylvania, a short line famous for its late-era use of Alco Century diesels.<\/p>\n

I was primarily photographing on Fujichrome using my pair of Canon EOS-3, however, I was experimenting with my relatively recently acquired Panasonic Lumix LX3.<\/p>\n

Western New York & Pennsylvania\u2019s westward Driftwood Turn (the \u2018DFT\u2019) was switching near a grade crossing in nice winter sun. This gave me ample opportunity to try various modes with the Lumix, so I varied the aspect ratio (the parameters of the frame) and sampled various built-in color profiles.<\/p>\n

\"Lumix<\/a>
Lumix LX3 set at 16:9 aspect ratio with standard color profile.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Lumix<\/a>
Lumix LX3 using 16:9 aspect ratio in the vertical. An annoying wire has interfered with my composition!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Here<\/a>
Here I selected the 4:3 aspect ratio which maximizes the use of the sensor. I selected the ‘Natural’ color profile which is slightly less saturated than ‘Standard’.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"I<\/a>
I wanted to see how the digital camera would cope with extreme backlighting and flare.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"I<\/a>
I like the sunburst effect but I was disappointed by the lack of highlight detail. I found that the Lumix couldn’t match the dynamic range of Fujichrome, which limits its ability to capture high contrast situations. My LX-7 has an ‘HDR’ feature that partially overcomes this problem, but is only useful for static situations (topic for another post). 16:9 aspect ratio; ‘Standard’ color profile.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I was curious to see how the camera handled backlighting and flare, so I made a few cross-lit silhouettes to push the limits of exposure. These are a few of my results. The files are unaltered except for scaling for internet display. I haven\u2019t adjusted color or exposure in post processing, nor have I cropped them.<\/p>\n

As regular readers of Tracking the Light are aware, since that time, I\u2019ve made great use of the LX3. I wore it out, and a few months ago I replaced it with a Panasonic Lumix LX7, which is an even better camera.<\/p>\n

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Tomorrow: LX3 versus LX7!<\/p>\n

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