New dSLR for Construction Project Documentation, etc.

Hello! Firstly, I'd like to thank all of you for providing such a great
forum and your patience with those of us in the ignorant category. This
was posted to DCR.com, but things are somewhat slow so far, so I wanted
to see what your thoughts were. As can be seen below, I have attempted
to answer the following questionnaire as accurately and fully as
possible to provide a good idea of what I'm looking for. The camera
would be used for taking photos for project documentation and,
occasionally, of my (daytime) fishing excursions (sharks & swordfish
should make for interesting subjects). Much of the construction occurs
at night (we are a GC specializing in Caltrans freeway work), and would
need an additional flash to capture the area well (most all shots we've
seen out of our junk Canon A80 were warm, blurry messes!). Durability
is a factor, as well as the ability to catch action (as I said, mostly
at night), such as a crew shot or an event. The camera, ideally, would
have decent (or better) protection from dust and dew (not rain/water).

Budget
* What budget have you allocated for buying this camera? Please be as
specific as possible.

Size
* What size camera are you looking for? Or does size not matter at all
to you?

Features
* How many megapixels will suffice for you?

* What optical zoom will you need? (None, Standard = 3x-4x, Ultrazoom =
10x-12x)

* How important is "image quality" to you? (Rate using a scale of
1-10)

* Do you care for manual controls?

General Usage

* What will you generally use the camera for?

* Will you be making big prints of your photos or not?

* Will you be shooting a lot of indoor photos or low light photos?

Will you be shooting sports and/or action photos?

Miscellaneous

* Are there particular brands you like or hate?

Are there particular models you already have in mind?

*(If applicable) Do you need any of the following special features?
(Wide Angle, Image Stabilization, Weatherproof, Hotshoe, Rotating LCD)

I should add that if my search for a dSLR for my needs comes up empty
(which I really hope it won't), I am considering a few pro 35mm film
SLRs. This statement is not intended to begin a digital vs. film
exchange; merely to add that I would rather go digital than to have to
process film for the subject photos for which this camera is being
purchased. The time delay in film processing would be detrimental to
the positive effect of the intended use.

Again, thanks for your help!

 

I won't recommend a particular camera because others have more
expertise about all of the various models available out there, etc.,
but I would like to throw out a few idea for you.

First, if you are shooting outside a lot, you might want to consider a
flash that takes a battery pack you wear on your belt (or else invest
in a battery company). A set of regular batteries, at night, might
only last 50-75 shots -- less in total darkness.

Second, most of the better flashes have the ability to fire by radio
signal and still use all of the metering etc. If you will be aways
back from what you are shooting, you might consider that so that you
can stay where you are and send someone else down closer to the site
with just the flash. Also, you might consider the same setup with
multiple flashes (say one on your flash and one down the road with a
construction worker) so you can illuminate a larger area with your
flash. You might also want to consider a rain hood for it if you are
working in the rain (unless it never rains in southern California).

For a construction site, I would also recommend a good metal camera
"bag" so it looks like a piece of equipment, not someone's gym bag.
It'll last longer, be better protected from dust, and generally take
more abuse that way.

As for the camera, I think any of the mid-line Canon or Nikon dSLRs
would be good choices.

 

Hm, why you cannot just use a small tripod as well?

Very few portable flashes will give enough light power to light up
everything beyond 15 meters (more if you raise the sensitivity), and you
run a real risk of "burning out" the nearest parts in the image.

N.F.

 

Hmm. Given the light sensitivity of a good dSLR
you might consider choosing a very sensitive
camera and a fast lens - to make the most of the light
you have, instead of (or in addition to) using a flash.

Arbitrarily looking at a recent Canon:
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Canon/canon_eos5d.asp

We find that it claims ISO 3200 as an option!!

BugBear

 

To get really good night photos is a chore. My memory of the Cal-Trans
construction sites I've encountered at night is that they are pretty
well lighted (although that perception may be influenced by the
adaptation to night driving prior to arrival at the work scene).

Seems to me the tripod idea is a good one. Combine it with a small
aperture, long exposure, and a walk-around hand-fired flash that
recharges quickly (for filling in the blank spots), you might come up
with something like--if not comparable to--the classic railroad photos
someone here will be able to refer us to.

A little experience and experimentation with the basic wide
angle-to-mid zoom on an 8MP body should yield satisfactory or better
exposures. This sounds like too much fun to be work (dangerous,
though). Where will you be doing it?

--
Frank ess
"In this universe there are things
that just don't yield to thinking
-plain or fancy-Dude".
-J. Spicoli, PolyPartyPerson

 

<snip>

In that price range, the first thing you need to forget about is f2.8
lenses, it isn't going to happen.

I'd advice the Canon 20D kit with the EF-s 17-85mm Image-stabilized
lens, and a 580EX flash. This takes you to about $2100. The IS will buy
you some f stops. Later maybe get the new 70-300 IS lens.

Forget about protection from dust, these are digital cameras with open
sensors. You need to change lenses where it isn't dusty.

See "http://digitalslrinfo.com" for more information on making your
selection.

 

You're right, much of the time (I say much, but not all) the individual
crews and work areas are lit with 4x1000W metal halide light towers
(floods). However, this is not always the rule, and even with them on,
pictures tend to burn near them and underexpose not far away. It will
probably take some trial and error, and practice, to get the right
balance. I can see getting a tripod- makes sense to me. Dangerous,
yes... last project we had many high-speed chases go through (and end
in, at times) our work zone. We also had two shootouts not 200' from
us, and then there's essentially the "rest"- poor/careless drivers who
either don't know how to drive, or the drivers who could care less that
the people working on the side of the road are human and will be killed
by their Honda Civic with a muffler. We work throughout Southern
California, and currently have projects in Long Beach (710), Los
Angeles (5, 60, 101, 10), Pomona (57, 60, 71, 210) and Thousand Oaks
(101, 23, 27). With a good camera (and, more to the point, a good
camera operator!), we should be able to take some very interesting
shots, besides the normal legal documentation-style photographs.

 

Another way would be to use a small and cheap portable video light (don't
laugh), with a rechargeable NiCad battery. The video light with its
continuous light can nicely "fill up" the dark spots (the technique is
called "painting with light").

I love doing night train shots, and often I used this trick:

Self-timer on, up to 30¨ exposure (dictated by the light in the scene and
the aperture available), with the on-camera (or an attached dedicated flash
on full power), and myself with a small video light "painting" around the
cracks. Of course, this method presupposes a tripod. At these apertures,
even the cheap lenses sold with the small dSLRs can get very sharp photos.

The resulting photos were very good with slide film (I used centre-weight
metering, since evaluative metering tends to underexpose severely when
facing a point source like a headlight).
Obviously you can experiment as well with the digital camera.

Good luck,
N.Fotis