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Got my D5

jlancasterd

Active member
My dealer (Cambrian Photography, Colwyn Bay) rang this morning to say that my D5 had arrived – only the third they've had in. I'm currently charging the battery and doing the "personalisation" (DK-17M viewfinder and eyecup, Artisan & Artist strap), and looking forward to checking out the low light capabilities. It arrived complete with a 32GB XQD card and a card reader.

First impression is that its big and heavy – very like the Leica R8 and DMR I had for several years before I switched to Nikon.
 
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jlancasterd

Active member
Haven't had much opportunity to use it so far, but I did do a walk-around in Boston Lodge Works (Ffestiniog Railway) on Saturday, when the weather was pretty foul and light levels low. The image below was taken at ISO 14,400, f8, 1/125 using a Nikon 24-120 f4, hand held. Shot in RAW and processed in Lightroom.

I have never managed a really successful shot in these conditions with any of my previous Nikons (D700, 800, 800E, 810)

For those interested in railways, its a Darjeeling Himalayan Railway B-class 0-4-0 saddle tank now owned by the former CEO of a UK Train Operating Company who uses it on his garden railway(!) in Oxfordshire. It's visiting the FR to participate in a Gala over the early May Bank Holiday.

19B 2-4.jpg
 

jlancasterd

Active member
Another shot from Saturday.

ISO 11,400, f11, 1/80 sec, Nikkor 24-120 at 32mm. Hand held. No noise reduction. Shot in RAW, processed in Lightroom.

This is double Fairlie Merddin Emrys in the process of being re-erected following a 10-yearly boiler overhaul.

ME 2-4.jpg
 

jlancasterd

Active member
More shots from Boston Lodge Works today. Weather still miserable. All photos were taken with a Sigma 20mm f1.4 Art lens because there isn't much space to step away from the subject in parts of the Works. I routinely use auto-ISO. All photos were shot hand-held in RAW and processed in Lightroom. I haven't applied any noise reduction to any of the images.

The photo of the carriage in the paint shop was the most challenging for the sensor. The black end nearest the camera was in fairly deep shadow whilst the far end was lit by natural light coming through the windows. I had to do considerable adjustment of highlights and shadows in Lightroom, and am very pleased that the image stood up so well to 'brute force' treatment.

I'm really getting to like this camera.

MyG at BL 7-4.jpg
The Works Shunter. ISO 640, f8, 1/60

WP chassis 7-4.jpg
New frames and cylinder block for 1867-built locomotive Welsh Pony being assembled on the surface plate. ISO 11400, f8, 1/60

WP boiler 7-4.jpg
New Boiler for Welsh Pony under construction in the welding bay. ISO 6400, f8, 1/60

No.119 7-4.jpg
Super Saloon No.119 being varnished. ISO 12800, f11, 1/60
 
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jlancasterd

Active member
We finally got some sun today – albeit rather weak and watery. Still, it was enough for me to take some photos at relatively low ISO.

EofM at Port 8-4.jpg

Double Fairlie Earl of Merioneth at Harbour Station Porthmadog. Nikkor 24-120, ISO 320, f8, 1/500
 
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jlancasterd

Active member
Finally, an opportunity to use the D5 at low ISO…!

A quick and dirty shot of Welsh Highland Railway Pullman Observation Car Glaslyn at Harbour Station this morning. I really should have used a polariser to kill the reflections. On inspection, it is more than adequately sharp and I can see very little evidence of 'grain'.

I just wish I'd had a camera of this quality in the early 1960s when I was visiting the great locomotive workshops within striking distance of Manchester – Horwich, Crewe, Gorton, Derby, Doncaster, Beyer Peacock, Vulcan Foundry, Hunslet, etc… All long gone or now just a very pale shadow of what they were. I did take photos, but even an f1.5 Summarit at ⅛ sec on 'High Speed' Ektachrome (ISO 160!) couldn't cut it on a dark winter's day – and HS Ektachrome had 'grain like footballs' …!

ISO 125, f8, 1/250, Nikkor 24-120, shot in RAW, processed in Lightroom.

Glaslyn at Port 10-4.jpg
 

jlancasterd

Active member
Had to go to Llandudno today on business and took the opportunity to visit the Great Orme cable tramway for the first time in years...


Lower Section, interlaced track. D5, Nikkor 24-120 f4, ISO 140, f11, 1/250. Shot in RAW, processed in Lightroom.
Great Orme 1 13-4.jpg


Lower Section, Llandudno in the background. D5, Nikkor 24-120 f4, ISO 160, f11, 1/250. Shot in RAW, processed in Lightroom.
Great Orme 2 13-4.jpg


Power house and lower terminus of upper section. D5, Nikkor 24-120 f4, ISO 110, f8, 1/250. Shot in RAW, processed in Lightroom.
Great Orme 3 13-4.jpg
 

jlancasterd

Active member
Two more shots of the Great Orme Tramway from this morning.


The car barn and workshop for the lower section. The drums for the cable drive are located through the arch at the back of the workshop. D5, Nikkor 24-120 f4, ISO 4,000, f8, 1/250.
Great Orme 4 13-4.jpg


The upper station of the lower section. The 'competition' in the background gets closed down if the wind rises… D5, Nikkor 24-120 f4, ISO100, f8, 1/250.
Great Orme 5 13-4.jpg
 

Swissblad

Well-known member
Thanks for sharing these images - would love to visit Llandudno again - pity we didn't know about this tramway last time!

:thumbs:
 

jlancasterd

Active member
Thanks for sharing these images - would love to visit Llandudno again - pity we didn't know about this tramway last time!

:thumbs:
The lower terminus is rather hidden away, although it is fairly well signposted (finger posts) from Gloddaeth Avenue, and also the Great Orme end of Mostyn Street (the main shopping street).
 

jlancasterd

Active member
New Ffestiniog Railway 'Super Saloon' No.118 under construction in the Carriage Works at Boston Lodge:

D5, Sigma 20mm f1.4, ISO 3,600, f11, 1/60.
No.118 under construction 14-4.jpg
 

jlancasterd

Active member
Great shot John. Thanks.
How long does it take to build 'Super Saloon' No.118? TIA.
The welding shop can put an underframe together in about a fortnight, if they don't get interrupted. The steel sections are bought ready-cut to size. A pair of bogies probably takes about the same length of time - frame plates are bought ready-profiled to our specification, wheelsets are bought in, as are roller-bearing axleboxes and springs.

As this is a standard design, much of the woodwork for the body can be profiled in the Carriage Works machine shop before the underframe is delivered and it is then just a case of assembling the body structure on the underframe, cladding the roof, installing panelling and fitting out. We make our own seats, tables, etc. A couple of months can easily see the carriage finished ready for the paint shop if there are no distractions. Painting takes 10-14 days. Carriage 118 should be ready for service before the end of the summer tourist season. It's actually a replacement for an earlier carriage of the same number - a jig-built 'tin car' built cheaply of steel sections in the 1970s on one of 10 secondhand underframes from the Isle of Man Railway, at a time when carriages were needed quickly to accommodate a surge in traffic. The old carriages no longer measure up to current standards of comfort in areas such as leg room and are being sold on to smaller railways elsewhere in UK.
 

jlancasterd

Active member
We are busy with special trains of one kind or another this weekend - at least four at the last count, plus the normal service trains. Unfortunately the weather this morning wasn't exactly ideal for photography, but I did get two or three shots that will be suitable for the summer issue of the Magazine:

New Ffestiniog Railway Pullman Observation No.150 on its very first passenger-carrying trip – a special for the people who financed and built it. It was actually built in 2014 but spent 2015 on exhibition in various places around UK, including Paddington Station in London, as part of the railways' publicity drive. It couldn't be used in service until companion service car No.125 was built. The Pullman is No.150 to mark the 150th anniversary of the start of passenger services on the FR.

D5. Nikkor 24-120 f4, ISO 500, f8, 1/250.
No.150 leaving Port 15-4.jpg



The new Service Car No.125. Also its first day in service. From left to right there are the Guard's (Conductor's) compartment, toilet, on-board generator compartment and buffet-kitchen. The whole train is corridor-connected, of course.

D5. Nikkor 24-120 f4, ISO 320, f8, 1/250.
No.125 at Port 15-4.jpg



The special train at Minffordd. Locomotive Lyd, built at Boston Lodge, is a replica of a Lynton & Barnstaple Manning Wardle 2-6-2T which went into service in 2010. The rear 4 carriages have all been built over the past two years – two standard-class Super Saloons, Nos.117 and 119, No.125 and No.150.

D5. Nikkor 24-120 f4, ISO 1100, f8, 1/500.
Lyd at Minffordd 15-4.jpg

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