March 2025 Image and Video Thread

[PJD]

Getting ready to use my S5iiX in a copy-stand arrangement to capture my late uncle's newly-discovered WWII scrapbook, which he created after returning home from Europe in 1945. Many of the items are too-big-to-fit-on-my-scanner, hence the reason to use my camera. This is in my home office. The camera is well-secured on two C-stands, and the camera is bolted into its camera cage via two bolts. My uncle managed railroad & truck shipments during the war for the U.S. Army, so Pete_W may enjoy seeing some of what's inside the scrapbook. There are postcards, newspapers, military manuals, etc. A fun project for my extended family.

 

[Pete_W]

Getting ready to use my S5iiX in a copy-stand arrangement to capture my late uncle's newly-discovered WWII scrapbook, which he created after returning home from Europe in 1945. Many of the items are too-big-to-fit-on-my-scanner, hence the reason to use my camera. This is in my home office. The camera is well-secured on two C-stands, and the camera is bolted into its camera cage via two bolts. My uncle managed railroad & truck shipments during the war for the U.S. Army, so Pete_W may enjoy seeing some of what's inside the scrapbook. There are postcards, newspapers, military manuals, etc. A fun project for my extended family.

Thanks Peter, looking forward to seeing the images!

 

[PJD]

Sorry, I got distracted by one of the 1945 "documents" [a RAW 96MP hi-res capture, scaled 50%] ... trains, trucks, tanks, "soonish" ...

S5iiX, Lumix 20-60mm, f3.5-5.6 lens.

 

[Travis Butler]

Sorry, I got distracted by one of the 1945 "documents" [a RAW 96MP hi-res capture, scaled 50%] ... trains, trucks, tanks, "soonish" ...

S5iiX, Lumix 20-60mm, f3.5-5.6 lens.

It reminds me of when I was helping Dad put together a collection of pics about Grandma for her memorial service/reception, and used the GX85 I had for a while with the Lumix 30mm Macro to digitize a bunch of pics out of a photo album Dad had. No reproduction rig, just handholding the camera with Dad holding down the pics, but I think a lot of them turned out all right.


20170106-P1000372 by Travis Butler, on Flickr


20170106-P1000366 by Travis Butler, on Flickr
(Even if the occasional thumb got in there.)

 

[PJD]

Here are a few railroad-related pages from a 1945 U.S. Army booklet my late uncle put into his post-WWII scrapbook. (The booklet is 44 pages long.) These are S5iiX RAW 96MP hi-res captures, scaled to 50%, and lightly compressed to JPEG. I used the Lumix 20-60mm f3.5-5.6 lens.

• Panasonic - DC-S5M2X
• LUMIX S 20-60/F3.5-5.6
• 51.0 mm
• ƒ/10
• 1/125 sec
• Center-Weighted Average
• Manual exposure
• ISO 800

• Panasonic - DC-S5M2X
• LUMIX S 20-60/F3.5-5.6
• 50.0 mm
• ƒ/10
• 1/125 sec
• Center-Weighted Average
• Manual exposure
• ISO 800

 

[Pete_W]

Here are a few railroad-related pages from a 1945 U.S. Army booklet my late uncle put into his post-WWII scrapbook. (The booklet is 44 pages long.) These are S5iiX RAW 96MP hi-res captures, scaled to 50%, and lightly compressed to JPEG. I used the Lumix 20-60mm f3.5-5.6 lens.

Thanks Peter, that's great historical information and fascinating to see!

 

[Travis Butler]

Thanks Peter, that's great historical information and fascinating to see!

Would you have any interest in railroad-adjacent information? The historic Union Station downtown has a set of historical exhibits, including things like the Harvey House restaurant chain along the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe routes.

 

[Pete_W]

Would you have any interest in railroad-adjacent information? The historic Union Station downtown has a set of historical exhibits, including things like the Harvey House restaurant chain along the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe routes.

Yes, that sounds really interesting!

 

[Travis Butler]

Yes, that sounds really interesting!

Ok, might swing by this weekend if I have a chance!

 

[PJD]

Thanks Peter, that's great historical information and fascinating to see!

You're welcome. I hope to have more to share in a few days.

In the meantime, one of my sisters sent me the following link to the entire handbook (a downloadable, low-res PDF):

Pictorial Handbook of Military Transportation. Operational Photographs of the U.S. Army Transportation Corps, European Theater of Operations. 1 August 1945

Foreword Based on the premise that one picture is worth a thousand words, the photographs of this Iittle volume will tell a long, long story. That story will prove a fertile field for research and for study in military transportation. These are pictures of operations -- they depict the...

digicom.bpl.lib.me.us

Copies of the actual handbook are also available on Amazon & eBay.

 

[Pete_W]

duplicate post

 

[Travis Butler]

Ok, might swing by this weekend if I have a chance!

Wasn't the best day, and when I got home I found out that a bunch of the info placards that would be readable... weren't. Went ahead and put them up at https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjC6zb4 for you to look at (and if there's any specific ones you want to read, I'll see if I can go back later); in the meantime, here's a few selected ones for everyone.

Establishing shot: Exterior, overcast and grey.


20250322-SDIM3444 by Travis Butler, on Flickr
Sigma fp, Konica Hexanon 28/3.5


20250322-SDIM3306 by Travis Butler, on Flickr
Hexanon 40/1.8
There's several of these mash-up sculptures in the plaza outside Union Station; I think they're kinda cool, though I wish the sculptor had picked a more savory airliner than the DC-10.


20250322-SDIM3309 by Travis Butler, on Flickr
Photo gallery on the station's construction.


20250322-SDIM3326 by Travis Butler, on Flickr
OM Zuiko 24/2.8
Unfortunately, reflections were a big problem, so I had to take a lot of off-angle photos.


20250322-SDIM3331 by Travis Butler, on Flickr
The station interior was made back when train stations were a monumental undertaking, instead of a rat's warren. Thank goodness.


20250322-SDIM3336 by Travis Butler, on Flickr


20250322-SDIM3345 by Travis Butler, on Flickr
The architect who designed it that way!


20250322-SDIM3346 by Travis Butler, on Flickr
The station museum is a set of galleries above the main entrance; you can see the windows here:


20250322-SDIM3337 by Travis Butler, on Flickr
Unfortunately, the third floor galleries have started closing on weekends.


20250322-SDIM3361 by Travis Butler, on Flickr
The Harvey Girls!


20250322-SDIM3365 by Travis Butler, on Flickr
...did I mention how bad the reflections were? x.x


20250322-SDIM3373 by Travis Butler, on Flickr
After sitting derelict for more than a decade, the station was saved by a proposal to turn part of it into a science museum. Welcome to Science City!


20250322-SDIM3375 by Travis Butler, on Flickr


20250322-SDIM3380 by Travis Butler, on Flickr
Minolta MD 35-70/3.5 Macro


20250322-SDIM3384 by Travis Butler, on Flickr
Finally, the model railroad exhibit at the back of the station.


20250322-SDIM3391 by Travis Butler, on Flickr
Looks like Rexxie's caught himself a... leprechaun? Uh-oh.


20250322-SDIM3405 by Travis Butler, on Flickr


20250322-SDIM3446 by Travis Butler, on Flickr
And we hope you've enjoyed your tour!

 

[Pete_W]

Wasn't the best day, and when I got home I found out that a bunch of the info placards that would be readable... weren't. Went ahead and put them up at https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjC6zb4 for you to look at (and if there's any specific ones you want to read, I'll see if I can go back later); in the meantime, here's a few selected ones for everyone.

Thanks Travis! I will check these out in detail when I get home from work.

 

[xaviergut]

Same sunset with 3 different aspect ratios:

65:24 - XPAN

• Panasonic - DC-S5
• 24mm F3.5 DG DN | Contemporary 021
• 24.0 mm
• ƒ/5.6
• 1/320 sec
• Pattern
• Auto exposure
• -1
• ISO 100

16:9

• Panasonic - DC-S5
• 24mm F3.5 DG DN | Contemporary 021
• 24.0 mm
• ƒ/5.6
• 1/320 sec
• Pattern
• Auto exposure
• -1
• ISO 100

3:2 (original)

• Panasonic - DC-S5
• 24mm F3.5 DG DN | Contemporary 021
• 24.0 mm
• ƒ/5.6
• 1/320 sec
• Pattern
• Auto exposure
• -1
• ISO 100

 

[Pete_W]

Wasn't the best day, and when I got home I found out that a bunch of the info placards that would be readable... weren't. Went ahead and put them up at https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjC6zb4 for you to look at (and if there's any specific ones you want to read, I'll see if I can go back later); in the meantime, here's a few selected ones for everyone.

Hey Travis, thanks so much for taking all those photos and posting them! That was a big job!

I loved reading all about the station's history, it's restoration and how they finally got the business model to work for the current times. It's great that it's still a railway station too, in addition to everything else that happens there. I would have loved to eat at Fred Harvey's. A sirloin steak for $3.90, what a deal!

The building looks absolutely amazing. It is amazing what they achieved back then given the scale, and it's been beautifully restored.

Thanks again for taking the time to do this. It's much appreciated.

 

[Jonathan-Mac]

S5 and 20-60mm


Subway by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr

 

[PJD]

A different kind of "newspaper test". Or, maybe it's actually THE old newspaper test.

This 1945 English-language newspaper was tucked inside my late Uncle Joe's WWII scrapbook. These were captured as 96MP hi-res RAW images, scaled to 50%, and converted to JPEG. Again, using my S5iiX with the Lumix 20-60mm f3.5-5.6 lens at f8.

Let me know if you're interested in seeing a few pages from French language 1945 newspapers. Oh, and more of that "Yank" magazine?