It really comes down to what aspect of the trains you want to photograph, whether they're moving or not, how close you can get to what you want to photograph, and so on. If you don't know for sure, you can take a couple of bodies, a bunch of lenses, the tripod, and be "prepared" for most any situation. Of course, it may be cumbersome to carry all that gear about and still make a few good photos. Or you could grab one lens, one body, and work with a minimum of equipment and concentrated on what you can do with it - you may be surprised how little gear you need to make good photos.
As for B&W film, well, essentially just pick one. My choice for a good, all around B&W film would be TX. Neopan comes in a few different ASA ratings. Which were you considering? I'd think that, since you're not familiar with B&W work, starting with either TX or Neopan 400 would be the way to go, only because they have a good speed and the granularity is pleasing (to my eye, anyway), and they take well to exposure errors or intentional over/under exposure. I've shot TX with an EI of 200 to 800 on the same roll and gotten good negs. Of course, you can't be arbitrary when shooting that way. You've got to understand the light and the contrast ratios of the scene. You may as well start learning now ;-)) As an aside, what I get from your message is that you want someone to tell you what to do and what equipment to use in order to make good photos. No one can do that. It all comes from within, and it all comes with experience with a subject and, to an extent, the gear. Just go out and make photos and don't be too concerned about the gear and the film. You're going to have a day filled with learning experiences regardless of what gear and what film you use. Shel > [Original Message] > From: Thibouille > > Will have the opportunity to take a couple pictures of old trains > (like these http://users.skynet.be/cfv3v/materiel/matos04.htm). > > I'm planning on taking both my ist-D and KX (or MX) for B&W but not > sure about both lenses and B&W film to use. > > Lenses: > > I guess my SMCP 30mm would be nice. > Zoom or primes? Only have FA 50/1.4 as AF prime. > > > Film: > > HP5, TriX, FP4, TMax or Neopan? Really not enough experience in B&W yet... > > Would a tripod be of any use? Don't think so... > ---------------------- > Thibouille > ---------------------- > *ist-D,Z1,SFXn,SuperA,KX,MX, P30t and KR-10x ...
