At this year's Alta-Mont Railfan Weekend in Essex, Mont., one of the best slide shows was presented by railfan photographer and MRL engineer Jack Dorsey of Billings.
Dorsey purchased a used Olympus XA point-and-shoot camera (for $40, if I recall) at a camera swap meet in Billings, which he figured would come in handy for family photos, etc., with the impending birth of his first child. However, he soon found out that the darned camera took decent photos, so he loaded it with Kodachrome 64 and started carrying it to work on his Missoula-Helena run. It fit nicely in his shirt pocket and was always at the ready. Guess what? He showed a terrific selection of slides, shot from the cab, on the ground, off the running boards, etc. A great show about the everyday world of Montana Rail Link in all kinds of weather from all sorts of unique angles that only a working railroader could have access to. Does anyone have any good advice on buying point-and-shoots? Tho I am a Canon owner in the 35mm SLR world, I have always been partial to the Olumpus compacts. I owned one until my wife lost it on a beach in Hawaii. Obviously, no trains to shoot there so the loss was no big deal! Everybody makes the point-and-shoots in all prices. I am curious about the "high end" point-and-shoots from Leica, Contax, Nikon and others. Worth the money? One of the reasons I've stayed away from the APS format for a pocket camera is so I can do like Jack...throw some 35mm slide film in the thing occasionally and shoot trains in a pinch when the "big guns" aren't available. Don't be embarassed to say you own one...many of my news photographer friends swear by them and carry point-and-shoots all the time. In fact, one friend (Bill Eppridge of Time/Sports Illustrated) shot a portrait with one several years ago that ran as a three-page foldout in S-I! --Dave Busse --> SPORRS: Serious Photographers of Railroad Related Subjects
