[4K HDR] Busy Monday on Pan Am - Blue Dips, Meet & Weird RS3L - 60 fps

One of the busiest days of chasing I've had on Pan Am in a long time. Highlights include a blue consist on AYPO, a meet (half stationary) between AYPO and EDPO at Westford, and a weird 2-tone RS3L on NS 6957. Bonus footage at the end of ED8 around Gardner on Saturday. I had some minor issues with focus when I tried to use tracking AF. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
Shot on my Sony A7SIII and recorded in Prores Raw on my Atomos Ninja V. Audio recorded with a Deity V-Mic D3 Pro in a Rycote blimp.

[@CentralPennRailProductions]

That shot at 8:00 takes the cake, the lighting, colors and composition there just worked out so well.

[@NorfKhazad]

TBH I wasn't too sure about how that one came out, glad you liked it.

[@CRQ5508]

That’s a common ailment with RS-3Ls on electronic solenoids after a year or two of use. I remember most of Conrail’s wide cab EMDs having some weird sounding horns. I think GE’s fared a bit better as the solenoid was in the control stand where on EMD’s they’re directly below the horn.

[@NorfKhazad]

Honestly I like the way it sounds.

[@mec3403]

Nice meeting you in Gardner for 23K!

[@NorfKhazad]

Likewise!

[@Brian4449]

It was nice meeting you at Otter River

[@NorfKhazad]

Likewise, hope to see you out there again.

[@luciancristiandamsa1484]

Good job! Can you tell me please, what kind of camera do you use? Thanks!

[@NorfKhazad]

Thanks, I shot all of my recent videos with a Sony A7SIII recording externally to an Atomos Ninja V in Prores Raw.

[@FlyingSwitch]

Your videos are great! I like your sharp, well-lit shots. I noticed that you have used a few different microphones (Deity, Audio-Technica, and maybe a few more.) Which one do you think is best suited to rail videography?

[@NorfKhazad]

Thanks. Microphone choice is a tough one. I got the audio-technica mic because it is a mid/side microphone which means a shotgun mic with a second mic capsule mounted sideways behind it. The data from both mics is mixed to obtain a stereo signal, but if you prefer you can do the mix in post which allows for dynamically changing the split between mid and side as the train approaches. This means you can boost the volume of the train over background noise when it is distant, but widen the stereo field as it approaches for more realistic sound. It doesn't have the best bass response however, and I like the general sound (and smaller size) of the rode stereo videomic X better. That said it has another advantage because most blimp style microphone wind blockers are made for shotgun microphones, and they do a better job preventing wind noise than anything you can get for an xy stereo mic like the rode stereo videomic series.

[@NorfKhazad]

Ultimately what I'm saying is I still don't have an audio solution I'm 100% happy with for all situations. That said, if you want a good all around mic which won't break the bank the Rode stereo videomic pro is a pretty good option. I wasn't a fan of the Deity.

[@FlyingSwitch]

@@NorfKhazad Alright, thanks.

[@VArailfan89]

Very nice! Love the HDR videos as of late. Quick question...do you shoot your videos in HDR from a setting on your camera and if so which one? Or do you edit them afterwards?

[@NorfKhazad]

Thanks! I record on an Atomos Ninja V external recorder/monitor in order to capture a larger amount of color data than I could recording internally. I then edit that to match an HDR color space (Rec. 2100 PQ) in Adobe Premiere.

[@VArailfan89]

@@NorfKhazad Oh OK. I have a Sony Alpha as well, not as nice as yours, I have the a6400 model. I'm guessing there's no way to shoot HDR on it?

[@NorfKhazad]

@@VArailfan89 it's not technically recording HDR. What's important to HDR is color bit depth. Any footage can technically be converted to HDR through editing but it won't look good unless you're recording at least 10 bit 4:2:2. When I record externally I'm recording 12 bit raw. I have tried making HDR video from footage recorded internally as 10 bit 4:2:2 and it came out ok, but not nearly as good as starting with the 12 bit raw files. Starting with 8 bit you're going to struggle to make it look decent.