Most of my magazine work is carried out with a digital SLR. Sometimes though, it is desirable to place the camera actually on the layout to get an unusual angle. This I normally achieve by resting the camera on a purpose made bean bag. This is all very well, space allowing. For tighter areas I've been looking at the possibilty of of using a smaller pocket sized camera. Drawbags until now with small cameras, have been limited manual settings, a lack of RAW for serious image capture, and a native file size that will be good enough quality for a double page spread.Canon's recently introduced G9 may well fit the bill, it having full manual controls that are not deeply embedded in clanky menu layers, a 4000x3000 (12MP) resolution, and the all important RAW capture. There is also the added bonus, mainly due to the tiny lens focal length and tiny sensor, that pictures taken on the G9 have an enormous depth of field - something we model photographers are always striving to achieve.
Whilst my trustee Nikon D200 will still be used for the bulk of my work, the little all metal Canon G9 looks like it will be there in the camera bag for those awkward shots. The little camera also doubles up as a holiday and travel camera too!
This above shot of 47145 captured on Cement Quay, was taken with the camera simply resting on the layout. The shutter was fired using the 'self timer' to avoid camera shake. I didn't use any additional lighting as would be the norm, the train here being simply illuminated with the layout's own flourescent lighting. The white balance was left in 'auto', with any final tweeks taking place during the RAW conversion stage using Adobe RAW 4.3/CS3.