- Line scan camera image processing: https://daniel.lawrence.lu/blog/2025-09-21-line-scan-camera-... Previous discussions:
- https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44996938
- https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46383593
- https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46388084
- Line scan camera image processing 2: https://daniel.lawrence.lu/blog/2026-08-02-line-scan-camera-...
Are there other photo types you've thought about taking? (I don't know very much about the topic. Rocket launches? Cruise ships? 360/Cylindrical line scan sweeps?)
I assume the train rails and constant motion are part of the appeal of making trains the subject. I can't exactly think of parallels, maybe a factory assembly line.
https://i.dllu.net/swing_07_7668f7f16ff7ac2a.png
Also motorcycle cops:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:San_Francisco_Police...
I never thought about it until seeing these, but line scans yield an orthographic projection in the scan direction. There was a little bit of uncanny valley being able to see parts of the front/back of the car that would have normally been compressed out occluded by perspective.
...and I'll be surprised if I don't see these pictures hanging in a bank/startup lobby at some point!
Your work is extremely beautiful, and I am truly envious of your work, the aesthetic is awesome. I want to do it on the cheap though, with a regular phone as camera.
I think you have given me the directions needed to make some bold steps towards getting what I want out of the 'medium'.
https://github.com/vitroid/TrainScanner
It converts a regular video into a line scan style photo. It works by stitching together small chunks rather than 1px thin slices, so the background has a repetitive texture rather than being smooth horizontal stripes. But at lower resolutions, it looks similar, especially if you pick a spot with a clean background. Also the trains turn out very detailed.
Example work by Kakeyama from Japan using this: https://kakeyama.fan.coocan.jp/tec/e5e8r.htm
I suppose the subjects moved past the camera perpendicular to the lens direction, so you only see one side.
Are there any examples of what it looks like with a line scan camera when a subject goes past at an angle?
Also, for anyone setting up a tripod with a tripping hazard in public, do consider public liability insurance :)
I wish they could do something about fare evasion. I ride Muni fairly often (both buses and trains), and I see maybe 20% of people paying when they get on. I know some of the remaining 80% probably have monthly passes or something and don't strictly need to tag on, but I can't imagine it's a large percentage. Biggest offenders seem to be out-of-towners who are going to Chase Center or Oracle Park events (I live in the Dogpatch and see a lot of that on event days). There's no excuse now that the fare terminals accept NFC credit cards too (and not just Clipper cards). I expect getting more people to pay could solve some of these funding problems, or at least make them less severe.
(I do wonder if the cost of fare enforcement exceeds what they'd recover in fares, though...)
But came here to say the same thing. There is an advertising campaign in SF right now to encourage people to vote to give Muni more money (again) in November, because they can't cover their essential costs. This...looks pretty non-essential to their core mission to me.
They should have done everything they can inside their org to cut costs, before going to ask residents to give them more money.
Now I hope - maybe this is primarily funded by donations / grants or volunteer work, and SFMTA contributes very little to this. If so great - but it would have been wise for them be very clear about that.
I obviously am I biased, and think this is very very cool. There are many intangibles here beyond the budget numbers; a bit of history, a bit of whimsy, a bit of color to what is often utilitarian (public transit). It certainly attracts tourists to the city (I was pretty surprised at the number of out of towners at Muni heritage weekend).
But I do think it's important, not just for tourism but also as a legitimate connector along the Embarcadero corridor that otherwise has no public transit along it. Agree that a breakout of the cost of maintaining these things would be appreciated, not sure if that exists in clear terms, but I don't think it's massive. For example Car 162 was damaged in a collision in 2014, and took 12 years to fix and return to service. For many gripmen / Muni restorationists working for the city, it's a side project.
And while I'm here, I'd be remiss if I didn't post an article about Maurice Klebolt, one of the biggest advocates for vintage transit in San Francisco. It describes how he acquired car 106 from the Soviet Union [2]
[1]: https://www.streetcar.org/streetcars/162-162-muni-1950s-live...
Would you be up for posting it in, say, a couple months and then email hn@ycombinator.com? We'll put it in the SCP [2] for sure, so it will get a random placement on HN's front page.
[1] https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que...
At 2024 numbers in this SPUR report:
Cable car 872 streetcare 631 lightrail 412 system avg 327 motorbus 302 trolleybus 281
So canceling each cable car could IIUC, allow the system to add roughly 3 electric buses.
https://www.spur.org/sites/default/files/2026-03/SPUR_Taking...
What lens are you using? Does it have to cover 135 format?
Previously I've also used these full frame lenses:
- Myutron 50mm f/2.6 (Shinkansen N700A, SF Cable Car 2017)
- Voigtlander Nokton 58mm f/1.4 (Brisbane Queensland EMU)
- Samyang 135mm f/2 (Madrid AVE Class 102 and Shanghai maglev)
- Voigtlander Apo Lanthar 125mm f2.5 (Yamanote Line, CR400AF)
- Voigtlander Apo Skopar 90mm f/2.8 (London Tube photos)
- Voigtlander Ultron 35mm f/1.7 (Hong Kong trams)
and APS-C lenses:
- Cheecar 50mm f/1.2 (Osaka trains)
- Samyang 85mm f/1.8 CS (Caltrain)