Subscribe to
Posts
Comments
NSLog(); Header Image

Disney Vacation Day 4: Camera Choice

I don't really care to share anything here about today's activities, so instead I'll talk about the camera setup I took to Disney World.

Carey had mandated that I not take either of my 5Ds, the lenses, etc. I'd bought a new camera bag partly for Disney World (more so for my yearly trip to a golf tournament in Columbus, OH), and obviously I'm quite comfortable with the capabilities of the 5Ds and the images I can create with them, so instead I took only the G10.

The G10 - with which I'd spent no time getting familiar - performed admirably, but I still wish I had been able to bring my cameras. It may have taken a day to understand what to bring and what not to bring, but if I was going to Disney World now, with what I know now, I'd bring:

  • Canon 5D Mark II
  • Canon 24-70 f/2.8L lens
  • Extra battery and memory cards
  • A case big enough to hold only those things.

I saw a few people with a similar setup and the 24-105, but there were a number of times where I'd probably shoot without flash at f/2.8 and ISO 1600. I'd hate to have to go to ISO 3200 and f/4, and IS won't help in a lot of situations, so despite losing 35mm on the telephoto end, the 24-70 is the right choice.

There were days when the 70-200 f/2.8L IS might have been a fine choice (likely without engaging IS much), but it's bulkier and most of the time would be spent at the short end of the range. If you're going to stay on the ground while your kid rides the rides, then maybe you'll find yourself using the 200mm end of things, but you don't need it if they're in the Dumbo behind you or they're posing in front of the Magic Kingdom castle and you can use your feet to zoom.

And if you have a crop camera, heck, the 24-70 is even better. At 1.6 crop, that's effectively a 38-112mm zoom. But you'd have crappier low-light performance…

The rest of the stuff - the battery charger, the memory card readers, etc. - would stay in your hotel room.

So the next time I go back to Disney World, that's the plan: a full-frame clean-high-ISO camera with a wide-aperture mid-length zoom and nothing else.

All that said, the G10 performed admirably. I was able to get some good night shots with the flash and slow synchro, and daytime shots with fill flash to even out some shadows, that I might not have gotten with the 5D. So perhaps add that to the list of things to take: a small flash for the 5D… and then, just think, I can mount the flashes to the stroller, trigger them remotely with my Pocket Wizards, and… just kidding. But not about the flash, now that I think about it: camera, lens, flash, and as small a thing that can carry them as possible. That's what you want to take to Disney World.

4 Responses to "Disney Vacation Day 4: Camera Choice"

  1. I'm going to Disneyland this Friday but will be carrying only my little Panasonic LX-3/Leica D-LUX 4. It performs quite admirably for a point and shoot (Leica f2.0 lens!) and I can wear it on my belt.

    I don't want to be encumbered because I want to go on the rides and I think a DSLR with 24-70 lens would be too big to bring on rides like Space Mountain and Matterhorn.

    1. [quote comment="53833"]I don't want to be encumbered because I want to go on the rides and I think a DSLR with 24-70 lens would be too big to bring on rides like Space Mountain and Matterhorn.[/quote]

      They provide storage either beneath your seat or on the back of the seat in front of you for every ride that needs it in my experience.

  2. well if your carrying over 2 grand in equipment aren't u a bit scared of putting it in those places?

  3. [quote comment="54175"]well if your carrying over 2 grand in equipment aren't u a bit scared of putting it in those places?[/quote]

    They'd be on my person at all times, so no, I think it'd be fine.