Until you've used a DSLR for a while in a given situation you won't really know what will cover you. There is a lot more to it than just the specs on paper.
I agree. I got out tonight to take some night shots of the house. I also went to ChickFilA tonight for some pictures. As I'd heard on the news, the place was packed. Probably 200 people in a line outside waiting to get in. It was dusk and I experimented with difference settings and then busted out the 430 EX II speedlite and gary fong cloud diffuser. That things rocks BTW.
I won't know for sure until I get them off the camera, too late to mess with it tonight. I need to go to bed in a few min.
Personally I would never use a tele-zoom for night shooting unless I used a tripod. They're just too slow for my style and aperture isn't the only factor for that. And a teleconverter will make it even slower. But that all comes down to personal style.
I did notice some extended times shooting the house tonight for the auto focus. It was pretty dark. The minimal lighting at the chickfila (what I recall being similar or less to any place in WDW outside) didn't seem to slow it down. Of course that isn't a telephoto either. Thanks for that tip.
I agree with Danielle. Unless you have been there before and know what you need, I wouldn't buy a lens just for WDW. As far as 2.8 on the dark rides, I would go with something 1.8 or better. I use the Sigma 30 f1.4. After saying this, I do own the Sigma 70-200 that I use at WDW, but that was not my primary reason for purchasing it. Nighttime auto racing was the reason. I spend many more nights at racetracks than WDW. All my lenses are usable at WDW, but have more functionality for what I shoot at home. That is how I justify the expense.
I really don't shoot anything else, lol. I should say, my whole purpose for getting this camera was to make up for times my G11 wouldn't cut it for the last trip. It did amazing for being a PnS but I wanted more and more consistency.
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I also did some shooting of a mock character encounter... you guys are 100% correct, no way I could use a 70. I'd be too far away for many of them. The 55 is really too far away to stand and get everyone in the frame.
Trial and error. I believe I will order just this discounted lens and then I'll have a full range of 18 all the way to 250 between the two lens and then just trial and error it out for a month before doing anything else.
Thanks everyone.
There is way more to this than I thought. Every time I learn one thing, I need to learn about half a dozen other things to understand what I thought I learned at first.