How to secure SLR camera's during rides

[jodeeb]

My DD will turn 15 this trip. She won a Nikon D5100 in an art contest last year. Her art was displayed for an anti smoking campaign on 10 billboards in our area for a month. It was quite a big deal for her... and us! Okay brag over.

I have seen som amazing photos on this thread and others. I was just hoping to get some suggestions on securing the camera during rides. DD has been talking about getting those great shots and admiring those she sees on the board. I'm thinking it is a great oportunity to practice her skills and want to encourage her, but I am also worried her camera may get damaged while in the park. I'm really not as worried about the wet rides because we can put it in a zip lock then store it in the bag, but I am more afraid of the jaring rides such as BTMR, SM, Everest.... Do you have any suggestions?

We leave friday and going to the MVMCP but just want to figure out what the pros do with their camera. Is there any bag or product you suggest? Or is having it around your neck and holding it enought? I'm clueless.

Any opinions and suggestions are appriciated. Thanks for your help in advance.

 

[rebeccaariel]

I had mine in a standard camera bag, and sometimes I put that in my backpack, and secured it between my feet/legs on every ride. I never had a problem, but maybe others have better suggestions.

 

[Jenny-Bell]

My DD will turn 15 this trip. She won a Nikon D5100 in an art contest last year. Her art was displayed for an anti smoking campaign on 10 billboards in our area for a month. It was quite a big deal for her... and us! Okay brag over.

I have seen som amazing photos on this thread and others. I was just hoping to get some suggestions on securing the camera during rides. DD has been talking about getting those great shots and admiring those she sees on the board. I'm thinking it is a great oportunity to practice her skills and want to encourage her, but I am also worried her camera may get damaged while in the park. I'm really not as worried about the wet rides because we can put it in a zip lock then store it in the bag, but I am more afraid of the jaring rides such as BTMR, SM, Everest.... Do you have any suggestions?

We leave friday and going to the MVMCP but just want to figure out what the pros do with their camera. Is there any bag or product you suggest? Or is having it around your neck and holding it enought? I'm clueless.

Any opinions and suggestions are appriciated. Thanks for your help in advance.

A good camera bag should work and then place it in either a purse or backpack. Hold it between your feet or behind your feet and that should be fine.

I would love to see her art used for the billboard!! Please??

 

[figment_jii]

I also recommend a standard camera bag (one with a little padding). When on the ride, make sure it's really secure between you and the car. I try to put the camera bag between my feet (on the floor) and then brace my feet against the back of the car. Also keep the strap taunt when holding on to it. Basically, the less the camera/camera bag can move while on the ride, the better off it'll be.

Another option is to leave the camera with someone not going on the ride (if possible).

 

[North of Mouse]

We have very nice camera bags to hold our cameras, plus do our own protection on rides and have never had a problem. Don't get just any bag, but a well made padded one - not a cheapie. We never just walk around with it unprotected with straps around our necks unless we are shooting. The long lenses stick out and can get ruined easily, and they are very costly!

Best wishes to her in her photography!

 

[mdsoccermom]

We keep ours in the camera bag. DH carries it, and puts it between his legs on rides. He puts it in the center compartment on Kali with no problem.

 

[mountdew1]

Standard camera bag. Wrap the strap around your legs and stick it between your feet and you should be fine. I've brought my gear on almost every ride in the parks (except for Kali) and have been fine. You can even hand carry on most dark rides without a problem.

For bag recommendations, I love Crumpler. Currently rocking a Complete Seed messenger bag with a bucket insert for the camera gear. The bucket is actually for a smaller bag, but it leaves me room to carry other stuff as well. It ends up being my carry on on the plane, and then has room to stuff rain jacket underneath the insert, and stick snacks and the like next to the bucket. Some of their current bags are a bit to gimmicky for my liking, but they are rock solid, and there are plenty to pick from that don't scream "Big fancy camera inside!". cambags.com is set up so that you can look at reviews by bag or camera type. So you can see how your particular model would fit in any given bag.

Lowepro and Tamrac are two big names that most camera outfitters will carry. Pretty much anything that has padding on all sides, and will hold the body/lens/other accessories pretty snugly will work well. But it really comes down to what she will feel comfortable carrying all day. Some people like the backpack style, others a sling bag, and still others a shoulder bag.

 

[cavepig]

We keep ours in the camera bag. DH carries it, and puts it between his legs on rides. He puts it in the center compartment on Kali with no problem.

You can do lockers now for Kali, free for the first I think 2 hours - worked great on our trip.

Agree with others on getting a camera case that is padded and we also put it in a backpack, nice and safe. Only annoying thing is bagcheck sometimes asks you to open that case as well as the whole backpack, even if the camera was round my neck.

 

[SeilerBird]

I am a professional photographer and I own two Sony DSLRs and 4 lens of various sizes. I have a two week trip to WDW planned in Feb and it will be my first time there. I am really excited about photographing WDW. So which camera am I going to take and which lens? None of the above. I am going to buy a camera especially for the trip.

The reasons are many. With a DSLR you are restricted to using one lens at a time. If you wish you can carry more lenses, but I don't change lenses in the field, to dangerous. I don't want to cart a few lens around along with the camera. When I am on any ride with water the camera will have to be put away and not used. When I am on any ride with a lot of motion I will have to put it away and not use it. Using your camera at an amusement park greatly increases the risk of damage, loss or theft. And it is a pain keeping a DSLR no matter where you put it. They are not exactly small.

My plan is to buy a (relatively) inexpensive point and shoot that is waterproof, shock resistant, and freeze proof. It will be small enough to fit into my pocket and be out of the way. It will allow me to shoot photos on just about any ride in the park. I won't have to worry about it getting wet or dirty. And if it gets lost stolen or broken I won't be out very much money.

The P&S will not have as good of image quality as a DSLR, however if you are not printing billboards and only looking at the images on a computer monitor 99% of the people will not be able to see a quality difference.

And if something does happen to the P&S then my DSLRs are backups. If something happens to your daughters DSLR does she have a backup?

You can get P&S cameras like I am describing starting around $100. I have decided on a Canon D20:

http://www.amazon.com/Canon-PowerSh...1352682017&sr=8-10&keywords=underwater+camera

 

[Raenstoirm]

I have brought my SLR to WDW twice and kept in around my neck both trips (I dont carry bags while at Disney). I even dropped in the MS metal box with no padding and it had no issues. I will be bring it next month and I will again not be bringing a bag to the parks. I will say though, lenses are another matter entirely. I did bring lenses the first day of my first trip with the SLR and it was such a hassle switching them that I gave up. Trip 2, I picked one lens per day (i went with my "kit" lens or my ultra wide) and left the rest in the hotel room. IF there is a chance of rain or you will be going on Kali, bring a big ziploc bag. If you are careful SLRs are not quite as fragile as people make them out to be. I cart mine everywhere with me (without a camera bag) and it doesn't have a scratch.

 

[CourtneyL]

I put mine into a neoprene case (similar concept to a laptop sleeve). It wraps around the camera body. I usually wear the camera or just put it into a backpack. This works for me since the camera is slighty protected but still easy to access.
Also if I am wearing the camera in crowded places getting on or off a ride, I hold the camera close to me so it doesn't get bumped around.

 

[wiigirl]

I had mine in a standard camera bag, and sometimes I put that in my backpack, and secured it between my feet/legs on every ride. I never had a problem, but maybe others have better suggestions.

Same here...

 

[Q-man]

Tried carrying just a P&S once and hated what I gave up in pix quality and versatility. I picked up one of the smallest DSLR bodies ever made at that time, used with used lenses, the older Nikon D40x with the 18-55 kit lens, a 55-200 telephoto, a 35mm f/1.8 low light wide angle, and carry it in a Tamrac Velocity 6x compact sling bag . Altogether, I've got about $500 into the whole set up and losing the memory card would be the only thing really upsetting. That bag makes it so easy to pull out the camera, switch lenses(I can do it in under 10 seconds), and secure it all back in the bag when finished. Water proof and padded. I just keep it on me, in the bag, when riding rides except KR.

 

[MolonLabe]

I am a professional photographer and I own two Sony DSLRs and 4 lens of various sizes. I have a two week trip to WDW planned in Feb and it will be my first time there. I am really excited about photographing WDW. So which camera am I going to take and which lens? None of the above. I am going to buy a camera especially for the trip.

The reasons are many. With a DSLR you are restricted to using one lens at a time. If you wish you can carry more lenses, but I don't change lenses in the field, to dangerous. I don't want to cart a few lens around along with the camera. When I am on any ride with water the camera will have to be put away and not used. When I am on any ride with a lot of motion I will have to put it away and not use it. Using your camera at an amusement park greatly increases the risk of damage, loss or theft. And it is a pain keeping a DSLR no matter where you put it. They are not exactly small.

My plan is to buy a (relatively) inexpensive point and shoot that is waterproof, shock resistant, and freeze proof. It will be small enough to fit into my pocket and be out of the way. It will allow me to shoot photos on just about any ride in the park. I won't have to worry about it getting wet or dirty. And if it gets lost stolen or broken I won't be out very much money.

The P&S will not have as good of image quality as a DSLR, however if you are not printing billboards and only looking at the images on a computer monitor 99% of the people will not be able to see a quality difference.

And if something does happen to the P&S then my DSLRs are backups. If something happens to your daughters DSLR does she have a backup?

You can get P&S cameras like I am describing starting around $100. I have decided on a Canon D20:

http://www.amazon.com/Canon-PowerSh...1352682017&sr=8-10&keywords=underwater+camera

Wow. Good luck then.

Last trip I had a canon.g11, an amazing p&s, and it struggled at times. There can be some very challenging lighting situations.

I can't imagine having only d20. You say your professional right?

Anyway this time my wife will have the g11 and I'll have a T4i. Carry speed strap and a voodoo tactical stake out bag to put it in for rides or whatever. 2 lenses per day. A general walk around and a f 2.8 for indoor dinners and characters. No rouge lens changes while in the middle of a park.

Unless you want to take pictures on Kali River Rapids, I don't see the point in getting a waterproof camera for WDW. Perhaps a bag, just in case. My bag is water resistant but I plan on bringing a couple of small clear plastic trash bags to wrap my bag in, just in case, before putting it into the 'water resistant' compartment on Kali and for when I go on Splash.

 

[Cadyrose]

I put mine into a neoprene case (similar concept to a laptop sleeve). It wraps around the camera body. I usually wear the camera or just put it into a backpack. This works for me since the camera is slighty protected but still easy to access.
Also if I am wearing the camera in crowded places getting on or off a ride, I hold the camera close to me so it doesn't get bumped around.

I just bought one of these today on Amazon. I also bought a LowePro (sp?) padded lens case for my 55-250.

I was a photography student many moons ago and got sucked into the point and shoots for ease when the kids were little. I recently got back into photography and got a DSLR and even though I have the giant case with fancy compartments, I didn't want to carry that and a back pack (which is still a necessity).

So I got a 6mm thick neoprene case that will hold the body and basic lens and the padded case for the longer lens. Now I just need to find an compact travel tripod that will fit in the back pack. With shipping it was just under $45.

A quick tip that I learned back in college also, get a filter kit for her lens. You can get basic ones with UV, polarizing and fluorescent. Keep them on the lens and it will keep dust off the lens as well as added a little protection should the lens get bumped. Obviously its not guaranteed to completely protect but I have seen lens get accidently dropped and the filter cracked instead of the expensive lens.

I have gotten some great pics from point and shoots but I am looking forward to what the DSLR will bring.

 

[rebeccaariel]

A quick tip that I learned back in college also, get a filter kit for her lens. You can get basic ones with UV, polarizing and fluorescent. Keep them on the lens and it will keep dust off the lens as well as added a little protection should the lens get bumped. Obviously its not guaranteed to completely protect but I have seen lens get accidently dropped and the filter cracked instead of the expensive lens.

This is a really good tip. I've always done this with my DSLRs. I brought my camera to Cuba with me last year and I gave it to my mom to hold while I went to the bathroom, and she accidentally dropped it. The filter shattered into pieces, but the lens was just fine.

 

[bytheblood]

I use one of these and it has been very good to my equipment. I carry a Nikon DSLR, Canon point and shoot and Sony Camcorder.

 

[MolonLabe]

I use one of these and it has been very good to my equipment. I carry a Nikon DSLR, Canon point and shoot and Sony Camcorder.

I have a canon bag similar to that but I find it's harder to use on the move or when I don't have something flat to lay it on. I bring my big canon pack with me, but it stays in the room with the other lenses I leave behind for that day.

I'm using this as my daily bag while walking around the parks:
http://www.voodootactical.net/p-1029-voodoo-tactical-15-0457-stakeout-padded-concealment-bag.aspx

Holds a DSLR with lens attached, lens down in the main compartment, you could also put another lens in the main compartment (wrapped separately) if you wanted to. I put a lightsphere instead. When it comes to lenses, you may or may not need to reverse the sun shade to get it to fit.

The outer compartments can hold a 430exII speed light, another will hold another lens, such as a 55-250 or a 17-50 f2.8. As well as a spot for a water bottle (I stick a rocket air blower in it, a water bottle and camera would be too heavy) and other pockets hold extra batteries and memory cards.

The two side pockets with flaps are perfect for a cellphone and the other for the lens cap.

Very easy to get in and out of and you don't have to take it off. Easily slides in front of you getting on and off of most rides.

 

[bytheblood]

I have a canon bag similar to that but I find it's harder to use on the move or when I don't have something flat to lay it on. I bring my big canon pack with me, but it stays in the room with the other lenses I leave behind for that day.

I am not sure I understand why you have to lay it flat?
I have never had to take it off to get what I need. It is a sling, so I just twist it around to the front of me, unzip, get what I need, zip it closed and turn it around to my back.

 

[MolonLabe]

I am not sure I understand why you have to lay it flat?

Lol, I saw the other compartments, I missed the side opening.

Not too shabby looking.