My Photographers Trip to Walt Disney World - January 2016

[TheBigE]

I thought I would give some feedback on my most recent trip to WDW with my DSLR in hand. Note: Photos will follow shortly once I have a chance to comb through them all and do a little post processing. For now just some initial thoughts after returning from the World this weekend.

This is the my first trip to the Walt Disney World since diving deep into photography two years ago.

For the trip I had planned on taking the following

Nikon D7200
Nikon 18-140mm f/3.5-5.8
Nikon 35mm f/1.8
Nikon SB700 Speedlight
Manfrotto CF Monopod
Extra Battery
Black Rapid Sling Strap
8x 16 GB San Disk SD Cards

and I would rent

Nikon 17-55mm f/2.8 Lens from Lens Rental.

What I ended up actually taking was

Nikon 18-140mm f/3.5-5.8
Manfrotto CF Monopod
Extra Battery
Black Rapid Sling Strap
6x 16 GB San Disk SD Cards

You will note there was no camera on the above list, that is because on Christmas Eve, I set up my D7200, 35mm f/1.8 and SB700 on my Tripod for some family photos. However, I failed to lock the front tripod leg and the camera fell forward and hit the floor on the lens. The flash was broken, the camera separated at the top and main body...needless to say I was sick. It was totally my fault and only I am to blame. It happens.

As a result of my error, I ended up renting additional gear to include

Nikon D7200
Nikon 35mm f/1.4 Lens

I added these to my original rental order (17-55mm f/2.8) which I placed with LensRental.com during their black Friday sale (25% Discount) and despite adding these additional items to my order in late December, LensRental.com agreed to give the discount on my total order. They now have a customer for life.

Since I was traveling from Germany I had to have the equipment sent to a local FedEx office in Orlando within 2 miles of WDW. This was a pretty easy to do with LensRental and really the only option if you do not have it sent to your house. I took a cab from the resort (we did not have a car) and had the car wait for me outside as I picked (and dropped off) the package. The total cost was about $35.00 for the cab ride to and from and waiting time.

I am familiar enough with the D7200 camera so it was pretty quick to get up and running. I will say the Nikon 17-55 f/2.8 Lens is a Hoss!! A very heavy lens that is built solid. I knew this going in and that is why I wanted to rent the lens to give it a try. I very happy to use the BlackRapid strap and it worked flawlessly throughout the parks and kept the camera at my side and help mitigate the weight of the lens. I would not entertain using this lens without a shoulder/sling strap.

Generally my camera would stay in the bag until we reached the security checkpoint entering the parks and then I would take it out of my backpack (normal backpack). Traveling with family (DW, DS (12), DD (2.5)) this worked the best.

The 17-55mm f/2.8 lens stayed on the camera most of the time, unless we went into a dark ride and then I switched over to the f/1.4. Overall, I really enjoyed the f/2.8 lens and as I sort through the photos from the trip I will have my final opinion on the lens. I can say I never felt I needed a wider FOV or longer telephoto. It was nice have the ability to go all the way down to f/2.8 and this allowed for some limited DOF photos and really allowed the monopod to stay in the hotel room. So far the results are very positive with this lens....

After a day of playing around with the camera I setup two settings that I basically used through my time in the parks.

U1 - Dark Rides - Aperture Priority (default F/1.4 or lowest Fstop), AF-C, 9 point AF, Center Weighted Metering, Auto ISO (Max ISO 6400, Shutter Speed 1/40s), -1.0 EC, and set the burst mode to 3 shots.

U2 - Normal Shooting Mode - Aperture Priority, ISO 200, F/8, AF-A, single point focus, Pattern Metering, -0.7 EC, Auto ISO Off

I set my two SD card slots to use as Backup.

In both case, Aperture Setting was on the rear dial and ISO setting on the front dial.

These settings seem to work the best overall. I am wondering if trying spot metering on dark rides would show any improvement and perhaps drop the ISO a bit on some of the photos. I am also thinking that running a slightly higher Shutter Speed (1/50s) might have produced some better results when using Auto ISO. I also tried some higher EC for dark rides and not sure if this will be successful or produce a fair amount of noise in the dark areas of my photos. I usually try to go with 0.0 EC when it is very dark, but with a negative EC it would help me raise my Shutter Speed a bit on the moving dark rides.

I enjoyed have the 1.4 lens for Dark Rides and this really helped a great deal and I think I may have a few photos that come out well. 35mm on a crop sensor is about right for FOV and would not go any higher on a crop sensor camera. I do question if the Nikon F/1.4 is the best lens for this and might give the Sigma 30mm f/1.4 lens a try in the future. Given the lower cost of the Sigma Lens, slightly wider FOV and the fact that it would be only used in specific situations I think this would be a better option. I will say that taking photos on Dark Rides in burst mode really chews up the SD card space, specially when you use them as Backups.

That is mostly the technical side for the moment, and shortly (within the week) I will add some photos to this thread once I have had a chance to do a little PP and review. For now I just wanted to get some thoughts down first as they are still fresh in my mind.

 

[dmaxphil]

You will note there was no camera on the above list, that is because on Christmas Eve, I set up my D7200, 35mm f/1.8 and SB700 on my Tripod for some family photos. However, I failed to lock the front tripod leg and the camera fell forward and hit the floor on the lens. The flash was broken, the camera separated at the top and main body...needless to say I was sick. It was totally my fault and only I am to blame. It happens.

Ouch. I feel your pain.

These settings seem to work the best overall. I am wondering if trying spot metering on dark rides would show any improvement and perhaps drop the ISO a bit on some of the photos. I am also thinking that running a slightly higher Shutter Speed (1/50s) might have produced some better results when using Auto ISO. I also tried some higher EC for dark rides and not sure if this will be successful or produce a fair amount of noise in the dark areas of my photos. I usually try to go with 0.0 EC when it is very dark, but with a negative EC it would help me raise my Shutter Speed a bit on the moving dark rides.

I enjoyed have the 1.4 lens for Dark Rides and this really helped a great deal and I think I may have a few photos that come out well. 35mm on a crop sensor is about right for FOV and would not go any higher on a crop sensor camera. I do question if the Nikon F/1.4 is the best lens for this and might give the Sigma 30mm f/1.4 lens a try in the future. Given the lower cost of the Sigma Lens, slightly wider FOV and the fact that it would be only used in specific situations I think this would be a better option. I will say that taking photos on Dark Rides in burst mode really chews up the SD card space, specially when you use them as Backups.

That is mostly the technical side for the moment, and shortly (within the week) I will add some photos to this thread once I have had a chance to do a little PP and review. For now I just wanted to get some thoughts down first as they are still fresh in my mind.

It will be interesting to see your results. For me, I've never had consistently good results using Auto settings on rides, so I always shoot these in manual. Sitting in a moving, sometimes jerky ride seat plus the fact that the characters/attractions are moving to some degree, usually force me to shoot at 1/125s or higher. Motion here dictates the SS I use. This forces me to go higher in ISO but normally gives me sharper resulting images.

Spot metering would tend to give darker resulting images, so if matrix metering seems to be over exposing the target, I would think switching to spot or center weighted might help.

 

[DizBee Brian]

So sorry to hear about your accident!! Hopefully, you had an awesome Tog-trip to WDW [and from the initial sound of it, you did!!].

Cant wait to see the pics. I really enjoy these type of trip reports [the photography centric ones where the Fam is along for the fun, lol] so I am following along!!

Kungaloosh!

B-

 

[fractal]

Thanks for the report and sorry about your camera.

Looking forward to the pics.

 

[TheBigE]

So, sorry for a bit of the delay, I had eye surgery (planned) and that put things on hold for a bit. I was able to PP a few photos. Day 1 we spent in EPCOT and MGM (Sorry, I know it is DHS but to me it is always MGM).

This were the first attempts with the 17-55mm f/2.8. My first thoughts on this lens are very Positive. I really like have the constant F/2.8. So much that much of these photos were taken at f/2.8 and do not suffer much of any distoration.

Monrail Green - Always like these photos, still early in day with Sun high so colors are not as strong as later in day. This was taken at f2.8 and went with a "cinematic" crop.

Playing around with the f/2.8 and DOF. Not happy with shadow on his eye but I really like the clarity/focus on his face. Another positive for this lens.

One of the goals of this trip was to really work on dark/night time photos. First night was with Fantasmic. Note I had not really gone to the above settings at this point, just running the 35mm f/1.4 lens to get a feel. Results were good I think

Snow White, this is the best of many shots...to bad their eyes are closed. This was before I started using any special metering, just the area metering of the Nikon and 3 shot burst. Trust me there are tons of photos that did not work out.....

This one is tough, there is such a dynamic range of light...I am still PP a bit, I have one without Mickey, but I think this has more of a story. Again, a bit of fire away and hope you get lucky. Extra Memory Cards are a huge bonus when trying nighttime action shots handheld.

Feedback are welcome on composition or anything else...more to follow.

 

[elmoandzoey]

Quicky question - did you use the Fedex office at Bonnet Creek that you mentioned in the other thread a while ago? I'm still debating if I want to rent on the next vacation or not....

 

[TheBigE]

Quicky question - did you use the Fedex office at Bonnet Creek that you mentioned in the other thread a while ago? I'm still debating if I want to rent on the next vacation or not....

Actually I used the one off Property on South Apopka Vineland Road. When I did the rental agreement with LensRental.com this was the only authorized drop point for the rental equipment. They have it as a selection in the checkout process. Hope this helps and let me know if you have any more questions.

 

[elmoandzoey]

Oh interesting, thanks for the tip! I didn't even know there was a Fedex there. That makes the decision a little easier since we'll be staying in walking distance to that one

 

[TheBigE]

Moving on to Day 2 - just finished up the group. We spent the day in AK, it rained and was cloudy all day. Really difficult from a photography standpoint to find something interesting....I spent some time working around Everest. This was the second full day with the f/2.8 Lens. I was really starting to find a bit of a groove.

I guess the Yeti got them....great to go down to f/2.8 with ISO of 200 and still have a SS of 1/500 sec.

Walking around a bit you can find some nice nooks to photograph. The clarity of the lens is really super, and offers some really good opportunities to crop in Post.

Obligatory Capture of Tree of Life - I am thinking that one of these days, a focused walk around this tree to capture some of the details would results in some good photos. This was a pretty substantial Crop, (50=60%) and still managed to hold the details with the lens.

Comments, Critiques and Questions welcome

 

[DSLRuser]

did you use your SB700 very much?

I always take mine to the park, day or night, and rarely take it out of the bag. Considering leaving it in the room this time.

D750 shooter.

 

[TheBigE]

did you use your SB700 very much?

I always take mine to the park, day or night, and rarely take it out of the bag. Considering leaving it in the room this time.

D750 shooter.

Actually the SB700 stayed back home in the repair shop as it was broken from the aforementioned fall. Really, looking back at some of the photos I do not think there was much need for the SB700. I really did not take many "family" photos in the middle of the day outside and this is where I think it would have been most useful. I cannot imagine adding the weight of the SB700 onto the D7200, 17-55mm f/2.8 combo.

 

[TheBigE]

Day 3 - Finally made it through these photos - this was a day Spent in DHS. I was starting to get a better feel of switching between the two lenses - F/1.4 an f/2.8. Certainly as the week progressed this became a much simpler operation.

For reference, the f/2.8 came in a f-stop Lens Barrel-M Case and this also worked for the f/1.4 Lens. It had a nice mesh pocket on the inside of the top lid and there I would keep the front and rear lens cover of the Lens that was on the camera. While the other lens remained covered in the bag itself. I did not have a speciality backpack just a standard North Face backpack and it worked fine, I kept my lens, extra battery in the backpack. The one thing I did forget was to include a lint free cloth. I usually have one in my camera bag and put it in my backpack. No real major issue, but there were a couple of times it would have been nice to have with me.

I would say this was my first go with trying to use the 35 mm f/1.4 inside in dark, this was on both the ToT, Rock n Roller Rollercoaster, and Great Movie Ride. Overall, still learning and dialing in the final settings. Most of these were with the Area Exposure Metering. I set my ISO to a max of 2500 and tried to keep it in that range. Here are a few of the "better" results Comments welcome

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[fractal]

I'm not a fan of "slanted" shots - the RRRC (outside) one works the best for me. Love Yellow Brick Road!

 

[TheBigE]

I'm not a fan of "slanted" shots - the RRRC (outside) one works the best for me. Love Yellow Brick Road!

Thanks. I do have a tendency to lean more towards the slant...not sure why, it something that I notice more and more. There are times that I try and go back vertical or horizontal after the "tilt" method.

 

[TheBigE]

Well, sorry for a bit of delay, had eye surgery and still getting back to normal vision with clarity, it was difficult for a while to work on any photos.

Day 4 - Magic Kingdom and my really first go at trying to capture the dark rides. You can see the settings above in the original posts. I used mainly the f/1.4 lens today. As expected and already mentioned in another post I was shooting at 1/40s shutter speed. The results are very consistent with what was expected Poor. It is just too slow, and even going to 1/50s on a couple of rides was not enough.

This was the first time I started really using the AF-C Focus mode on my Nikon and it seemed to help, however, I think perhaps I could have gone to a back button focus (Vice the Shutter Button) and perhaps a few more photos would have had a stronger focus. If I understand correctly, backbutton and AF-C would track and constantly update focus.

Do not get me wrong, the root cause of the multiple poor shots was the Shutter Speed, but in this type of environment I think you really need to optimize every setting on your camera to be successful.

Here are a few that did not end up on the virtual editing room floor.

(Also finally received my D7200 back from service...good to have it back in my hands)

A couple of scenes from Pirates of the Caribbean.

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We entered the Magic Kingdom early due to breakfast reservations, so a chance to grab a few shots without people and in decent light

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[Tigerlulu]

Quicky question - did you use the Fedex office at Bonnet Creek that you mentioned in the other thread a while ago? I'm still debating if I want to rent on the next vacation or not....

Just a quick note to say that Kingdom Rentals will actually deliver to you in the parks and pick up. Or you can leave your rental at the resort and they will pick it up there at the end of the rental period. Very nice people.

 

[TheBigE]

Just a quick note to say that Kingdom Rentals will actually deliver to you in the parks and pick up. Or you can leave your rental at the resort and they will pick it up there at the end of the rental period. Very nice people.

Actually Kingdom Rentals is no longer in Buisness.

 

[TheBigE]

Day 5 - I finally started to see some good results from the dark rides. I had some really good results on Spaceship Earth....does not hurt that we also went on the ride twice. First time I boarded with my DW and DD, we accidentally hit Portuguese Language. So we listen to the entire ride in Portuguese of which neither of us know a single word. We then went back on the ride and did it in English. Doing the "trial" run first was nice as it gave me good insight on what to be ready for when we went on the ride immediately again.

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And for the Nikon Shooters, who cannot resist taking a photo of these....

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I played around with this at various crop levels and think this is the best....really wish there was some blue skies, I think this photo would really pop. Oh well, you cannot plan everything

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[Spork3127]

Nice shots! I'll be lugging around my Canon gear at the end of Many and first few days of June. I photographed WDW back in 2011, but didn't know nearly what I know now. Looking forward to improvements! Also can't wait to shoot Animal Kingdom.

 

[TheBigE]

Nice shots! I'll be lugging around my Canon gear at the end of Many and first few days of June. I photographed WDW back in 2011, but didn't know nearly what I know now. Looking forward to improvements! Also can't wait to shoot Animal Kingdom.

Yes, even over the 7 days I was there I saw improvement in my result. Moreover going with equipment you really know well along with some good foundation in photography can make a huge difference in the results. Good luck, looking forward to seeing the results.