Best camera for Disney

[eburg]

I am looking for a general all around digital camera with decent zoom to take on my trip next week. I do not want DSLR, other than that I am open.

I would think I need one for low lighting, since weather is cloudy for next week and zoom at least 5x if I want parade pics????

thanks

 

[wendy darling]

I have owned 2 cannons (in fact I just got a new for x-mas) they work great and have beautiful pix!!

 

[itsagirlthing]

This is a very good question. I have an Olympus Stylus 500 that I took to WDW the last time we went. I took great pictures and it has an all-weather body design. I got a new Fujifilm digital camera for Christmas that is more of a "advanced amateur" camera and mimics a SLR. It has MUCH better zoom (10x optical) and I am debating whether or not to take it on our trip Sunday. The downfall is that it is bigger and I would have to carry it in it's own bag, whereas the Olympus fits right into my little purse that I carry. I don't know if I helped you much!!

 

[shelly3girls]

I went through a similar decision although I did not do enough research before buying. I wanted a camera with good optical zoom that works well in low light. This ruled out all the really small pocket size cameras. I love my Canon elf but the truth is that 3x zoom is not enough (I always go with Canon from 3 point and shoot to 2 SLR's that I have). I wanted at least 10x.
I was in a rush picking mine out and Target only had the Canon and the Sony. The Canon was a great camera but too heavy. The smaller Sony was the right size, 10x zoom and good low light shooting. After looking at them on Cnet I think I would have gotten the Panasonic if it was available at the store when I was there. I used the Sony on my cruise and am very happy with it. So far no complaints, the pictures are awesome. I think it will be the perfect camera for my next Disney trip.
My two picks were these b/c of a great combination of weight, zoom, etc....
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ8K
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H3

Better cameras but weigh significantly more and I did not want something as heavy as my SLR, I wanted something in between so I did not pick one of these.
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H9
Canon PowerShot S5 IS

 

[eburg]

I have looked at the sony H3 but am concerned about the shot to shot delay time, have you had a problem with this?

 

[shelly3girls]

I have looked at the sony H3 but am concerned about the shot to shot delay time, have you had a problem with this?

The only time I do not like the delay time is when I am using the red eye flash prevention in a dark setting. Under normal conditions I was very happy with the time, it seemed faster than my other point and shoot cameras. Below is the review from Cnet about the delay. I noticed that the Sony is faster than the comparable Canon and Panasonic.

Except for a slow flash recycle time, the DSC-H3 performed well in our lab tests. The camera took 1.8 seconds to start up and capture its first JPEG, no doubt slowed a bit by the fact that the lens has to extend before you can shoot. It took 1.3 seconds between JPEGs with the flash disabled, jumping to 2.6 seconds between shots with the flash turned on. Shutter lag measured an impressive 0.4 second in our high-contrast test and 1 second in our low-contrast test, which mimic bright and dim shooting conditions, respectively. In burst mode, we were able to get an average of two frames per second, regardless of image size.

 

[Harlie]

We recently bout the Canon S5 IS

We really like it. It is not really heavy IMO and the pull out screen that flips around is soooo handy!

 

[Minniemouse07]

We just came back from WDW last month and our Canon SD750 was amazing! We have some excellent photos from our trip and I was happy that the camera fit in my pocket.

Not sure if it fits all your requiremtns but we were extremely happy with it!

 

[shelly3girls]

I should add the only thing I do not like about the camera is that I always forget to take the lens cover off before turning it on. I get a message that says to turn the camera off and take the lens off first. I am sure I will get familiar with it but I am so trained to just turn the camera on.

After reading more reviews I think I am glad I chose the Sony over the Panasonic.

 

[SilverMickey]

My sony DSC H-2 is perfect for us. The super steadyshot is a life saver for me with the 12X zoom. No blurry pics for me!

My hubby likes a camera that he can get his mitts around and this one isn't very heavy. We chose the h-2 over the h-5 for the battery life. The huge screen eats batteries I'm told... We are very happy with the Carl Zeiss lens.

Have a great trip!

 

[MickeyMouseMomofSix]

I have the Canon S3 IS and though I haven't been abl to use it at Disney yet (will get to in March! ), it takes beautiful pictures here at home and has a pretty incredible zoom. I cant wait to try it out at the parks!

 

[Jaelynnandmom]

My thoughts are, you can't go wrong with a Canon camera. I have taken my Canon S2 twice & took lovely pictures.

 

[jenseib]

I took an Canon A540 last year and had awesome pictures. Since then I have also bought an SLR and next trip will take both. Only using the SLR for pics at the resort as it wil lbe too much to lug around.
The point and shoot was wonderful though and newer version are now out. It also has some manual settings as well, but o nthe trip I mostly only used auto.

 

[Metsoskil]

I'm a Nikon guy, but even I'd have to admit that the Canon P&S are better than Nikon. My vote is for a Panasonic Lumix, though. Not much shutter lag, which will be important @ Disney, flat body so it fits in a pocket, and wider angle lens at the bottom of the zoom range. I've got 5 SLR/DSLR bodies and 10+ lenses, but I bring the Lumix into the parks.

 

[funkbucket007]

I absolutely love the Canon Power Shot 850IS but don't want to drop $250.00 on a new camera before our trip in March. I can get a sweet deal on a Sony DSC-W90 though a part-time job of mine and am ordering it next week. I can get it & a 2GB Memory Stick for $75-$80 less than the Canon.

 

[momof3girls6712]

I have no real experience with photograhy. But i love my Casio Exlim. I have used it at Disney and many other them parks. Since it is just a bit thicker than a credit card it goes everywhere. I just love that I can slip in my pocket and have a camera ready all day.

 

[mom2LLN]

I took an Canon A540 last year and had awesome pictures. Since then I have also bought an SLR and next trip will take both. Only using the SLR for pics at the resort as it wil lbe too much to lug around.
The point and shoot was wonderful though and newer version are now out. It also has some manual settings as well, but o nthe trip I mostly only used auto.

I've been looking at the Cannon A720. I believe that this is similiar to the
A540 from last year. Any pointers about this camera? Were you pleased with your WDW pictures? I'm mainly interested in how it does in low light and parades. We are going to the P&P Party in March and was wondering if the Cannon would take nice pictures in this setting. TIA

 

[Minniemouse07]

I've been looking at the Cannon A720. I believe that this is similiar to the
A540 from last year. Any pointers about this camera? Were you pleased with your WDW pictures? I'm mainly interested in how it does in low light and parades. We are going to the P&P Party in March and was wondering if the Cannon would take nice pictures in this setting. TIA

We looked at Canon's "A" line of cameras before we purchased the SD750 and quickly switched over to the "SD" line. The "A" cameras all take AA batteries and the "SD" ones have lithium ion rechargables.

The reading I did showed that the LI batteries allowed less lag time between pictures and it makes the camera a TON lighter as well as slimmer.

Just something to think about!

We purchased a second LI battery for our trip to WDW and kept it, along w/ a second memory card, in my bag as back up!

 

[jenseib]

I've been looking at the Cannon A720. I believe that this is similiar to the
A540 from last year. Any pointers about this camera? Were you pleased with your WDW pictures? I'm mainly interested in how it does in low light and parades. We are going to the P&P Party in March and was wondering if the Cannon would take nice pictures in this setting. TIA

I really liked how my pictures turned out. My complaint about the camera is that it did take a few seconds to recharge after using the flash. I don't use flash much, but if you do, it wastes some time recharging. It does take AA batteries, which I have several sets of rechargable that I use. During the night parade, I turned the flash off becuase I thought the pictures looked nicer that way. With the flash you couldn't see the lights. To get the best low light pictures you really need a tripod, no matter what kind of camera you have.

I have posted lots of pictures on here, but they are scattered al lover and most were posted last March. But this thread, http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1424996 (the pop picture thread,) has several of the resort I took. I think I am on the first couple of pages. Now my SLR takes much better pictures, but for a point and shoot, I think this did a great job. The pictures on that thread are not edited in any way either. As is, out of the camera.

 

[eburg]

I think I am going with the TZ3, it has 10x zoom and is compact, but no manual controls , I had to compromise since my perfect camera doesn't exist. I also like the FZ8 but it is larger.any comments on these cameras