Carrying a camera bag

[giwaters]

I want to have my best camera with me on our FIRST family vacation to Disney. I have a Canon SLR with an extra lens. Is it possible to tote it around - what do you with it on the rides? I know I could get a locker but don't want to miss any photo ops. Is it possible to leave it with a staff person during the ride?? I have thought about buying a digital but can't take the learning curve in one week.

What can I expect for waiting times and lines?

 

[StarWarsMan]

PhotobearSam here on DH's computer.

I have 2 Canon Elan's and I don't bring them to WDW. I find they get into the way and I would be too cautious.

I enede getting a Canon Powershot digital and a Pentax 135 zoom small compact camera for my trips to the world. Love them both and have some really great pics.

I am thinking of bringing the SLR's on my next trip (cruise and Disney stay) and I have a fannypack camera bag from Lowepro...It's good and I think would protect the camera really well.

Take the camera you are comfortable with. Never leave it from your sight... On most rides, you can just have it on a camera strap.

Please let us know how you make out. Maybe bring a smaller camera with you so that if you get tired of carrying your SLR you will still have a camera on hand.

 

[CaseyJr]

I have a digital (Nikon Coolpix) and it wasn't that hard to learn how to use it. If you have time to do some basic (internet) research and in-store hands on, you can look for a camera that suits you and is pretty user-friendly (I always try to play with a new camera in the store if possible -- you can learn so much about what features you want and don't want that way. Some stores will let you take a few shots and they'll print them so you can make comparisons)

If I had a choice, I don't think I'd lug around an SLR. Whatever you choose, find something at least splash-proof to carry it in. I carry a backpack for all my "stuff" and my camera stays dry & safe.

 

[206bones]

OK. Call me crazy. But I love photography & for my last trip I carried not 1 but 2 SLR's [Nikon & Pentax] as well as a 35mm underwater camera for rainy days. Had 2 extra lenses & a flash. Plus a tripod for the fireworks.

I use a Lowepro backpack-style camera bag that fits everything. Most of the time I kept the Nikon around my neck & had the bag for extras.

Got 2 blue ribbons for photos of Mickey & Donald & a red ribbon for the castle at the local Fair.

Next trip I'm going light - I'll only have 2 cameras...

 

[alloyd1170]

Digitals are not hard to figure out how to use. My dad whos a mechanical engineer and is not tech savy got a Kodak EasyShare with his new Dell computer. He didnt touch it for a year or so, then suddenly had to learn how to use it for a African Safari trip. He played around with it, read the manual on the flight and got some great pics! I have a Sony T1 (very small and thin-great for lugging around, which I carry in my purse all the time) and also picked up an underwater housing for it (for the beach, swimming, boating, etc). There are many types out there-easy to high tech. I say check out a store, go home and do some research on the models you like (get reviews, etc), then take the plunge! You can take as many pictures as you want to be sure you get a good shot. At night, I go through and delete the ones I dont like, freeing up space for the next day. No film to worry about. You can download the pics on to a computer, print them out, email them, take the memory card to a machine and print them out, etc. I will never go back to film cameras! Now I just saw a video camera that also has a still camera built in. Thats not new, but what is the MP went from 1 to 4! A huge improvement!

alison

 

[Amirah95]

We made a big mistake when didn't take our camcorder to WDW. On our next trip we are taking both our digital camera and our camcorder. I always take my camera bag on rides so it should not be a problem for us. Some people find it a hassle (carrying around a camera bag) but for us it's not.

 

[4407mark]

I used to take my 35mm and my digital camera with me and DW took her 35mm point and shoot. Well......now I just take my digital (Sony 717). In fact, I haven't taken my 35mm on a trip in over two years. DW's point and shoot got dropped on our trip to Guatemala in July, still shot 15 rolls of great film, and then crapped out on the first roll of film we loaded after we got home. I convinced her to go with a digital and she got the Fuji A340 and it works like a champ!

As for taking the cameras into the parks, when I took my 35mm, I had a Tamrac backpack that worked really well. Now I have a much smaller case with just the 717, spare batteries, memory sticks, etc. Security looks in the main compartment and the three outside compartments at the bag check and it's usually not a big deal. I can't imagine taking my Tamrac backpack through there now.

 

[thatdarncat]

"OK. Call me crazy. But I love photography & for my last trip I carried not 1 but 2 SLR's [Nikon & Pentax] as well as a 35mm underwater camera for rainy days. Had 2 extra lenses & a flash. Plus a tripod for the fireworks.
I use a Lowepro backpack-style camera bag that fits everything. Most of the time I kept the Nikon around my neck & had the bag for extras.
Got 2 blue ribbons for photos of Mickey & Donald & a red ribbon for the castle at the local Fair.Next trip I'm going light - I'll only have 2 cameras..."

---That is so funny. I just forwarded this to my BF because he is crazy about taking pictures. He has so many cameras and so much equipment. He'll enjoy this comment because I keep telling him to keep it light, but I guess it is possible to satisfy his need to snap shots and enjoy walking around the parks.

P.S. - never quite got the hang of learning how to quote someone here for real instead of copying and pasting what they said... LOL!

 

[ricktib]

I've taken a camera bag on most of the rides (SLR-size digital), and have always found a place for it to sit that I didn't have to worry about:

- between you and the side of the ride vehicle with shoulder strap on
- between you and DW/DH with shoulder strap on
- behind your feet/calves
- between your feet

all depending on the ride of course.

 

[AlwaysAPrincess]

I am crazy too...b/c I bring 2 35mm. I keep black & white film in one & color in the other. I wear a small backpack. I am able to keep one camara plus some other stuff in it....& then around my waist I wear a Mickey Camara case with the other camara.

CRAZY I KNOW! ANd I don't have children!!!!

 

[Sunkissed]

I recently bought a Sony Cybershot P93 with our WDW trip in mind. The camera bag is just big enough for the camera, spare set of batteries and an extra memory card. Since I will be wearing a small bag (for essentials) slung across my chest, I simply took the shoulder strap off the camera case and hooked it onto the strap of the main bag, using the small "hand size" strap at the back of the camera case. Tried it out at the local Six Flags and it worked well.

 

[DisFam95]

I bring my Canon Rebel SLR as well. I bought a back pack that had a bit more padding on the bottom and back than a cheapo back pack. I carry everything in it and the camera just gets tossed in on top when I'm boarding a ride. I just have 1 lens that is pretty variable but not too giant. We also carry the camcorder since we have the kiddo now and DH likes to bring the digital.