Digital Camera

[skyhawk]

Ok, please pardon my ignorance - I'm trying to move into the 21st century. I have a traditional 35mm camera (the film type). I was thinking of purchasing a digital camera for our cruise in August. Is there a tremendous advantage to a digital camera? Also, does Shutters transfer photos from the camera's card to a CD and/or make prints, and what is the cost? Anyone prefer the "old fashioned" way of taking pictures over digital?

 

[hydster]

We use a digital camera primarily and then also use a 35 mm for some things as well. We take the laptop with us and then at the end of the day we upload all of the digital camera pics onto it and then we can take more pictures on the same card the next day. It's nice because there is no expensive film to buy and you can delete what you want before having them printed. On our last trip I think we took over 3000 digital pictures and only printed about 250 of them but it was fun to have them. The 35 mm are nice but I think we will slowly phase out to all digital soon...it's just much more convenient than worrying if the film is loaded, how much to buy, different speeds and the baggage x-ray at the airport ruining the film. As for shutters I don't recall them printing them off but when you got home you can always upload them to Walmart.com and have them printed and mailed to your home or picked up. Sams club and costco also do digital prints but I'm not sure about shutters.

Heidi

 

[UMTerp]

Hello skyhawk,

My first DCL vacation convinced me to go digital! I had so much hassle with the crew wanting to x-ray my film at each port that I said never again!

My last cruise earlier this month was so much easier. I bought fair size (256M) memory cards and brought extra batteries and a charger. Didn't have to change batteries as much as I thought and got about 100 pictures on each memory card.

I say go for it!

UMTerp

 

[jrydberg]

Digital is terrific. You don't pay for your mistakes. Don't like the way a picture came out? Don't print it... or better yet, take another one! With a 5 year old, it's great to be able to say, "Nope, she made a funny face. Take another one."

 

[DrCavin]

Digital cameras are great!!! Just remember that there are additional costs than just obtaining the camera. You will need to buy an additional memory card, dont know any camera that comes with enough memory. If you don't have a pc or your pc is does not have a USB connection, you will need to get one if you plan on downloading your pictures. You could take them somewhere to do this, but not very convient.

 

[felixdacat]

I am a former professional photographer who now uses strictly digital cameras.
You can research the different cameras at www.dpreview.com . They have an excellent message board.
If you are actually from New York City, you have numerous choices on places to purchase a digital camera. You will want a minimum of 3MP's. Optical zoom is important, digital zoom is meaningless.
I also use a laptop to download the images from the cameras memory card so that the card doesn't fill up. I have a backup card just in case.
I have read that shutters does put digital images on a photo CD for you. They say the cost is around $15.
Last summer, I took my first vacation with my own digital camera (I had been using my wife's for the last couple of years). The second day, I shot over 200 pictures. That is almost 6 rolls of 36 exposure film. So the film would have cost around $30 and then the processing would have cost around $75 (and I'm being conservative). The reality is that I may have ended up printing 10 pictures. Sam's Club is printing them at $.17 a peice. $105 vs $1.70. Put it this way, my wife no longer nags me about how many pictures I take.
I'm leaving for my Disney vacation in two days. When I come back, I'll post a link to some of my pictures. Just look out for them.

 

[brack]

Digital is cool but film is still the way to go if you are really serious about pictures. I used both types on my last cruise but still prefer my film camera.

Photography is like any other thing in life ... the more you practice the better you become at it. I do not throw away many of my film shots.

Also, to avoid the x-ray problem carry your film out of the canisters in a zip-lock bag and ask them to hand inspect the film.

When I have my film developed I also have them put the images on a CD so I have all my pictures in a "digital" format. The price has really come down and you get the same picture in four sizes. A digital camera can't do that!

In the end it is still a matter of preference. Some people would never want to carry my big, heavy 35mm camera plus a digital. I do because I choose to. I think the quality is the difference for me. For others it is the convenience of an easily carried and operated camera for the fun memories.

 

[mmouse37]

I also carry both my 35MM and my digital...I love them both....but still like the way my 35MM pics come out better....

MJ

 

[Hygiene99]

We just got the Kodak Easyshare 3.1 mp cx 6330

Does everything u would expect for a camera and then some

Simple to use .... would be great to take on vacations and since u are not a Pro .. I bet this camera would suit your needs nicely has Zoom and so on .. will take short videos...

we also got the dock cause it came with the rechargable Battery
and the dock works as a charger ... was like $150.00 for camera and 65.00 for the dock....

Also the will print photos on the ship for .40 a piece....

 

[Mr. Bill]

I am by no means a professional photographer. I do consider it a hobby and until recently all shots were accomplished with a “nice” 35mm. While contemplating my up-coming Disney cruise, I purchased a digital.

I assumed I would need about five rolls of 36-shot film plus development for the cruise. I always had them developed to print & CD – those two items equaled about 25% of the cost of the digital camera I purchased. (I already had the carrying bag, tripod, rechargeable batteries and charger.) When I “put a pencil to it” it became a no-brainer for me!

Some observations worth sharing:

1. PURCHASE NOTHING LESS THAN 3.0 MEGA PIXELS. IF YOU PLAN TO DO A LOT OF 8 ½ X 11 BLOW-UPS, THEN OPT FOR (AT LEAST) 5 MEGA PIXELS – 3 MP ARE FINE FOR ENLARGING TO 5 X 7.

2. OPTICAL ZOOM IS A MUST-HAVE. DIGITAL ZOOM IS MEANINGLESS – YOU CAN ACCOMPLISH THIS IN YOU PC. IN FACT, I’M TRYING TO DETERMINE HOW TO TURN-OFF THE DIGITAL ZOOM ON MY CAMERA.
3. A TRIPOD IS A GOOD ACCESSORY TO HAVE FOR REALLY GOOD SHOTS. THIS IS ALSO GOOD FOR SHOOTING WITH THE DELAY AND THEN EVEN YOU CAN BE IN SOME OF THE SHOTS!

4. SHOP ON LINE … WAL-MART HAS SOME VERY GOOD DEALS.

5. BE AWARE THAT BATTERIES DON’T LAST LONG WHEN YOU ARE DOING A LOT OF GOOD QUALITY PICTURES OR DOING A LOT OF UPLOADING TO YOUR PC. RECHARGEABLE BATTERIES AND A CHARGER WILL “PAY FOR THEMSELVES” IN “NO TIME”.

6. PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE WITH THE DIGITAL BEFORE YOU COMPLETELY ABANDONED THE 35 MM.

7. IF YOU SHOP WISELY, YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO COMPLETE YOUR PURCHASE FOR ABOUT $275.00

8. I TOO PLAN TO UPLOAD TO MY LAPTOP EACH NIGHT THEREBY FREEING THE SPACE ON THE MEMORY CARD.


PS
I’m taking a disposable (35 mm) underwater camera for the beach and the dolphin encounter.

Bill

 

[talicskai]

I do alot of scrapbooking and was hesitated to go to a digital because of the resolution. We bought a Fuji 3800 finepix digital for our cruise this past February and I was thrilled with the quality. I only took picture at the highest resolution so I bought a large memory card to store the photos. I too bought a 35mm underwater disposable camera for the stingray swim. I could not be happier with my decision. Go for it!

 

[wdw47]

we have been debating this ourselves DH loves his 35mm he now has a canon rebal2000 with extra lenses says he likes changing the light setting . We have been looking digita for me we can't decide between a 3.2 mp or a 5.0 mp from what we have learned we would need the 5.0 for 8x10 enlargements and from what we read here optical zoom is more important. we are also thinking of getting a HP printer where you just put the memory card in the printer itself anyone ever use or know of these thanks we love the information this site provides.

 

[UMTerp]

brack - Guess you haven't tried to take your 35mm film through
the checkpoints on the ship at the various ports.

This is where I had significant problems even though my film was in a clear zip-lock like you suggest. I had done this at airports many times over the years without a problem. However, the crew checking people back onto the ship put my film through the x-ray on two different occasions even though I had asked for hand inspection. I finally had to contact the security officer on the ship in person (twice) before I could get my film hand inspected. I had to ask for him by name in order to get this done. As a result, I switched to digital for my cruises from now on. Not worth the hassle.

I took a number of memory sticks with me and just uploaded the pictures when I got home. Pretty painless for me.

 

[Jillpie]

We are brand new digital camera users. We brought our new Olympus C-4000 with us to DW in January and all I can say is WOW. What a fantastic experience it was. I couldn't stop taking pictures the entire week, my DS15 was going crazy by the end because I loved it so much. It all of a sudden becomes very addicting to keep shooting because you can see what you took. But let me tell you, the BEST part of all of it is being able to sit back on one of the Disney buses at night and going through all of your pictures by just clicking away. It made my entire vacation. It was so much fun!! Go for it. You won't regret it. I ended up printing about 300 of them at Costco and they did a fantastic job. These are the best pictures I have ever seen in a photo album. You will love it!!!!

 

[hannahandkatesmommy]

hi just wanted to give props to the Canon Powershot A80. We love it....another place to get digital media developed is www.shutterfly.com. All you have to do is upload your pictures to them and they will print them and send them to you within days. Excellent quality. We got some 8X10s developed for around $3.00 each last vacation. Also- they print excellent quality Xmas or holiday cards(no cheap though).

 

[ksouma]

I have a Sony 5MP and love it! I would never go bak to 35MM....

 

[brack]

UMTerp: You're right about the ship's inspectors and that's why I bought a lead lined pouch for the I took film on and off the ship. For whatever reason that didn't seem to bother them. ? I had fully expected to have to remove the film but if it went through the scanner they were happy. Maybe that is how they are trained because they do not seem able to deal with anything outside the normal guidelines.

Thanks for the tip about the Security Officer.

 

[disneybride96]

Originally posted by wdw47
we have been debating this ourselves DH loves his 35mm he now has a canon rebal2000 with extra lenses says he likes changing the light setting .

I have a Rebel and loved being able to change lenses. For Christmas, my husband bought me a Digital Rebel.....same lenses and basically the same lighting features.

 

[disneybride96]

Originally posted by wdw47
we are also thinking of getting a HP printer where you just put the memory card in the printer itself anyone ever use or know of these thanks we love the information this site provides.

The thing I like most about digital is being able to crop and adjust color before I print the photo. With the memory card feature on the printer, I don't believe you can do this. My Cannon printer has the 4x6 photo paper cartridge and prints out picutures you can hardly tell from professional processing.

 

[skyhawk]

WOW - I cannot believe all the responses I've received to my humble little post. Thank you so much everyone!