Disney with a DSLR and without a laptop

[Coachymom]

I asked in a previous thread about what else people would recommend. THANKS SO MUCH for all the responses! I truly appreciate it!!!

One of the recommendations was a laptop to unload pics. We aren't going to be able to afford a laptop this year and Disney. Hopefully, for our next trip in a couple years we will buy one.

If you don't have a laptop at Disney, what was your process with your camera and pictures? Did you have multiple memory cards?

 

[Rapunzel]

I don't have a laptop either, my plan is to take a few 8gig memory cards.

 

[Hockeyman]

I think really your only option then is to load up on memory card. Dont know if there is some sort of way you could plug in some sort of external hard drive to the DSLR, if so that would be a good idea. Also if you are limited on memory cards you may want to shoot in Jpeg to save space

 

[Coachymom]

Thanks so much for the responses.

 

[2Tiggies]

Thanks so much for the responses.

I've actually just commented on this on your other thread so I won't duplicate here. Sorry, never saw you had posted another one x

 

[ThurlFan]

I'm going to go a different direction on the memory cards. I would be more comfortable with lower capacity cards and more of them. Reason being if a single card fails or goes missing, then you have lost fewer pictures. If you put a week's photos on just one or two cards and you lose one, that's half your vacation photos gone. So if I couldn't back up photos on-site, I'd probably use a separate card for each day of the trip just to be on the safe side.

Having said that, does anyone know if they will still burn your pictures to disc at the magic kingdom photo shop? I last did that nearly 10 years ago, and the cost was fairly steep, but I had peace of mind.

 

[Coachymom]

They do have this! Thank you for the suggestion!!!

I think really your only option then is to load up on memory card. Dont know if there is some sort of way you could plug in some sort of external hard drive to the DSLR, if so that would be a good idea. Also if you are limited on memory cards you may want to shoot in Jpeg to save space

 

[Hockeyman]

Heres an idea.Someone posted on a different thread about a memory card they use that is wifi connected so every time the card is in a wifi area that is accessible it uploads the pictures automatic to what ever site you specify. That may be an option also.

 

[photo_chick]

I'm going to go a different direction on the memory cards. I would be more comfortable with lower capacity cards and more of them. Reason being if a single card fails or goes missing, then you have lost fewer pictures. If you put a week's photos on just one or two cards and you lose one, that's half your vacation photos gone. So if I couldn't back up photos on-site, I'd probably use a separate card for each day of the trip just to be on the safe side.

I'm also of this school of thought. If I had to keep things on a memory card for an extended period of time I'd go with more cards that hold less.

Heres an idea.Someone posted on a different thread about a memory card they use that is wifi connected so every time the card is in a wifi area that is accessible it uploads the pictures automatic to what ever site you specify. That may be an option also.

You'd need to carry around a mobile hot spot to upload at WDW... unless they've added wi-fi throughout the parks since I was there last year. It will be pretty slow as well. You will end up using a lot of your camera's battery life in the process.

 

[Nik's Mom]

I always bring multiple memory cards. Come to think of it, I bring 2 cameras.

 

[Hockeyman]

You'd need to carry around a mobile hot spot to upload at WDW... unless they've added wi-fi throughout the parks since I was there last year. It will be pretty slow as well.

No wifi at parks but all the WDW resorts have free Wifi now and just about most other hotels have it these days also. You could always dump all the pictures from that day's shooting at night while you are back at the hotel. I did notice uploading on WDW wife was extremely slow so that will be a factor also.

 

[Hockeyman]

I always bring multiple memory cards. Come to think of it, I bring 2 cameras.

Do you find you end up using both cameras during your trips? I couldn't imagine bringing another one along with me just on how much I bring with me already and adding another body into the mix would be a lot lol. Multiple memory cards is a must if you are shooting all day at the parks and dont want to end up having to buy one lol

 

[Coachymom]

Thanks for doing that. No problem. I wasn't sure if people would see my no laptop statement.

I've actually just commented on this on your other thread so I won't duplicate here. Sorry, never saw you had posted another one x

 

[Coachymom]

Great ideas! Thanks so much. I don't feel so lost anymore.

 

[2Tiggies]

Thanks for doing that. No problem. I wasn't sure if people would see my no laptop statement.

Well at least you know I read your post

I noticed it because I have done WDW without a laptop some years back and was so paranoid about losing a card/all my pics, so I opted to switch them out every day.

Even though I double back up every day now, I still take multiple cards and don't delete anything from them until I get back home. Just in case

 

[photo_chick]

No wifi at parks but all the WDW resorts have free Wifi now and just about most other hotels have it these days also. You could always dump all the pictures from that day's shooting at night while you are back at the hotel. I did notice uploading on WDW wife was extremely slow so that will be a factor also.

You're talking about possibly hours of uploading each night depending on the size of the card.

 

[Hockeyman]

You're talking about possibly hours of uploading each night depending on the size of the card.

Lol yea. I never promised it would be a quick thing to do lol. Could always be done over night while they sleep. It seriously took me 15-20 min to upload 1 picture onto Flickr and Facebook 2 weeks ago while at All Star Music, didnt help we had a room all the way in the back either. Riverside seemed a little faster in March but still not a fast upload at all.

 

[2Tiggies]

You're talking about possibly hours of uploading each night depending on the size of the card.

Lol yea. I never promised it would be a quick thing to do lol. Could always be done over night while they sleep. It seriously took me 15-20 min to upload 1 picture onto Flickr and Facebook 2 weeks ago while at All Star Music, didnt help we had a room all the way in the back either. Riverside seemed a little faster in March but still not a fast upload at all.

Oh great! Not what I want to hear

I use other means of backing up which don't require internet access but thought it wasn't too bad in the last couple of years. So the convenience of free wifi has thrown in a massive compromise then, it seems!

 

[Alacrity]

I've used a portable hard drive with built in card readers. You might find them called a photobank or some such. At the end of the day I would take the card out of the camera, put it in the reader and hit the copy button. The device copies the card over to the hard drive . When it's done pull the card out and you can erase it for more. When home the drive connects to the computer and you can copy everything off onto your main machine. There are a number of similar devices out there.

I've used this for a few years now and it's worked well for me for photos. I've now started with video and it is lacking in capacity though the drive could be upgraded. It's a 20GB drive, I believe, and my video memory cards are 16GB-32GB each. Sufficient for photos, not video. I've now bought a netbook to act as a storage device. that being the case I'd be willing to let the portable drive go cheap! It's and older device but has worked quite well. (It's a Vosonic X-Drive II, http://www.dansdata.com/xsdrive2.htm).

 

[Hockeyman]

Oh great! Not what I want to hear

I use other means of backing up which don't require internet access but thought it wasn't too bad in the last couple of years. So the convenience of free wifi has thrown in a massive compromise then, it seems!

The free wifi is great for your casual internet surfing but if you planned on uploading pictures to a site, you may run into some slow speeds. Now that may not be the case at all the resorts, just the 2 I have stayed at and tried posting pics on my Facebook page. I didnt try downloading anything but pages seemed to load fairly quickly.

If you dont need to be online to back up your pictures then you should be fine.