Disneyland with 35mm/1.8 all day/night?

[Bill_AZ]

Hi. dSLR newbie here. Was wondering what I might be giving-up if I took ONLY my 35mm/1.8 to Disneyland (leaving my 18-105 back at the hotel). Looking to shoot mainly family shots all day and all night. Can I be successful with just the 35? Or, would I be missing out on too many 'other' photo opps? I can certainly bring both, but I'm looking for perspectives on the pros/cons of using my 35/1.8 exclusively. Thanks in advance for your comments and inputs!

- Bill

 

[Code]

That's a great focal length for family shots, I say go for it if you only want to take 1 lens.. of course you'd be missing out on 'other' photo ops, but you'd probably find just as many great ones with the 35mm that you wouldn't have otherwise considered!

 

[ChiSoxKeith]

I recently took a 50mm 1.4 with me to the world (new lens) and I left it on the camera almost the entire trip. Sure having a wider lens or more zoom would have been nice but it forced me to learn the lens and my camera more by limiting my options.

 

[WDWFigment]

There has been a recent trend towards doing this recently (using only one learns to force yourself to 'train' your eye better). Personally, I think it's a silly idea. I am only at DLR or WDW a couple times a year, and I want to make the most of my time shooting there. Use a single lens at home for a day if you really want to train your eye better.

However, if your reason is to go lighter on gear, then it's not a terrible idea. Still not something I'd do, but to each his own.

 

[annnewjerz]

I'd most definitely do this. During our trip to WDW in October last year, one of the days I only shot with my Sigma 30/1.4 and found it was the perfect focal length for most of the shooting I wanted to do. Were there times I wanted a longer lens for a detail shot of something or a fisheye for some cool distortion? Sure...but I just made note to get them next time, and if I spend too much time worrying about what shot I might miss, I find that I don't enjoy my day as much.

 

[ChiSoxKeith]

There has been a recent trend towards doing this recently (using only one learns to force yourself to 'train' your eye better). Personally, I think it's a silly idea. I am only at DLR or WDW a couple times a year, and I want to make the most of my time shooting there. Use a single lens at home for a day if you really want to train your eye better.

However, if your reason is to go lighter on gear, then it's not a terrible idea. Still not something I'd do, but to each his own.

To each his own.

 

[photo_chick]

If you feel comfortable doing that, then go for it. There will probably be more than a time or two when you wish you had a different lens with you. If you're good with that, then go for it.

My personal feelings are that I'm at Disney to be with my family. I take pictures of them. Any shots of the park I get are incidental. I could get those shots with just a 35mm.

 

[zackiedawg]

Can it be done? Sure. Will you miss shot opportunities? Only if you wanted to take those shots, and you didn't have the focal range...you stated yourself that you're there to take family photos day and night, so if that is truly your only goal, you'll be fine - if you want to take those family photos AND plan to shoot many different types of scenes in the parks, then you'll definitely be limited, but could still come away with some nice shots. Is it silly? That's up to you - it isn't if you go to Disney a ton, and just wanted to experiment during this trip. Or if you simply have one goal and that is to take family portraits. It might be silly if you expect to take closeups, telephoto shots of birds, details on tops of buildings, super wide angle shots, etc, and only bring a 35mm lens.

We all have opinions, and they vary, but your own needs are all that matters in making the decision. Unless this is your one and only trip to Disneyland, and you are an avid photographer, then I don't think you're going to do anything irrepairably stupid sticking with one lens. If you do miss some things, oh well...get them another time. Or work with what you have and do the best you can. You're there to shoot the family around the parks, and that you can do. If my 'unless' scenario is true...then I'd say bring more lenses or a different one!

 

[rossb]

This is not something I would want to do. I would find it too limiting.

 

[ChiSoxKeith]

To be honest I don't know that I would do it again. It was an exercise. I was trying to concentrate on learning a new lens and I was trying to pay closer attention to aperture and shutter speed.

But I do believe it was a worthwhile exercise and I learned a lot from it.

I tell you what it did teach me is that I really like having fast glass. My next lens is either gonna be a 70-200 f/2.8 or something wide like the canon 10-20

 

[Buzzguy]

I did something similar on a recent trip to Manhattan. I walked to B&H from Penn Station bought a Panasonic 20mm 1.7 for my oly ep1 and left it there the whole trip. It worked great and I had a great time with it. That said I don't think I'd want that for WDW even though I'd do that again for NYC. Since then I bought a 14-150mm for my m4/3's camera and I plan to take that when I go in February along with the 20 (I figure this with a Gorillapod will be a great travel kit. My E3 will be staying home for this trip.

 

[ssanders79]

I typically just shoot with my 35mm. I sometimes go to the 18-55mm to get a wider angle. This is the same case when I'm not at WDW. I'm not sure why I even own a 55-200mm aside from using it at AK.

 

[wenrob]

Do you take a break during the day? When we went to Disneyland in June I would plan my lenses like I planned my day. So if we were going to hit the darker rides etc. I'd take the 30 F/1.4, if we were going to do more site seeing, character encounter stuff I'd take the 17-50 F/2.8. (I had along the 18-105, never even took it out of the bag or hotel) Most times I'd switch out when we took a break in the middle of the day. There were a couple of times eldest DD and I stayed back so I spent the whole day w/the thirty. Only found it too tight once and only because there was a crowd behind me and I couldn't step back. Still got great pics though.

 

[Gdad]

Unless I am going solo or with a group just for photography then I never take more than a single lens- usually a prime. And I do believe in the theory that by limiting yourself you will find shots that would otherwise have gone unnoticed. I say go and enjoy the 35/1.8.

 

[handicap18]

If you went to Disney back in the 60's or 70's with your film SLR camera, chances are that you would only have the 50mm f/1.8 lens with it.

Today on a crop sensor body the 35mm f/1.8 has pretty much the same field of view as the 50mm f/1.8 does on a film SLR. So sure having just one lens is perfectly fine.

I would think that today most people go to Disney with a dSLR use only the 18-55mm kit lens. Thats only a 3x zoom.

The regulars here on the photo board are the exception when it comes to Disney and photography.

I see nothing wrong with going with just 1 prime lens to Disney to capture YOUR photos. I also see nothing wrong going with 4 lenses and changing them constantly to get YOUR photos.

Will you be restricted by using only 1 lens? Only if YOU think you are. The restriction is in the eye of the camera holder.

The 35mm length is a great general purpose length and would be great for family candid shots in any situation.

 

[seashoreCM]

The 35mm focal lenght gives about the same field of view as the unzoomed field of view of a typical point-and-shoot.

The traditional unzoomed field of view (many SLR's and most cameras made before 1960) is 50mm (for 35mm film frames) where 35mm focal lengh is considered wide angle.