Expensive Camera vs. Disposable?

[UTgirl]

In your veteran opinions would you take the camera your DH purchased for Christmas that has all the zoom and nice added effects or would you just carry a disposable camera?

I want to travel as light as possible with two kids and I'm worried about things getting stolen!

 

[blessedby3]

I would take the nice camera that you got for Christmas. You will have much better pictures and thats what I treasure most from my Disney trips. I took our brand new $300 digital camera with us a few weeks ago and took about 600 pictures. Lots to choose from for getting developed. This way you can also pick and choose which ones to develope. I had some blurry shots and not so great shots on my card and would have had to print them all if I had a point and shoot. My SIL took a few disposable cameras and ended up buying some in the parks! She ended up with 20 disposable cameras and at about $6 per camera to develop plus the price of the cameras themselves thats a boatload of money. Just be sure if you take your camera to hold on to it! I accidentally left mine on the back of a chair in Roaring Forks at WL and came back within 5 mins and it was gone!! Panic set in and after about 10 mins we found it at the front desk. A nice CM found it and turned it in there. Actually it was my new camera and my DD16's new camera ($150)! Thank goodness for honest people.

I bought a nice camera bag at WalMart before we left and wore it around my neck- worked well except for the one time at Roaring Forks- lesson learned!!

 

[sgmom]

Glad your camera was found!

I would recommend the digital since you will end up with better photos and you won't have to hassle with the developing costs. I took over 700 photos on our trip, glad to hear I wasn't the only one taking a lot! We then took the memory card to WalMart and they put the photos on a disk for under $4.

I did drop our camera twice on our trip! Boy, that was a scare. The battery door came unaligned, but DH was able to pop it back in place. Just make sure to put the camera in the same place each time and have it in a bag to quickly grab if you walk away. We stored everything in a stroller, but had a hook to hang the camera bag. We knew if we had to leave the stroller, that was the most important thing to grab!

I wish we would have used our camcorder more, but only used it for one character dinner and missed all the parades with it!

 

[karibritt01]

We took 2 cameras - my 35mm and our new digital. For character meets, we both took pictures. We figured it doubled our chances of getting at least 1 great shot! I used the digital for things like shows and parades, so it didn't cost anything if the pictures were bad. I took the 35 mm to the pool... just to be safe. We took 11 rolls of film and 300+ digital pics. We came home, downloaded the digital, and the computer promptly crashed... never to be heard from again! I was so thankful for my back-up camera! Luckily, DH got most of the pics back through an undelete program he found at work. Who knew?? This year I am thinking to take some disposables for the kids to use, and for the pool. I could never get a shot of DS, as he lived on the water slide. I was too scared of getting my camera wet to try and get close enough for a shot.

 

[#1 Pocahontas]

Take your nice one! I am a huge photo buff though so I am biassed. I took over 1000 pics and bought over 200 on the Photopass....on a 7 day trip! Those are my souvenirs though. I cherish each and every photo. My camera is pretty big. We just carry it in a backpack along without other things. When we ride something we just take the backpack with us. No need to worry about it getting stolen.

Disposable ones don't give you that great of an end result. The only time I ever use one is at a place like Kings Island or other one day trip amusment park like place.

 

[kstgelais4]

I agree, take the digital. You will treasure those pics forever, so go all out

 

[lindakmonty]

vacations are one of the main reasons I want to buy a dslr camera! Definitely take a nice camera!

 

[lovethecastle]

Definitely the good camera! You will thank yourself years from now when you look at the great pictures.
We have given our ds10 a disposable camera & let him have total control over what he shoots. You can have your 35mm pictures developed in MK at the big camera shop. Your dd can see her pictures while still there.
Have fun!

 

[DreaminDisney]

I would take the good camera (for sure) and give the kids a disposable one each.

 

[CleveRocks]

Disposable ones don't give you that great of an end result.

I respectuflly disagree, for most instances.

Overall, yes, digital can be better than film only because you can take SO MANY MORE shots, and also know instantly if they're any good or not.

The other thing that can make a "real" camera better than a disposable camera is zoom.

But all else being equal, disposable cameras take just as good shots as "real" cameras. On "real" cameras, most people aren't going to make manual adjustments for shutter speed or depth of field.

A few years back, in the pre-digital camera era, I went on a cruise with a group. I brought my trusty 35mm SLR, and a buddy of mine came with a bag full of disposable cameras he bought at a gas station/convenience store chain on the way to the airport. We purposely tried an experiment. We took a lot of identical shots, standing shoulder-to-shoulder. Of course, when I used my zoom or when I adjusted depth of field (for instance, keeping the subject in sharp focus while purposely blurring the background) or when I adjusted shutter speed (for low light situations, or to make moving water either blur or "freeze") the shots came out differently. But for the "normal" shots, the kind that most people take most of the time anyway, you couldn't tell which was from the expensive SLR and which from the gas station disposable.

Overall, the biggest factor in the quality of a photograph is the photographer, not the camera.

 

[#1 Pocahontas]

Overall, the biggest factor in the quality of a photograph is the photographer, not the camera.

That I agree with.

However, even before I went to my DSLR I didn't like the quality. I think I have used a disposable maybe twice in the last 6 years. In my opinion, not good quality at all unless you have perfect lighting conditions and you are at the perfect distance from your subject. I use to use them 10 years ago, and back then I would have told you I loved them, but not now.

I am a photographer by trade so maybe that makes me very picky, I don't know. To me, the quality doesn't even come close to comparing.

We can respectfully agree to disagree.

 

[HollyJoy]

Trust me.. take the good camera! We do! We let the girls take disposable cameras, and I end up taking the pics. There is NO comparison. You'll be glad you did!

 

[CindeBella]

I agree with the other posts to bring the good camera. I, too, was hesitant to bring our good camera but when you see all of the wonderful photos that you return with you will be so happy that you did.
We download everything on our computer and onto discs when we arrive home and share them with everyone.
The children bring disposable waterproof cameras.

My cousin always leaves his camera in his daughter's stroller without fear and encouraged me to do the same. I was not as trusting until we forgot ours in the stroller, but it was safe and sound. Don't get me wrong, I am not recommending you do this, but at that point as wasn't as afraid of losing it.