Tell me about your camera!

[ubish00]

I have an Olympus TG-4, it is waterproof, crushproof, shockproof, etc.... For about $400 I have gone from snorkeling to taking amazing sunset pictures in just a couple of hours with it. Like you, I have several cameras but the Olympus is my favorite!

I just bought this camera as a 3rd camera. My previous waterproof camera just crashed on me. So happy to hear you like it.

 

[Michellynn]

For those of you who bring your DSLR, what do you do with it when you go in the pool, on the slide on the boat or in the ocean on Castaway? Do you feel comfortable leaving it with your stuff in your bag? Any tips on securing it? I want to bring mine, but I'm nervous.

Thanks!

Like many of the others have said...in those conditions the DSLR remains in my room. When it does come with me, I keep the camera itself , and all lens attachments, in soft cushioned cases and throw them all inside a messenger bag I sling crosswise over my body for hands free touring.

I also like jec6613's advice about having more than one camera. I have a Canon T3i for all the detailed and hard to take (lighting wise) shots. And a Canon waterproof D30 for anything near water/sand, etc (basically any location I would worry about my T3i getting damaged). Then for less detail, but pure convenience and compact travel, but with moderate to high quality, I have a Canon Elph 110. (I'm a bit of a Canon girl as you can tell...LOL) Depending on my vacation destination, I will take anywhere from just one of them to all 3 of them. For the cruise, I will be taking the T3i and the D30.

 

[mhconley]

I purchased an Olympus TG-2 tough/underwater camera for our first cruise to use alongside my DSLR-like Sony Cybershot. It takes such good pictures I sold the Sony and use the Olympus exclusively.

Martin

 

[aggiedog]

I used to use a DSLR, Cannon and Nikon, and realized it didn't get used as much as I'd like since I got tired of lugging it and it's accessories around. For those of you wanting good pictures without needing to really play with the settings too much, I am LOVING my Panasonic Lumix. It is tiny, takes great pictures, and especially works well in low lighting. It's resolution is way better than my phone, so I can use the pictures for pretty much anything - scrapbooks, wall art, etc.

 

[chunkymonkey]

Great thread! As a photography buff and former freelance/wedding photographer I really enjoy taking pictures to document our WDW and DCL trips! On our last trip on the Magic and WDW I mainly used my new Canon G7X point and shoot and iphone 6 plus. The Canon is really great. Takes very sharp bright pictures and you don't have to change lenses. You can set manual settings if you really want to but I found that the auto setting worked really well. It has a flip up screen so great for those selfies too. You can check out my Trip Report for pictures from the Magic.

I have brought a DSLR to WDW in the past and though it was wonderful to have different angles (I love wide-angle shots and use a 10-22mm lens for that, and also brought along a regular lens as well as a prime 35mm for food/detail shots), it got heavy really quickly! I don't think I will bring my DSLR again. Nowadays point and shoots take excellent quality pictures. If you prefer having a bit more control without the weight, I also recommend the Panasonic Lumix GF series. I have an older GF1 and it's fantastic. Still have to change lenses but it's quite portable. I'm looking to get a Gopro for our next trip on the Fantasy next February because I think a waterproof camera would be really fun!

 

[Cldfront]

I would revisit your Rebel. I put mine aside for a while also, because my iPhone was what was handy, but I recently went back to the Rebel and it takes really great photographs.

 

[cgolf]

View attachment 116026 I love to take photos but I also am very adventurous. Lugging around my Canon with giant lenses was just a pain and I found myself going out without my camera more often. So I bought a mirror-less Sony A6000. Best camera ever! It's light and it takes great photos! One of my favorite things is when using the display, what you see is what you get. No more taking a photo, pulling it up on the display and seeing what I don't like about it. The fully auto feature is great for beginners too. Here is a recent from our DCL Norway cruise.[GALLERY=][/GALLERY]

How is the image quality compared to a DSLR? I have read a little about them and got sticker shock. Then again I have been using hand me down cameras, first a Cannon 20d and my current 7d, so anything is sticker shock lol.

 

[jec6613]

How is the image quality compared to a DSLR? I have read a little about them and got sticker shock. Then again I have been using hand me down cameras, first a Cannon 20d and my current 7d, so anything is sticker shock lol.

Image quality is similar to a crop body DSLR out of the body itself, but if you're used to using nice lenses, you'll find the quality a bit lacking due simply to the lack of high quality lenses for the A6000 (no f/2.8 zooms, the prime set is still lacking, et cetera). It's also not any lighter or smaller, with a 2-3 lens kit, than my small DSLR kit bag (D5100 + 18-55, 55-200, 35 f/1.8, battery), which, alongside the abysmal (by DSLR standards) battery life, and the requirement of having yet another set of lenses, which are incompatible so they can't work as a backup for my bigger DSLR, removed the attraction for me.

One thing I use my smaller/lighter lenses and body for, which as mentioned are as small and light as mirrorless, is as a backup to a larger DSLR and lenses. If my aperture jams or shutter fails one day into a two week vacation, I want a backup lens in the same basic focal length range that can get me by for the larger DSLR, and I want my smaller camera to be able to use the larger higher quality lenses. Hence the system: they can back up each other and in a pinch I have a plan B, where if I went mirrorless (which are currently incompatible) I'd lose significant capability after a single piece of equipment failure. The exception to this is the Canon EOS M, which can adapt properly to all EF lenses (the adapters for F and EF lenses for Sony cameras are poor at best), but that's not available for sale from any US retailer.

One place where mirrorless is struggling mightily is the lack of long lenses - this is both a physics/technical limitation (the PDAF discrimination distance is very short in mirrorless), but also a system limitation: with adapted lenses performing poorly, there are few native supertelephoto choices for mirrorless. Except for supertelephoto though, mirrorless are steadily filling out their lens sets, although it'll be years before they tilt/shift and other specialty lenses show on some of these mounts - Nikon has 90 lenses and five teleconverters available for the f-mount, plus third party, and Canon is similar: that's a lot of lens inertia to design and overcome for the newer mounts, nearly fifteen years worth of constant design and lens launches just to bring them to parity with the F and EF mounts.

 

[kl11487]

We use a bridge camera so that way we can keep weigh light and compact. We bought a Panasonic Lumix FZ200, it takes great low light pictures since it has a constant 2.8 aperture and has a 600mm 24x zoom. While the pictures of course aren't going to be as great as a DSLR, for $350 it does a magnificent job.

Here's the spec sheet from Amazon and an example image gallery in different light situations. Including, low, natural, and artificial light, and it's only a little over 1 pound. http://imgur.com/a/QpaGZ

Auto Focus Technology

• Contrast Detect (sensor)
• Multi-area
• Center
• Tracking
• Single
• Continuous
• Face Detection

Autofocus Points 23
Battery Average Life 540 Photos
Color Black
Continuous Shooting Speed 12 fps
Digital Zoom 4x
Display Fixture Type Fully-articulated
Display Resolution Maximum 460,000
Effective Still Resolution 12.1 MP
Expanded ISO Maximum 3,200
Expanded ISO Minimum 100
File Format JPEG (DCF/Exif2.3), RAW, MPO
Flash Memory Installed Size 70
Flash Memory Type SD/SDHC/SDXC, Internal
Flash Modes Description Auto, Forced off, Forced on, Red-eye reduction, Slow synchronization
Flash Type Built-in Flash, Hot-shoe
Flash Type Built-In Flash
Focus Description Contrast Detection
Focus Type Automatic with Manual
Form Factor SLR-like (bridge)
GPS None
HDMI Type Mini
ISO Range Auto, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200, (6400 with boost)
Image Aspect Ratio 1:1, 4:3, 3:2, 16:9
Image Stabilization Optical
Item Dimensions 3.43 x 4.33 x 4.92 inches
Item Weight 1.3 pounds
Macro Focus Range 1 cm
Maximum Aperture ƒ/2.8
Maximum Aperture Range F2.8
Maximum Focal Length 600 mm
Maximum Shutter Speed 1/4000 of a second
Maximum horizontal resolution 4,000
Memory Slots Available 1
Metering Multi, Center-weighted, Spot
Minimum Aperture ƒ/8
Minimum Focal Length 25 mm

 

[havoc315]

How is the image quality compared to a DSLR? I have read a little about them and got sticker shock. Then again I have been using hand me down cameras, first a Cannon 20d and my current 7d, so anything is sticker shock lol.

In terms of pure image quality -- It is the same as the newest APS-C dSLRs, as it uses essentially the same sensor found in many of the newest Nikon/Sony/Pentax dSLRs. The price is also very affordable, compared to similarly equipped dSLRs - You won't find any 24mp dSLRs that can shoot at 11fps for any cheaper. The only camera that really comes close spec-wise, would be the Canon 7dii, but it costs far more than the A6000. And of course, DXO rates the image quaity of the A6000 significantly higher than the Canon 7dii.

As stated, the issue for some people is lens availability. If you are used to using kit lenses, the A6000 will match or surpass any entry/mid-level dSLR kit. If you are used to kit lenses, supplemented by primes, you can do very very well with the A6000 -- In fact, some of the Sony primes are nothing short of outstanding. But if you are used to 2.8 zoom lenses, specialty tilt shift lenses, super long telephoto lenses, then you may feel held back by the Sony offerings.

And typically speaking, it is a good amount smaller than a small dSLR. It does depend on which lenses, but the A6000+ kit lens + kit telephoto + 50/1.8 prime, will be significantly smaller than the 7d+3 lenses.

 

[wdwwishes]

Canon Mark II for on board and non water/beach shore excursions. Canon point and shoot Powershot S110 for everything else. A Nikon waterproof one for water/beach excursions.

 

[jrabbit]

I have a Panasonic Lumix TS4 (they are "up to" Tough Adventure Camera DMC-TS6R)

I can drop it from 6+ feet (hope to never test this feature out)
I can take it underwater down to about 40 feet
I can take it into cold climates (don't remember how much below freezing).

It takes pretty good pictures. Low Light is a bit of an issue - but a friend has a TS5 and it is much better in low light. But I've taken some great fireworks pictures with this camera
Underwater pictures turn out pretty good - and using just the MS Photo Gallery auto adjust feature makes the colors pop.
Daytime pictures are great.
I really like the sunset setting - makes those pictures look really great. (this DCL logo sunset is untouched and I don't think I used the sunset setting)