What equipment to bring to WDW?

[vikivoly]

Hi! I'm a photographer, but more importantly a mom of 2 preschoolers and a first time WDW visitor. I know I'll want to take some nice shots at the park, but really I'm all about the kids and making life easy these days.

1. What focal length lens should I take to cover my bases? I have a 28-85 mm zoom that I think would be perfect as far as focal length goes, but it is one big, heavy piece of glass. I can't imagine having it strapped around my neck for 9 days while dealing with 2 small children at WDW. I also don't love the lens, but that's a whole other story. Would a 30 mm and an 85mm get me by? I'm going to want some full length shots of the girls with the princesses and I'm guessing the 85mm would be too close for that at the park, right?

2. Which camera body should I take? I have a EOS 5d and an EOS 10d. I truly despise my 10d, but am worried that I'll miss the pop-up flash for night-time pictures. I'm not sure I'll be wanting to lug my speedlight 550 around. I do have a cheap compact P&S that I'll be bringing for days when I don't want to lug my bigger equipment.

 

[MarkBarbieri]

What is reasonable varies a lot from person to person. Some people find a Rebel with a 50mm objectionably large. I've heard rumors of a total nutjob that lugged around a 1 series canon, a tripod, a 24-70 f/2.8, 70-200 f/2.8, and a 17-40 f/4, not to mention a large flash, a 1.4x extender, and other random junk.

I'd be inclined to bring the 5D and all of your lenses and just try different combinations on different days. Just leave what you don't want in your room safe. I typically stash my 50mm lens in my wifes purse and bring my camera with one lens on it and one lens in my belt pouch. If you're going with another adult, share the load.

I'd go with the 5D over the 10D because it has much, much, much less noise at higher ISO. Heck, you can practically get any shot with 5D using a higher ISO that you could get with the 10D and it's little built in flash.

Don't forget to exploit your stroller for carrying stuff. Shove a compact tripod in the basket, if it has one. You might also stick hide a speedlite in a bag with a couple of diapers. I'm dreading not have a stroller on our next trip. Where am I going to put the food, the drinks, the DSes, etc?

As for lenses, everyone has their preferences. I find myself rarely shooting wide and taking a lot of telephoto shots. Others here love wide angles at the parks and some even use fisheyes to great effect. One thing that everyone likes at the parks are fast lenses. f/5.6 zooms are OK outside, but it starts to really kill you inside at shows and on indoor rides.

A good strap also helps a lot. The OpTech straps are popular and I love mine, but I've found that any neoprene strap is an incredible improvement over the original strap.

 

[donaldduck1967]

Just remember, seeing how this is your 1st time to Disney try not to spend so much time taking pictures that you forget to see your kids expressions and enjoy yourself. That being said, also don't forget to capture those expressions. Some people may tend to take pics of this or that and forget to get a picture of their childs face the first time they see Mickey or someone else.

 

[Shutterbug]

This is what I brought last time.
35mm SLR with 3 lenses, digital camera, digital camcorder, tripod
Then again I didnt have any children either...lol

 

[Shutterbug]

Just remember, seeing how this is your 1st time to Disney try not to spend so much time taking pictures that you forget to see your kids expressions and enjoy yourself.

Yes I want to echo that statement as well. So often I have gotten so into getting the perfect shot that I forget to just sit back and experience.

 

[MICKEY88]

. I've heard rumors of a total nutjob that lugged around a 1 series canon, a tripod, a 24-70 f/2.8, 70-200 f/2.8, and a 17-40 f/4, not to mention a large flash, a 1.4x extender, and other random junk.

.

If I remember right, someone posted pics of that nutjob, and he looked a lot like you...

 

[Groucho]

The other day, I was thinking about my equipment list for my trip in April...

At this point, I see no way around bringing seven lenses. The good news is that two of them I'd only need at Animal Kingdom.

10-17mm fish-eye... gotta have the fish-eye
28-75mm F2.8... all-around
31mm F1.8... will use whenever possible (need to justify the purchase!)
50mm F1.4... good for a little less wide than the 31mm, and smaller
105mm F2.8 1:1 macro (manual focus)... nice to have a good macro lens

For AK:
50-200mm... your basic autofocus zoom
70-210mm F2.8-4.0 (manual focus)... high quality (and heavy) but I don't think manual focus will cut it on the Safari ride, but should be good for anything else at AK

Both of the above will be going up for sale when I get an autofocus 70-200mm F2.8, probably the new Tamron if it's as good as their 28-75mm (it also promises to be a little smaller and lighter than other fast 70-200mms.) So that'd get me down to six lenses.

Then there's the DSLR bodies (though probably only one at a time), flash, spare batteries, 2-3 circular polarizers (for different sizes), remote shutter release, full-size tripod, etc, etc, etc..... I may have to hire a sherpa.

Back to the OP's question... I'm not sure if you'd miss the pop-up flash much. IMHO you rarely will want to use flash at WDW. Obviously it's a no-no on rides and shows, and most nighttime things look pretty bad with the flash, and if you're taking family photos with the flash, the background will usually be so dim that you might as well have taken it in your backyard!

If you're comfortable with switching lenses (it sounds like you are), I'd lean towards the two primes, and add a 50mm. Canon has a real cheap 50mm F1.8 - not as nice as their F1.4, but less than a third of the price. Between those three lenses, you'll have most focal lengths covered pretty well.

 

[handicap18]

I've heard rumors of a total nutjob that lugged around a 1 series canon, a tripod, a 24-70 f/2.8, 70-200 f/2.8, and a 17-40 f/4, not to mention a large flash, a 1.4x extender, and other random junk.

Isn't that nutjob a Mouseketographer from Texas? ?? ??

To the OP,
this is the $100,000,000.00 question. The answer varies from person to person. While some "nutjob" might walk around Disney as a photographer's version of Rambo, others think that anything more than their camera phone is way to much.

As for lenses, some like the wide stuff, others perfer the long. The last 2 trips I done a lot of my shooting between 18 and 50mm. For me your 28 isn't wide enough unless you use it on the 5D.

If you go with the 5D I'll think you'll be pretty set with the 28-85mm. I would also take along the 30mm if it is (which I'll assume it is) a wide aperture (f/1.4 or so). I used my Sigma 30mm f/1.4 a lot on the last trip. Especially on the indoor rides and for the night parades (ie: SpectroMagic). I did also find that the 30mm on a crop sensor was very good as a walk around lens (my 18-135 lens broke while in EPCOT and I only had the 30mm to use as a backup with me). You might also consider, as I believe Andy mentioned, the 50mm f/1.8 (or the f/1.4 if you have it) for the 5D as a "walk-around lens".

If you do character meals you'll want to bring your flash, otherwise you probably wont need it unless you plan on doing a lot of stuff at night and want pics of the kids, but thats your decision.

I do like a long lens (ie: 70-200/70-300) for Animal Kingdom and also for the shows at Hollywood Studio's if you plan on seeing them (Indiana Jones and Lights Motor Action)

 

[pjacobi]

Taking two preschool kids on their first trip to WDW is a huge task!

You will already be carrying a ton of stuff for the kids, in addition to watching them like a hawk so they don't get lost in a huge crowd of people.

That alone is a tough job under the best situations and even more difficult when the kids get tired and cranky.

This leaves you with about a 1/2 second and one brain cell to devote to taking pictures. If you are lucky, you may get a quick shot. While shooting one kid, where did the other one run off?

If you are alone with the kids, I recommend using only a high quality P/S camera.

If there is another adult along you might have time to shoot with a dSLR and your one favorite zoom lens.

Make it a piority to have fun with your kids. Don't let any of your personal ambitions about photography interfere with having fun with your kids.

You're on vacation. Let the Disney photographers do the work!


-Paul

 

[vikivoly]

Thanks for all of the replies. You gave me a lot to think about. I definitely want to enjoy the moment and not be a slave to the camera, afterall, I'm paying for this trip, not being paid to take pictures. I think I'll take my 5d instead of the 10d. I knew the pop-up flash wasn't going to give me awesome shots, but also knew I would need to use it for some snapshots. My compact p&s will serve me just fine for that. My itinerary has a morning, break and evening scheduled for each day. I think I'll take my 5d to each park one half day and try to squeeze some cool shots in on those days. I also wasn't even thinking about having a fast lens for the indoor shows. Thanks! You guys are awesome.

Oh and I can't imagine the nutjob who hauled all of that equipment around. Did the nutjob's SO get a picture of him?