What is Your Walk-Around Lens at the Parks?

[k5jm]

I find myself asking every time I head to any of the Parks, "What Lens should I try and walk-around with?" I normally carry 2 or 3 Lenses, but I am in search of "my walk-around" lens. Tell us what you carry and how you try and use it.

 

[ssanders79]

I usually have my full bag of gear, but I tend to just stick with my 35mm. I like shallow DoF. It really comes down to your own shooting style. A true "walk around lens" would be the 18-200mm which is nice if you want to travel light and have the flexibility to go wide or tight without changing glass. However this comes at a price both financial and optical.

A lot also has to do with what you want to get out of your trip. Last week I only used an UWA. For me I got into DSLR photography for the flexibility, not the convience. I carry them all (plus a tripod) so I am prepared for anything, but usually stick to one lens to shoot within the creative boundaries of the particular lens. I never want to say to myself, I wish I brought X with me.

 

[Gianna'sPapa]

My 28-70 f2.8 is the lens that is on the camera as I walkaround. In my bag that I'm carrying is an 18-55 WR lens (my camera is also WR so I can carry it on the water rides), Sigma 30 f1.4 and Sigma 70-200 f2.8. I, like ssanders79, never want to be without the lens or piece of equipment I think I need.

 

[k5jm]

I normal carry my 50mm f1.8, my 28-135 f3.5 to 5.6 and my 8mm when I head to the parks. But I keep 3 other lenses back at the hotel just in case.

 

[mom2rtk]

I think what you bring depends an awful lot on what your touring style is and how often you get to the parks. We usually make it once a year, so I carry my wide angle, 17-55 f/2.8, my 50-150 f/2.8 and many days also my 30mm f/1.4.

It can also vary if you're the type to split the day with a return trip to your resort. If you stay all day like we typically do (which is easier to do since we go in the winter) then you lose the option of swapping lenses when you head back to the resort.

My Canon 17-55 f/2.8 is on the camera 90% of the time, but I love having those others there when the mood strikes me.

If I was able to go more often, I would be more prone to put one on for the day and just see what I could do with it.

 

[My2Girls66]

Nikon 18-135mm walk-around and 35mm 1.8 in my backpack

 

[Marty Joe]

I used a Canon 18-135mm on my last trip and it was great. I had a 55-250mm that I used once at AK on the safari. My next trip, all I want is a fast prime (somewhere around a 50mm 1.8 or a 28 mm 1.4) for dark rides and my 18-135...

 

[LordAthens]

If I'm packing light (as in, that is the only glass I'm taking that day) I used tarry my Nikon 24-120mm VR. Not very wide on a DX body (36mm), but I never felt limited by it on the wide end. I was usually in the 50mm+ range and if I needed wide, I always felt I wanted really wide.

That said, I picked up a Tamron 18-270 VR PZD this past Christmas, which will become my replacement walk around glass. It's perfectly sharp for Disney use and encompasses a huge range and it does so quite well. It's a little slow (ok, a lot slow) at the long end, but I don't anticipate using the long end in the evening where the speed matters.

I will note however, when I go down, I'm down there for a week, minimum, which gives me the change to visit most of the parks for 2 days each. I plan on what gear I'm taking on those days accordingly. IE, 1 day I'll take most of my gear and glass and that day becomes more of a relaxing, walk around a shoot kind of day, where I'm not trying to cram all of the rides, etc in. The other day I go light with just a single piece of glass (and usually a speedlite in my pocket for fill), that becomes our more "active" day.

PS - I voted "other" since there wasn't a "super zoom" range in the mix.

 

[NLD]

Well, last time it was a Tamron super zoom (28-300)... but... eventually there'd reach a point, after coming off a dark ride or from indoors, where I just wouldn't bother to take off the 50 1.4, and would just use that most of the time.

So either one... the fast prime or the super zoom... both serve as walk-arounds.

 

[NCtoFL]

In previous visits, I carried the kit 18-55 and 55-200. I also carried a 35 1.8. While walking around I found myself constantly changing between the two zooms. I now have the sigma 18-250, and it will be my primary 'walkabout' lens during our next trip, but I will also carry a 35 1.8 and 50 1.4 in the bag.

 

[alloyd1170]

My Tamron 18-270 is my walk-around lens anywhere I go. However, I just got the Canon 24-105 so it might become my go-to lens. At WDW I also bring my new Canon 10-22, 50 f/1.4 and for Fantasmic and AK I lug my Canon 100-400.

 

[donaldduck1967]

Tokina 12-24

 

[Phil'sFrontier]

Nikon 18-200 gen 1 here. I love that lens. I had to send it in for warranty repair(af did not work) and was stuck with the 18-135 kit lens....uhhhggg.
I like that with the vr I can confidently hand hold at 1/30 or around there and get a good natural light shot as long as the subject is not moving of course.

 

[wbeem]

Mostly the Nikon 24-70. It's fast glass for the dark rides, has a focal range that accommodates 95% of the shots I want to take and has excellent bokeh if I want shallow DOF.

 

[zetachi]

Got a trip in less then a month so I'll let you know

Probably will be either my Oly 14-54 or the 50mm

 

[zackiedawg]

If I really need to come down to a one-lens solution, walk-around lens - most of the time it'll be my 18-250mm. Overall, it's hard to beat for covering as many bases as possible, all with good quality, and in a small, light package.

However, when at Disney I rarely find myself forced into a one-lens-for-all situation, so I end up with more than 1 'walkaround' lens on different days, and of course other days when I don't just bring 1 lens. Since I'm at Disney usually 6 trips a year, for 4 or 5 days at a time, I typically choose 3 days for carrying multiple lenses, and 1 or 2 days with just one lens. The 18-250mm gets chosen a lot, as does my 10-24mm UWA on some days...and occasionally my 30mm F1.4 will serve one-lens duty.

 

[njtree]

my lense for disney was 35mm f1.8 sony- 55-200mm sony kit lens. Camera was a33. 35mm f1.8mm for everything and 50-200mm for am. kingdom as those buggers wont come closer to the camera for some reason!

-Dan