What kind of camera to buy

[goofymomof2]

I know this is not the right board to post this but here goes anyway. I am looking for a good camera that will take pics of
the resorts & fireworks at night. We have been 3 times and have never been able to get good pics at night. We are going the week before Christmas & would like to get a camera that takes good night shots. So tell me what brand/model that everyone uses to get those good night shots.
Thanks,
Shannon

 

[Pam Lau]

Have you considered a digital? I still like to take a regular camera as well, but the digital proved to be a lot of fun last year. Plus you can delete any photos when someone walks across at the last second. Another benefit to the digital is the ability to edit the photos. I do not have the best digital available but last year I took shots at Illuminations (not the best) and of the castle and then adjusted the light in the computer to make them more visible. It all depends on your budget. Mine is 2.1 megapixels and when prices drop (which they always do) on 3.0 and higher, I will probably upgrade.

 

[shafke]

It depends on your budget.

If you go digital get at least 2.1 mega pixel with some options on controlling exposure settings. It took us all week to fill up a 128mb card on our camera and we got some decent night time shots. I'll try to post some when we download them off the camera.

If you go 35mm, your choices are point and shoot or SLR.

Since one of you criteria is fireworks you may be better off with SLR or digital with some manual settings. To get nice fireworks shots you need long exposure times and a tripod usually.

 

[MJames41]

Actually, the best shots we have gotten were from some of the disposable. It depends on the film speed, not the camera. I believe you want a faster speed to get the best shots at night, and a slower speed for daylight (with less movement).

 

[Pam Lau]

I am going to try and post one of our digital pictures from our last visit. If it does not work and someone else knows how, please let me know. This was with a 2.1 megapixel camera. Sorry no luck. Help accepted.

 

[Penny12]

I think this is perfect for the Community Board - they'll have plenty of good opinions there I am sure

So....over you go!

 

[Dan Murphy]

Hi Shannon. Here is a link to a DIS search on 'camera'. There are a lot of threads there that have nothing to do with cameras, per se, but look through the list and you will find a lot of good ones with great info. My suggestion, in a word, digital. I have used for over 2 years now, taken thousands of pictures, and thousands posted here on the DIS, and have not used a film camera since going to digital. Give some of the threads in this link a look.

http://www.disboards.com/search.php...d=438556&sortby=lastpost&sortorder=descending

 

[TheLionKing]

What tends to ruin night pictures is camera shake. Without a flash, the exposure times increase and the movement of the camera blurs the image.

This is where either using faster film or setting the ISO of the digital camera higher or using a tripod helps.

If the object is moving in a low light situation where you cannot use as flash, then your only option is opening the shutter to it's widest apeture, using a high ISO setting, using a tripod if possible and keep your fingers crossed. If you are using a digital camera, then you can take multiple pictures and discard the ones that don't come out.

Speaking from experience sometimes the key to a good photo is taking 20 photos, discarding the 19 which are bad and keeping the one good one. This is the real advantage of digital cameras.

 

[goofymomof2]

Ok.....I have a 2.0 digital camera. Will this work for night shots. We just bought this one in Feb of last year and have not used it very often. I like to have my pic made into 5x7's for my desk at work. Do any of you print you pics out for this or do just load them to your computer. I always put mine in a album to share. Thats why I wanted a good camera.
Thanks,
Shannon

 

[Dan Murphy]

Shannon, a 2 should do just fine. If you are going to make 5 X 7's, set on higher quality setting. You do need to be able to do manual settings to get fireworks, auto will almost certainly not do it. Check your user manual. You can also check this site, it gives excellent rundowns on all digitals.

http://www.steves-digicams.com/

 

[Zurg]

Here are some links:

Basic WDW photography: http://wdwig.com/photog.htm
My Digital WDW Photo page: http://wdwig.com/digital.htm

The point about film speed (or setting on a digital) is very well taken, also a faster lens on the camera helps too.

Camera shake is a big deal as is said above. TheLionKing is right on about that. And the one out of twenty rule - shoot lots toss most.

 

[shafke]

Originally posted by goofymomof2
Ok.....I have a 2.0 digital camera. Will this work for night shots. We just bought this one in Feb of last year and have not used it very often. I like to have my pic made into 5x7's for my desk at work. Do any of you print you pics out for this or do just load them to your computer. I always put mine in a album to share. Thats why I wanted a good camera.
Thanks,
Shannon

Hope this works...

here is a link to a night and low light picture from trip last week using an Olymput C2040 digital camera...

digital pictures...

 

[Pam Lau]

In response to what others do with their digital photos. That is a real advantage to digital cameras. You can do most anything. You can customize the size to your intended use. I typically do a photo album for each WDW vacation. I like to make my own backgrounds, and I also by prprinted pages from hobby stores. With digital pvitures I can do a lot of altering and playing with them before printing them. I also like to email them to friends and relatives. This time, since we are meeting family down there, I will email them to everyone and they can do as they choose with the photos. Some photo developers (Walmart is one) offer the feature of printing your regular photos onto a disk and then you can edit them as you wish. Or send them to email. Your friends and relatives can even go to a site if you tell them and order photos from the developer. Plan to share my regular photos this way as well.