Disney World - should I take my 7D?

I took D90 with 3 lenses filters flash etc. and Lowerpro SW200. Had good time but after 3 days of carrying around all my stuff I had a shoulder pain
Don't worry just go and have fun.

Sorry I'm late in the discussion but here goes anyways!

Like someone mentioned before, if you have young kids coming along, spending more time as a family is very important, thus a G-series P&S will work for most day shots. For the more memorable pictures, use the awesome PHOTOPASS feature that WDW offers in their parks. They use pro Nikon DSLR and the results are amazing. I had them ship all the images shot at WDW to my home, very convenient service.

If only adults, I would take all my gear and have them insured as well for peace of mind.

Ideally for both cases, I'd invest in one of these newer micro-4/3 with pancake lens. They fit in your pocket and shoots like the big boys. Sony's newest model looks very appealing though albeit expensive considering a new set of lenses...

I actually went to Disney World this past week and took my 50D and nifty and its possibly the best combo you could have. It wasnt very heavy. I say bring the 7D the 17-55, and the 50 f1.4.

I just got back a week ago from a week-long visit.

I'm glad I brought it. My family gave me a little grief, and occasionally they kept walking when I'd stop to take a picture, but they were nice about it. I tried not to make the trip about photo taking and more about family. We stayed together the entire week and I never went off by myself for more than five minutes or so.

We spent five days there and it was plenty. It was, in fact, the perfect amount of time. We saw everything and did everything we wanted to do. We have little desire to go back. The kids and I (and my wife) looked at it as a once-in-a-lifetime trip (because it was about 2500 bucks in total) and we won't be going back (not because of dissatisfaction...quit​e the opposite...we were very pleased and satisfied---fulfilled, if you will).

We decided that all future trips will be overseas, mostly Europe. We've seen pretty much most of the United States. It's time to stretch out a bit.

The camera (you can see my list below) and two lenses fit in a small camera bag, went around my shoulder, and rarely got in the way.

MikeFairbanks wrote in post #11564369
We decided that all future trips will be overseas, mostly Europe. We've seen pretty much most of the United States. It's time to stretch out a bit.

A bit OT, but my wife and I feel the opposite about WDW. We went on a ~3 week trip to Paris/Germany (as a whole) about 2 years ago and had a blast. Spent 3 days in Paris and spent 2 whole weeks backpacking in Germany. However, now that we've done it a solid, we're content with never going back. I'd been to Germany three times already and as much as I enjoyed the trip, I just enjoy Disney more. Of course, that's us. We're Disney addicts.

I have 2 young kids too, and will always bring my DSLR with me in a big lowepro backpack. In fact I went to disneyworld/calif. adventures over thanksgiving. I don't care much about the size of the backpack, because I can squeeze kids' snacks and juices in there too. And I know I will miss the quality of the images I get.

My philosophy is, if you get a dslr, you gotta be prepared to lug it around (and not feel bothered by its mass)

ebann wrote in post #11564228
...
For the more memorable pictures, use the awesome PHOTOPASS feature that WDW offers in their parks. They use pro Nikon DSLR and the results are amazing.

I had the opposite experience. Only 1 or 2 of the photographers knew how to properly expose the picture. I had some horribly overexposed and underexposed photos. I bought the CD which was about $120 and maybe got 20 good pictures. I am so thankful I took my own camera. They use Nikon D90's. I asked one of their photog's to take a pic with my 7D. He said they make them shoot Nikon's "because anybody can use those" but he prefers Canon because you have to know what you are doing. I told him the AF is set for the back button and not the shutter button. He was telling me how he likes to do that as well....well when I get home the pic he took was a blurry mess! Anyway, you will get some good pics - though none better than P&S quality in my opinion. You will also get pics like the one attached.

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^^^^^^

Isn't it ironic that the tree of life is artificial?

Generally when we went for the family shots, I'd set it up, take a photo of the family, and then hand the camera to someone else so I could get in there.

Unfortunately some people are like, "which button? Where's the image?" That kind of thing.

I went back in October and brought my XTi, and used my lowepro slingshot (the 100) and it wasn't a bother to carry around (except when you come into a park and have to take it off so they can rifle through the pockets, lol). And the bonus was having the all weather cover (in the case of Splash Mountain), though I did grab some waterproof sacks from sporting goods store just in case.

I had one of their photographers use my camera at a character shoot (didn't have one of those photo passes) and he seemed a bit flustered in using mine, lol!

I brought along the kit lens and the 10-22 (but that never came into play), and that was more than enough (at least for my first trip)

When my (mostly adult) family went down to Disney World in January I used a G11. Ended up taking 1800 pictures in 5 days! We played the consumate tourist role ha! Pics of everything!

Anyways I hope you had a great time with your family.

Well, I looked up this thread because I'm headed there in Feb and after reading the responses, Im going take my 5D along. If I can shoot 12 hour weddings with 2 bodies I can shoot all day with one no problem and I'll be shooting with my 24-70 and not the usual 70-200 2.8 that I carry on wedding days. To be honest Ive never even thought the 70-200 was heavy and never understood why people complain about it. Disney here I come!!!

jase1125 wrote in post #11381933
Conflicted about taking my DSLR to Disney - it isn't exactly light.

Whenever I consider this type of question I ask myself "did you buy the camera so it can stay at home or to use it?"

My 7D cost me too much for me to leave it at home. If I was worried about where I took it then I would make sure my insurance is in order (which it is).

bring it. I brought a 1 series for a week with only the 28-135 for a lens. i put 2 16gb cards in it and filled it with jpegs. I had 4 kids (5 now) and it wasnt a problem. Good video of your kids dancing at the parade is worth it alone as well.

GrendelKhan wrote in post #13535372
Whenever I consider this type of question I ask myself "did you buy the camera so it can stay at home or to use it?"

My 7D cost me too much for me to leave it at home. If I was worried about where I took it then I would make sure my insurance is in order (which it is).

The counter point to that would be "did you go to Disney World to hang with your family or your cameras?"

My trip to Disneyworld is too expensive and my kids' childhood too short to be even a little bit distracted by photo perfection instead of a good time and good memories. A small camera or camera phone can take photos that will preserve memories just as well as a large one.

Now if you are going specifically for photos and everyone is on board, then bring the good camera. Personally, I hated even lugging a rebel and 2 light lenses. I'll bring at most my LX5 next trip.

What's this? A smile inducing memory of our last Disney trip on a $150 pocketable camera?!

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It really all depends on the priorities and/or what you want to accomplish on the trip. Each person has to make up their own mind about what they want in the trip. Disney is full of wonderful photo opportunities. Many of them will be better served with an SLR (otherwise, we wouldn't buy them), but most of them will also be "good enough" with a P&S. I'd suggest anyone coming just bring both. Lug the gear around for the first day or two. If it gets in the way, leave it in the room for the rest of the trip, or only bring it out in the evenings when it will get you shots no P&S can.
For those worried about leaving gear in the room, I've stayed on property MANY times, and left thousands of dollars worth of gear in my room with no problems.