Longer lenses at Disney ? 135L 70-300L?

Tommydigi wrote in post #16482869
Wouldn't it be better with the 22 pancake?

imo yes, but others are saying the 22 has been discontinued and cannot be purchased as a kit.

Wonder why it was discontinued. I don't think I would want this camera with a zoom.

You just have to remember, what you want in a camera and what most people want in a camera are very, very different things.

Average consumer wants green box mode and almost nothing more.

I have brought my dSLR in a number of parks and generally agree that you want to choose one lens and a bag that will fit in the ride lockers. I have a slingpack that works which was bought for that explicit purpose.

I of course like most have my cell camera which is a "P&S" but what I want in a camera is not what most tourists want in a camera at these sorts of places, and I'll take the mass and size penalty walking around to have an actual camera with me.

My light package for amusement (parks) is the SL-1 with the 18-135 STM.

Depending on the circumstances, I might drop in the bag the 50 f/1.4 (if it's evening) and/or the 70-300 IS (not the L).

I would prefer this over the M with the 18-55. If I can't fit it in a pocket I won't bother. That is why I like the G15.

I don't have any trips for a while so I'll hold off on any portable gear. I think an SL-1 18-135 and 35 2.0 would seem like an ideal travel setup but for now I have the pancake and my 24-105.

After looking through the photos I am really glad I took the DSLR.

This is what I ended up with. Again I only wanted family fun photos. In the end I am glad I took the DSLR. If not for 1 day that I was out 12 straight hours I probably would have used it more.

http://www.flickr.com …4/sets/72157638​123951034/

Tommydigi wrote in post #16484732
This is what I ended up with. Again I only wanted family fun photos. In the end I am glad I took the DSLR. If not for 1 day that I was out 12 straight hours I probably would have used it more.

http://www.flickr.com …4/sets/72157638​123951034/

Great shots. You proved you can take a lot of photos and still have plenty of fun. Character breakfast shots are particularly good and the nighttime scenes as well. Good work!

Tommydigi wrote in post #16484732
This is what I ended up with. Again I only wanted family fun photos. In the end I am glad I took the DSLR. If not for 1 day that I was out 12 straight hours I probably would have used it more.

http://www.flickr.com …4/sets/72157638​123951034/

Great set.

Looks like that shorter focal length was the mostly used one as described. Glad it really worked for you. I take it you had flash? Some of those really print worthy too.

Very best,

Thank you both, I appreciate the kind words.

Yes I did use a flash, pretty much all of the night shots, character and princess shots. I don't think I used flash when I used the 50L at the character breakfast, at least not all of them but I find it really dark in many places at Disney. I kept my 270 in my pocket all the time. Great little flash for travel.

Tommydigi wrote in post #16484732
This is what I ended up with. Again I only wanted family fun photos. In the end I am glad I took the DSLR. If not for 1 day that I was out 12 straight hours I probably would have used it more.

http://www.flickr.com …4/sets/72157638​123951034/

It looks like you guys had a great time.

I can't wait. We go at the end of Jan 2014. I think I'll be just fine with my 16-35II, even for indoor and low-light shots. If the f/2.8 isn't enough, I can always go to ISO 6400 or 12800 and still get good shots from my 5D3. We made the same reservations at Chef Mickey at the Contemporary as well as others.

lehmanncpa wrote in post #16484833
I can't wait. We go at the end of Jan 2014. I think I'll be just fine with my 16-35II, even for indoor and low-light shots. If the f/2.8 isn't enough, I can always go to ISO 6400 or 12800 and still get good shots from my 5D3. We made the same reservations at Chef Mickey at the Contemporary as well as others.

Everyone has different tastes. FWIW, I tried shooting just ultra wide at Disneyworld and wasn't too happy with the results. Too many crowds, making me want to isolate better than a 17-40L could do.

OTOH, if I wan't trying to capture every family moment with my DSLR, a 16-35 or 17-40 would be OK. I tried shooting with a X100S and was happy with the fewer shots i came away with. Spent more time looking for interesting shots rather than taking the usual family memories.

Of course, if you can get into the parks really early, ultra wide is awesome without the crowds.

Where fast lens and high ISO comes into play are times when it is too dark to auto focus. That's were the fast primes helped a bit --- gave me enough light to manually focus. But, i don't really miss not being able to take those shots.

Large group shots in dimly lit restaurants did benefit from a good external flash, especially if you have the waiter take the shot.

I usually go to Disneyland once a year. I only take a body and lens and its is mostly my 7D 10-22 and at night was 7D 40 2.8. Now since i purchased my 35mm it will be 10-22 day 35 1.4L at night. I go small and I have a Maxpidetion colossus for my bag. It hold the camera/lens perfect and doesn't swing around plus my gorilla pod.