Disney World Kit Bag

OK, so the wife has our holiday to WDW booked for next February, and has given me the task of photographing the occasion , no pressure then ....

I have a 400D, 18-55 kit lens, and 55-250IS telephoto lens, and a couple of 2GB Extreme III cards.

Given my current kit list above, what would you recommend i add / change for the trip ? Budget is extremely tight as my beloved has spent it all on the holiday itself

Is there anything you would consider crucial ?

Many thanks,
D

That kit looks pretty good. It has the advantage of being pretty small and light too.

You might updgrade the 18-55 for the newer IS version which should not cost you much money. The 17-55 is nicer yet but a huge step up in price.

Honestly, since money is tight as you said, you should be able to do the trip quite well with what you have.

You could alway rent a lens. Your kit should work just fine, Disney has plenty of sun. They also have the Disney Photographers everywhere shooting pics with Nikons and give you a little credit card that you can purchase the pics online.

Have fun!!

Have fun but most of all, bring your extra batteries and your spare P&S.

It will take some candid photos - which is easier to take out and shoot.

regard.

Victor

You won't have any real use for the telephoto at Disney...most stuff is up close and personal...a 50 f/1.8 is nice to shoot inside some of the attractions.

I am going to disney in a few weeks and I plan on taking the 10-22 and tamron 28-75. I highly doubt Im gonna need th 70-200 or the 100-400... No need for the primes... I think those two lenses will do what I want.. BUT, I am taking ALL My lenses cuz who knows what Im gonna do.

I never knew you can rent lens... where would you go to rent some? and how much would it cost?

Bigbacon03 wrote in post #5273352
I never knew you can rent lens... where would you go to rent some? and how much would it cost?

http://www.rentglass.c​om/
http://www.lensrentals​.com/
http://www.ziplens.com​/
http://www.borrowlense​s.com/

They range in price. I would first determine what kind of lens then shop around for prices. Also many local camera places rent lenses. Check out your local camera shop and ask around. If they don't, they'll probably know a place that does. If I were you I'd consider either buying a wide angle (10-20ish) and a 50mm. Replace the kit lens and use the 50mm as your main carry around lens. You can get the Canon 50mm 1.8 for under a hundred bucks. If you can spend more, go for the 50mm 1.4 USM. The wide angle will be invaluable in those "larger than life" shots. It is very hard to take good portraits in DisneyWorld since there are so many people. Just getting ten feet away from a shot of Cinderella and your kid might be tough since everyone might be walking in front of the shot! Also, all the epcot ball pictures, castle pictures, will turn out great in a wide angle.

The only other thing to consider is a flash. It will be good to use as a fill flash and if you are taking any indoor photos. The drawbacks are that it will add weight, eat batteries, and eat your money.

Also, do you have any filters on your lenses? If not, I would seriously recommend them. They can make ok pictures good and good pictures great.

a couple of gb cf cards might not be enough..I'd take a couple of spare batteries, too

have a great time!

Take a good P&S and be happy. Don't be a photographer. Trust me.

cdifoto wrote in post #5273530
Take a good P&S and be happy. Don't be a photographer. Trust me.

I would take both. The OP is from England and might not get a chance to go back for awhile. Bring the dSLR and get shots outside of the park around the hotel of lizards, palmtrees, sunsets, etc. Also it will be useful if you are going on any of the game parks (like this) or you go to the Kennedy Space Center.

But for everyday in the park, the P&S will be nice. You'll be walking for miles and after about noon, you'll wish you could stash the 4o0D somewhere and pick it up later. Also, you'll probably be tasked to carry all the bags from the gift shops, half eaten cotton candy and the such.

You have a good amount of time to decide what the best setup before you leave.

gefblueapple wrote in post #5273598
I would take both. The OP is from England and might not get a chance to go back for awhile.

I'm a broke **** from northeast USA. I too won't be going back for awhile, if ever. I too hit Kennedy and the Animal Kingdom. I took my entire kit, suffered for it, and my pictures haven't been used beyond 4x6s snapshot prints and some online sharing.

Reality.

I just did the family thing at Disneyland last month. I brought two bodies, and 18-55, 28-135, 70-200, and 50 f/1.8. Although the 70-200 got a little use, the 28-135 saw 90% of the action. Next year, I'll ditch the back pack and just bring one body/lens combo.

You should be just fine!!

I was at WDW in January to run the Marathon, and I took my old Rebel XT, Sigma 70-200, Sigma 18-50, Canon 50 1.8, and Canon 28-135. The only thing I took in the parks was the 28-135, 50 1.8 and the P-S (Canon A670). Despite some of the average reviews, the lens performed great with the exception of some low light indoor character pictures. THe pictures turned out okay, but if blown up would be a little soft. It would have been great to have this range in 2.8 constant. Also would have liked to have a little wider for the ball at Epcot. The IS delivered some great night pictures of the castle and of the light parade.

Overall, I bought this lens used from the sell forum specifically for this trip, and am definately not dissappointed in the results. I've never used it but maybe should have tried the Sigma 18-200 OS. I never felt that it was too heavy to carry this set-up in a Tamrac Expedition even on the 2 days after running the marathon. I will tell you that Rebel pictures definately look better than the P-S pictures and none of mine have been any bigger than 4x6 either. If I was going back, I'd still take the SLR and a mid range zoom.

Just my opinion though. Different strokes for different folks.