Lenses for Disney World?

ChrisHeathcote

ChrisHeathcote

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I have recently changed from a FF DSLR to the Sony A7, partly down to size and weight. I have found that most of my photos these days are family and travel related so it made sense. Anyway this has left me with a dilemma as we are off to Disney World in a few weeks and due to the cost this will be a once in a lifetime holiday. My goal is to travel as light as possible as I don't want to be carrying big bags (or any bags) around the parks. I am limiting myself to the body with lens fixed along with another in a ThinkTank Body bag and a small TT350s flashgun for when I need a bit of fill. 1 lens I will be taking is the 70-200 f4 L IS although this will be used primarily at Animal Kingdom. My second will be a Sony FE85mm, this will b my main lens in the body bag. where I am struggling in is for the other lens. I currently have a Sigma 35mm 1.4 Art which I love, but I am not sure if it will be wide enough. So I am also looking at the Sony FE28mm F2 which will probably be my main walkabout lens.

Would this be a good option or would I be better with the FE16-35mm f4, my concern with this is the f4 maximum aperture for inside the rides.

I just wondered what peoples thoughts were. Will I be missing anything by not having a zoom lens compared to the smaller and lighter 28mm which also has the faster aperture.

Comments and suggestions welcomed
 
Inside rides you'll probably need f2 for light. Also focussing won't be easy so f2 would help there also.

I personally travel with 16-35mm and canon 100mm f/2 (now sold to be replaced with FE 85/1.8). But I am happy shooting at ISO12800 (or 25600 at a hard stretch) on A7RII. Not sure I'd take it that far with A7 (I use to limit it to ISO6400).
 
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nandbytes said:
Inside rides you'll probably need f2 for light. Also focussing won't be easy so f2 would help there also.

I personally travel with 16-35mm and canon 100mm f/2 (now sold to be replaced with FE 85/1.8). But I am happy shooting at ISO12800 (or 25600 at a hard stretch) on A7RII. Not sure I'd take it that far with A7 (I use to limit it to ISO6400).
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Thanks for that, I also have the A7Rii and I have currently set the limit to 12800 so its good to know it can handle it. The area I'm stuck on is the low light ability vs flexibility I'm struggling with. As you say for indoors the f2 (or f1.4 on my Sigma) is better but that would suddenly mean carrying 2 lenses + 1 on the camera
 
Well depends on how large you want to print or share. If its going to be a 6x4 print for the family to keep memory of you can shoot even ISO25600.

Well if you can afford it get the 16-35mm/2.8 GM. Its not actually that much bigger. So that's your middle ground between speed, versatility and size. But you lose out quite a bit on money. Well you are already carrying 2 lenses for sure. You just need to decide on a wide lens.
 
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Will Disney let you photograph on the actual rides?

I remember when we were there a couple of years ago, they had lots of their own togs at the end of the rides and character meet and greets.
 
I went to Disney World in 2015 and took my A6000 with me. My most used lenses were the Samyang 12mm and Sigma 60mm. I took the A6k onto some of the rides with me but also used the Disney Photo Pass which basically lets you scan your magic band at the end of each ride and all of your ride photos are automatically added to your account. Any photographers around the parks will also scan one of your party's bands and the photos they take are added. In the end, we came home with around 900 photos from the Photo Pass and the beauty was that I'm on the majority of them with everyone else rather than being the one behind the camera! I also took a few thousand pictures myself but it was nice to get the others too.

As for lenses on your A7 (I'm taking an A7 with me this year), I'd suggest something wide and fast like a Samyang 14/2.8 if you want to capture all of the scenes, especially the new Pandora area in the Animal Kingdom which looks fantastic. Obviously, if you can afford the 16-35 it will give you AF at the cost of 2mm at the wide end.
 
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stevelmx5 said:
I'd suggest something wide and fast like a Samyang 14/2.8 if you want to capture all of the scenes
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Thanks for all the tips, I think at just over £2k the 16-35 f2.8 might be a stretch too far. However I'd not even thought about the Pandora area, which we will definitely be visiting. Looks like a wide angle is a must. The Samyang looks an interesting option, is it this one
 
ChrisHeathcote said:
Thanks for all the tips, I think at just over £2k the 16-35 f2.8 might be a stretch too far. However I'd not even thought about the Pandora area, which we will definitely be visiting. Looks like a wide angle is a must. The Samyang looks an interesting option, is it this one
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That's the AF version. Personally, I'd save the money and buy the MF version;

http://www.wexphotographic.com/samyang-14mm-f28-ed-as-if-umc-lens-sony-e-fit-1561137/

At 14mm, it's harder to not get things in focus! I never had any issues with the 12/2 on my A6000 with focus peaking for critical focus.
 
I went to DW in Feb. I left my FF gear at home and took my 80D and 18-135. I know you are using Sony but i found the 18-135 did so well i hardly used my 10-18 that i took. For me the convenience of a good zoom range took priority over having best IQ and more weight/lenses.
I guess my point is i would go for something longer, as this makes it easier to get shots of the family on rides etc. The times i did mount my 10-18 (equivalent to your 16-35 more or less on FF) i found it great for scenic shots, but i was more interested in capturing the family.

I found it a struggle to shoot on the rides. Too much movement and people's heads in the shots. Most of the time i just didnt bother if i was on the ride as well. Its a very fast moving environment most of the time (other than the queues of course).
 
Yeah, agree with the tiring bit. I really wanted to take my FF gear but having been before im glad i didnt. The weather is so good you really dont need fast glass during the day, unless you want to get 'arty'

With Disney you can take bags on almost everything, even Space mountain. With the Universal parks you have to use the free lockers on the big rides. Again, im glad i took a smaller camera bag as even that only just fit these lockers.
 
Went 2 years ago and took D750 plus 16-35 f4, and 50mm and 85mm plus the Fuji X100T. Not sure if I used the primes, the 16-35 was great, nice and wide for internal (character breakfasts) and in parks and the Fuji took over there.

This year I just took the X100T - it was a tough decision but it worked. Fitted into shorts pocket or pouch on belt and even though its fixed 35mm it was fine 90% of the time. At things like breakfast it would have been nice to be wider but even got some good shots of the animals in AK as they were close. Very rarely did I miss the dslr.

If you haven't got it, get Memory maker from Disney, got loads of family pictures that we wouldn't have otherwise got.

Personally, aside from safari shooting at AK, I would not bother with the 70-200, Something like a 16-35 is ideal for most and maybe a prime at 50 or 85 just in case. Or consider something like an X100T?
 
Not sony, but when i went last year i took a few lenses and ended up leaving most of them at the hotel each day. The main one i used was the 24-70 f2.8 for probably about 95% of the time and i used a nikon 70-300 vr F/4.5-5.6 which i borrowed off a mate and used almost exclusively at animal kingdom off the top of my head. I found that f2.8 on some of the dark rides came up a little short and meant really cranking up the iso which thankfully my camera copes well with but for the most part f2.8 was perfectly adequate.

Also, yes you can take the camera on the rides, i don't think mine went into a locker once and there is even a memory maker photo on the tower of terror of me trying to get a photo as the doors open at the top as that is where the ride camera takes its photo :LOL::LOL:. That said i wouldn't even bother taking the camera to universal if you venture over there, much stricter (for good reason) about loose items on rides and not as scenic as disney anyway so a phone/compact is quite sufficient
 
Thanks for all the info. I'm starting to lean even more to the 16-35 for the convenience even though I am a convert to prime lenses. I find with a zoom, I tend to tweak it back and forth to find the ideal framing and end up missing the shot I wanted, whereas a prime I tend to get it almost right and tweak in PP. Fortunately I have 42mp to play with. :)

With regards to focal lengths, I'm thinking of either the Sony 28mm f2 or the Sigma 35mm f1.4 Art. Leaning slightly to the Sony as it is smaller and lighter. Also as the parks tend be quite busy I can get slightly wider with being too far away and I can compensation for the 1 stop loss by bumping up the ISO. My style tends to be to try and get the surroundings rather than focusing too heavily on family members as they both hate having their picture taken. My son tends to only be in selfies!. He also wears a cap pretty much 99% of the time as he is autistic. For more head and shoulders shots etc I plan on using the 85mm f1.8. I also plan on taking the 70-200 but that will only venture out for AK. I anticipate most of the time I will use the 28mm but would like something wider especially for the new Pandora section. With regards to bags, although I will have my Fstop backpack this is mainly for transporting to and from America along with iPad Pro, chargers etc. For day to day I have been looking at belt systems, quite like the looks of the Lowepro Inverse 200AW, which will contain 2 lenses max and a small speedlight, so hopefully not too heavy.

I do however see some mileage in adding a small P&S like the RX100 for occasions where it isn't appropriate to take the "big" camera (round the pool etc) although I do have an old Olympus 1030SW which would fit the bill for this.
 
get the photo pass and get the official photographers to take images of ALL the family.
Remember this is a holiday, so enjoy the time with the family.
There is so much walking to do, do you really want to have to carry a bag of equipment all over?

You would like to think that the weather is sunny, so no concern about low light (till the evening).
The officials used a flash when I was there for fill.

So, if you do take your kit, don't forget to take that as well.

Either way, enjoy - it's a great place .....
 
Meeten said:
get the photo pass and get the official photographers to take images of ALL the family.
Remember this is a holiday, so enjoy the time with the family.
There is so much walking to do, do you really want to have to carry a bag of equipment all over?

You would like to think that the weather is sunny, so no concern about low light (till the evening).
The officials used a flash when I was there for fill.

So, if you do take your kit, don't forget to take that as well.

Either way, enjoy - it's a great place .....
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I see this statement quite often, and while i understand the meaning it seems to me that there is no reason to not enjoy a family holiday AND your hobby at the same time. For many people a big reason for going to the likes of DW is to take photos anyway.
As for carrying bags. I dont think i saw many people not carrying at last a small bag when ive been. If you are out for the whole day i expect you would have a bag of some sort with you anyway. I do agree that its not much fun carrying a large camera backpack around full of gear. Ive seen that quite a few times and i'd lay money on the person carrying it not using more than a lens or two at the very most.
 
Just my 2p worth... you seem to be missing the point of light-weighting, buying an A7 to light-weight and then consider taking a selection of huge lenses and then talk of getting an RX100 as that kit might be too big is just madness.

I've never been and never intend to go but surely Disney is about having fun with the family, either the A7 and a widish prime (I'd probably go 35mm as the perspective is ok to effectively stitch landscapes and you have enough MP to crop a lot closer) OR something like an RX100 should be perfectly enough.

The memories are more important than a perfect photo.
 
dave_bass5 said:
I see this statement quite often, and while i understand the meaning it seems to me that there is no reason to not enjoy a family holiday AND your hobby at the same time. For many people a big reason for going to the likes of DW is to take photos anyway.
As for carrying bags. I dont think i saw many people not carrying at last a small bag when ive been. If you are out for the whole day i expect you would have a bag of some sort with you anyway. I do agree that its not much fun carrying a large camera backpack around full of gear. Ive seen that quite a few times and i'd lay money on the person carrying it not using more than a lens or two at the very most.
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Totally agree, for me the idea of traipsing around a park all day in 30 degree heat doesn't sound much fun. My enjoyment comes from photographing everything we see and recording the memories. I also agree about small bags, after all, there needs to be somewhere to put snacks and drinks.

Nawty said:
Just my 2p worth... you seem to be missing the point of light-weighting, buying an A7 to light-weight and then consider taking a selection of huge lenses and then talk of getting an RX100 as that kit might be too big is just madness.

I've never been and never intend to go but surely Disney is about having fun with the family, either the A7 and a widish prime (I'd probably go 35mm as the perspective is ok to effectively stitch landscapes and you have enough MP to crop a lot closer) OR something like an RX100 should be perfectly enough.

The memories are more important than a perfect photo.
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I think you misunderstand what I was saying about the lenses, only a couple will come out each day the others will be in the safe. The only time I foresee the 70-200 coming out is for AK other than that my normal preference would be a fast prime (either 28mm f2 or 35mm f1.4 for most things and the 85mm for when I want to get a bit closer. I guess I could always use the panorama mode and for anything wider.

For a change I will not be spending ages framing the perfect photo, out will be snapshots. Another benefit of a prime is no zoom to play about with, trying to perfect the framing
 
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Take the rx. Leave the others back in Blighty.

If you take the a7 you'll miss out on some of the experience at DW as you will be trying the get 'the shot'.

Accept this won't happen, take the rx and you can enjoy the holiday, your family will appreciate the time they spend with you, and you won't have the pressure to get that photograph...

Get a photo pass and wristband, let the togs get amazing memories for you and the kids. Get as many images as you can from them, you pay the same charge.
 
Meeten said:
Take the rx. Leave the others back in Blighty.

If you take the a7 you'll miss out on some of the experience at DW as you will be trying the get 'the shot'.

Accept this won't happen, take the rx and you can enjoy the holiday, your family will appreciate the time they spend with you, and you won't have the pressure to get that photograph...

Get a photo pass and wristband, let the togs get amazing memories for you and the kids. Get as many images as you can from them, you pay the same charge.
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Cheers that would mean getting an RX100 though. :)
 
A pocketable, waterproof, 'tough' compact is what I took... forget the creativity of a big system, something that can be submerged on the wet rides and abused everywhere else will get you great memories without having to worry about the gear! Hope you have a great time!!
 
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Thanks for all the advice everyone. After a number of u-turns I ended up getting the Sony 16-35 f4 which will be my walkabout lens. I will also have the 85mm for if I want to get closer. So I will have 16-130mm covered in 2 lenses (if I switch into super 35mm mode). I will also have the 35mm f1.4 if I need low light stuff
 
When do you go and where are you staying?

Think the 16-35 will be the most used, good choice - enjoy!
 
cambsno said:
When do you go and where are you staying?

Think the 16-35 will be the most used, good choice - enjoy!
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We go next Friday for 17 days, staying just outside the parks in Kissimee. The in laws have a place there. I've decided as well not to worry too much about getting the perfect shot and just get plenty of snaps too [emoji3]
 
I've just come back from Disneyland Paris. Ok so it's a little smaller than the US parks, but my thoughts still apply.
1) Don't take a big camera. You spend much of your time either waiting in queues for rides or waiting for the parades, you really don't want the weight.
2) Take a small bag. A big bag will be difficult to fit between your feet on rides. Plus you need to take drinks and snacks to make it through the day.
3) A big F2.8 capable lens might be handy on some of the darker rides, but you're not there to produce stunning images, so just take lenses that are easily carried.
4) Disneyland is about fun, rides and the experience. Don't get tied up taking photos.

I left my 6D at home and just took my Canon EOS-M10 with the kit 15-45mm lens. I also took the 50mm f1.4 with adaptor but didn't use it.
The only time I wanted a longer lens was when watching one of the shows.
The only other kit I took (apart from spare batteries) was a little Benro PP1 tabletop tripod to use for fireworks or night shots. But it wasn't necessary.
The other thing is that the parks are FULL of people, you won't get good wide shots without people. You want memories of your visit.

If you're going for 17 days total, only a few of which are at Disney, you could take the A7 plus nice lenses and a smaller camera for Disney days.
I really didn't miss having my 6D on me at all and having been through the images, I'm more than happy with what I got and glad I didn't take the big full frame DSLR.

One of the only non-snapshot images I took was this one, taken in the evening after a rain shower while people were waiting for the firework show.
IMG_0655a-sm.jpg

Other than this, the rest were just snapshot memories.
 
ABTog said:
I've just come back from Disneyland Paris. Ok so it's a little smaller than the US parks, but my thoughts still apply.
1) Don't take a big camera. You spend much of your time either waiting in queues for rides or waiting for the parades, you really don't want the weight.
2) Take a small bag. A big bag will be difficult to fit between your feet on rides. Plus you need to take drinks and snacks to make it through the day.
3) A big F2.8 capable lens might be handy on some of the darker rides, but you're not there to produce stunning images, so just take lenses that are easily carried.
4) Disneyland is about fun, rides and the experience. Don't get tied up taking photos.

I left my 6D at home and just took my Canon EOS-M10 with the kit 15-45mm lens. I also took the 50mm f1.4 with adaptor but didn't use it.
The only time I wanted a longer lens was when watching one of the shows.
The only other kit I took (apart from spare batteries) was a little Benro PP1 tabletop tripod to use for fireworks or night shots. But it wasn't necessary.
The other thing is that the parks are FULL of people, you won't get good wide shots without people. You want memories of your visit.
Click to expand...

1,2&3) I don't intend on doing, I have a Think Tank Skin Body Bag, which fits on a belt, which will carry spare batteries, 85mm f1.8 and a small flashgun. If needs be it will also fit the 35mm 1.4 Art, however I'll make a judgement after the first day or so as it whether it travels out, other than for focusing, I can also bump the ISO a bit if its a bit dark (benefit of the Sony sensors :) )

I have thought about getting a Sony RX100 iv, however having just bought the Sony A7Rii along with 2 lenses and the sigma adaptor, I may be pushing it with SWMBO. (although I do still have a week to go and a trip to WEX next week)
 
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