Who still brings a “camera” into the parks?

[White Rose]

My hubby brings multi lenses and a full photographers backpack weighing many pounds. He has a few cameras too, including a waterproof one. He carried multiple lenses as well...the biggest lens, I think, is the length of my arm, (it has a handle) but I doubt it’s coming to WDW. He is a volunteer wildlife photographer and goes crazy at AK.

 

[sethschroeder]

Personally don't bring a camera with my Samsung in my pocket. Just try out your iPhone and see how photo quality is for you? For a little more than the price of a small camera you could also just get the Photopass for your trip.

No clue how good an iPhone camera is.

 

[Rach3975]

I bring my mirrorless camera with a small zoom lens plus my phone. The mirrorless is significantly smaller than a DSLR. Some days I use mostly my phone, and other days it's mostly my camera. It partly depends on what type of photos I'm shooting. For motion, night photos, and anything where a zoom would come in handy my real camera does better. But some of that depends on how you'll use the camera. I don't get better results with my camera unless I'm shooting in manual.

 

[cassie58]

Always bring my DSLR , especially for pics like castle lit up and previously the Osbourne lights and of course the Safari - can never have enough giraffe photos! When animals are farther away or need a quick shot, DSLR can handle it, but my phone will be blurry. It is heavier to carry, and definitely has been harder when DH has not been with DD and I on last few trips to share the load! I took less last time with it since teen DD was always saying just use your phone at our character meals, and wanted pics with hers as well, so easier to use phone there.

 

[Scoobie]

Which model RX100 do you have?

After reading all the features, I decided to go with the RX100 3, based on what Tom Bricker said about the different models. Easy to use, light weight, great pics. Have not regretted it, but it depends on how you will use it. I'm not looking for pro pics, and this camera fit all my wants (small and lightweight, good in low light) so I was very pleased.

 

[Liberator]

When time allows it, we plan some afternoons where we go to each parks just for doing pictures with a DSLR and different lenses - not doing any rides or other park activities during this time, photos only!

It is interesting, because when looking for a good photo opportunity I discovered so many details I have not seen before when just walking by.

During the non-photo days I am glad not to carry around all the equipment. And for snapshots, the smartphone is fine then.

 

[NickC]

We used to bring a small camera and a video camera. For us, they stayed at the bottom of the bag. Every once in a while, we would pull them out, but only because we felt that we HAD to use them. Now, we just bring our phones. The pictures and videos on those cameras are still on the SD cards 6 years later, but I still scroll though the ones on my phone to this day.

I guess it's different for everyone.

 

[DisLiss]

This year is a departure for us..we are not bringing a camera. Every other trip I have.

This year our kids are old enough to each use a phone while there. (Even if they are older hand-me-down phones. ) So we decided to buy the memory maker for the ride pics and posed family shots and let the kids take pics with their phones and we'll see what happens. It will be fun to see the trip captured from the kids' perspective. And it's one less thing for me to carry, which will be nice.

 

[YesterDark]

I kind of want to bring my DSLR with me. But I'm pretty sure I'll never take it out. The latest samsungs take pretty good pictures that can be printed.

 

[FFMickey]

I've been toying with the idea of leaving my mirrorless at home, but every time I end up bringing it and amazing pictures come out. The only exception is when CMs try to take the pictures, it always comes out blurry.

 

[YawningDodo]

Last year I bought a point-and-shoot because I was sick and tired of being totally unable to get decent low-light shots on vacation--and my point-and-shoot does indeed perform better than my iPhone, so I would not say it's "pointless" to bring anything less than a DSLR. It just depends on what you're looking to get out of it; I'm able to get clearer images in low light than I could on my phone and that's all I was really looking for. I keep thinking I want to upgrade further, but if I'm honest with myself I really don't have time and energy to devote to learning how to use a DSLR before my next trip.

I will say that there's also the question of what you'll do with the images. The ones I take on my phone tend to get shared more quickly and widely because it's easier to upload them to social media, so I'm thinking about what I actually want to do with the camera images.

 

[Sara_H]

We do! We happily lug around our Nikon DSLR because the picture quality is so much better than our phones. Even though the phones take good pictures, the DSLR ones are so much better. We also will often carry our GoPro because I like getting videos of the rides; not really the rides but the reaction on my kids faces while on the rides like Splash Mountain (drop only) and Thunder Mountain too.

 

[Wild4Walt]

I still have a nice camera that I bring with - I just can't get the same quality photos with my smartphone.

 

[mom2rtk]

Phone cameras have certainly come a long way. But if you want to print photos, they just don't measure up enough yet. That's why the DSLR always comes with me to the parks.

 

[Kestryl]

I have a little Sony PowerShot (ELPH). We took that, my iPhone 7, and my husband’s Google Pixel 3 camera.

My husband’s Pixel blew the rest out of the water.

Part of that was that with a regular point and shoot, you have to set it up just right. And with the on-the-go timing of the parks (and continuously handing your camera off to others to take photos), there really isn’t a lot of time to fiddle with the settings.

Which means it turns into an auto vs auto setting battle, and the cell phone camera could adapt much better than my little point and shoot.

There was also this weird thing we noticed after the first day- if we had handed off my camera to someone to take a photo, we got one picture. If we handed them the Pixel, we got a few options to pick from.

I am still considering an upgrade for my point and shoot, though at this point I’m considering some of the more portable DSLRs or mirrorless.

 

[Smittolis]

The pixel line up is simply a beast! Phone's can't compete with high end DSLR's, but they are more than a match for most day to day shooting 'in the moment'. I take my Osmo Pocket video gimbal with me, its small, light and can do some awesome footage!

 

[CapeCodTenor]

In years past I've always brought my SLR with one lens and have always enjoyed the art of getting a good picture in Disney World. This next trip of our will be no different. I have a Canon 80D and my everyday use lens is a Tamron 18 to 270mm, so it'll cover most situations. I do have a Canon 70 to 200mm USM that I can use for Animal Kingdom.

We used to only bring our cell phone but I was always disappointed with the photo and video quality after our trip. Not to mention how fast our battery got drained. This past trip, we brought in our bulky DSLR and our HD video camera. I do NOT regret it! It was so worth carrying the camera case around for the amazing shots and video we got.

Still bring my DSLR, but usually only bring one lens, as it gets too heavy otherwise.

As to the above quoted posts, I found a camera carrying system called Cotton Camera Carrying System that offers a harness that straps across your chest and locks the camera in place. This is great for not having a camera hanging down and getting bumped on things as you walk by.

 

[mgarbowski]

Photography is my main hobby and my family has visited WDW often enough that I try to do something different each trip. On one trip a few years ago I only brought a film camera. On another I had brought a modern digital camera but only a single fixed length (35mm) lens. And another I did in fact use only my iPhone. I also have had plenty of trips with a full DSLR (way back) or mirrorless (more recently) camera and a good zoom.
For someone not as camera-obsessed as I am I think a "real" camera can add meaningful value, especially in low light and telephoto zooming. But it is a trade-off, and if someone wants to avoid carrying any extra items you certainly can get by and obtain solid images with a good smartphone.

 

[lmhall2000]

I’m wondering if I should bring my zoom camera- bought it last Christmas and really haven’t used it- Panasonic with 60x zoom...it does some really cool things- thought it would be fun to practice playing with it at the parks- I have a waterproof case- but can I ride all the rides with it? What do y’all do?

 

[CapeCodTenor]

I’m wondering if I should bring my zoom camera- bought it last Christmas and really haven’t used it- Panasonic with 60x zoom...it does some really cool things- thought it would be fun to practice playing with it at the parks- I have a waterproof case- but can I ride all the rides with it? What do y’all do?

The last time I was down in the park, 17 years ago, I had a Pentax K1000 with a couple of lenses, one zoom (I forget the length, but it was on my lens quite a bit) and one 50mm. I had the 50mm wrapped up in a towel and stuffed in my backpack for protection and the camera would hang by my side for most of the day. When I rode a roller coaster, or something of that nature, I would stick my camera inside my backpack and place that backpack at my feet and loop my legs through the straps to hold in place. Just a thought as to how to handle it.