What's a Great Camera for Disney???

[mickey7879]

We currently have a Kodak Easy Share and it doesn't take very good pictures for Disney.

You know how at night Disney is all lit up and if you are taking pictures of parade if you use the auto setting the picture comes out dark. If you use the night setting it comes out blurry. Very frustrating!!!!!!!!!!!! :hammer:

We can take great pictures by day, but at night, forget it! :shrug:

What camera do any of you have that you are very happy with? Price? Model, etc.

I want something that I can take pictures during the day, night, parade, fireworks, action shots, etc everything you would at Disney with them all coming out great! Is that too much to ask!!! haha!!!:sohappy:

 

[Captain Hank]

We currently have a Kodak Easy Share and it doesn't take very good pictures for Disney.

You know how at night Disney is all lit up and if you are taking pictures of parade if you use the auto setting the picture comes out dark. If you use the night setting it comes out blurry. Very frustrating!!!!!!!!!!!! :hammer:

We can take great pictures by day, but at night, forget it! :shrug:

What camera do any of you have that you are very happy with? Price? Model, etc.

I want something that I can take pictures during the day, night, parade, fireworks, action shots, etc everything you would at Disney with them all coming out great! Is that too much to ask!!! haha!!!:sohappy:

First, try a tripod. A small one would cost about $20. Without using a tripod, nighttime pictures with just about any normal point-and-shoot camera will come out blurry. Try experimenting with the nighttime, and even indoor, settings in conjunction with a tripod.

 

[mickey7879]

I'm not really interested in carrying around a tripod all day but would like a better camera.

I'm sure there are better cameras out there that take better pictures than mine does. Especially how Disney has everything all lit up and things are in motion.

Has anyone had their night time pictures come out good? If so, what kind of camera do you use? I'm desperate!

 

[Laura]

Changing the camera won't help if you don't know how to take those particular shots. Once you understand aperture, shutter speed, and film speed you can take nice pictures with any camera. Without that knowledge, even a $1,000 camera will not get you better pictures, unfortunately.

 

[BillsFanGabe]

Yeah....Kodak cameras....I've had some accidents with them in the past, during the last 2 out of my 3 visits I broke a camera each time and they were both kodak easy shares. So I dont know what to recommend to you, but make sure you have a case for your camera before you go down because at WDW they dont have a big selection of cases, they only carry 2, a little one and a big one, so yeah make sure you go to your local camera store before you go. Well hope you have a good time

 

[Captain Hank]

I'm not really interested in carrying around a tripod all day but would like a better camera.

I'm sure there are better cameras out there that take better pictures than mine does. Especially how Disney has everything all lit up and things are in motion.

Has anyone had their night time pictures come out good? If so, what kind of camera do you use? I'm desperate!

Wal-Mart and Target both carry small tripods (about 6" long collapsed, weighing about 1 lb or less) that can easily fit into just about any bag. They're just the right size for sitting on top of garbage cans and ledges.

 

[WDWFigment]

I'm not really interested in carrying around a tripod all day but would like a better camera.

I'm sure there are better cameras out there that take better pictures than mine does. Especially how Disney has everything all lit up and things are in motion.

Has anyone had their night time pictures come out good? If so, what kind of camera do you use? I'm desperate!

If the camera you have has a Manual mode, just learn the concepts of aperture, shutter speed, and ISO and you might be able to get decent pictures.

If you ever expect to get good night pictures with a camera on "Auto" without a tripod, forget about it.

 

[celticdog]

The Easy Share is a fairly decent camera. The reason the night shots are blurry is you're not holding the camera still enough. The auto doesn't work for night shots because it uses the flash which only keeps the shutter open for a about 125th of a second. The best thing to do is look into some camera classes. Most camera shops have them as well as community colleges and even the local school systems have adult education classes.

I personally have pretty good luck with the Nikon L18. For a cheap point and shoot, it does a good job on night shots in "night" mode. But I do have to hold fairly still. I prefer my Nikon D40 DSLR for parades and fireworks. It gives me more control.

 

[cameronmouse]

hey there, new around here still but I learned from past trips that with our kodak easyshare camera its great for bringing wth us during the day and even when you "master" this particular camera they dont take great shots. You will easily get nice shots during the day however. When my son was born in january I bought a digital slr canon. I'm getting pretty good with it so I'm hoping by the time we go in december I will be even better. I used it on the 4th of july this year at night and it took perfect shots of fireworks so it should be great for night events at the world.

 

[RiversideBunny]

Look for a camera with a better flash and a faster ISO speed.
Also you may want to move up to something like the new Canon Rebel XSi but you'll have to be willing to learn to use it.

In terms of money, to do what you want you need to pay $300 and up.
You might get lucky below that but nothing below $200 will really cover all situations like your night scenes.

IMHO
Good luck

 

[DizWiz]

The brand and model of camera don't matter unless you know how to use it. As almost everyone else here has stated, to get clear night shots--regardless of camera--you have to use a tripod. Even with an expensive DSLR.

Take a look at these night and indoor photos that I took in 2004 and 2005 with my old Olympus C50Z point-and-shoot preset to "night" mode and a six-inch tripod that I set up on trash cans, railings, or any other immovable object I could find: http://flickr.com/photos/dizwiz/sets/72157605329019440/

They may not be the best pictures, but for night shots, they're pretty clear. I took these as I was learning how to use the camera and learning more about photography. I simply carried the tripod in one of my pockets on my cargo shorts because I didn't want to carry a big tripod around with me.

I now use a DSLR. You can see photos from my most recent trip to WDW here: http://flickr.com/photos/dizwiz/sets/72157605598431240/

To summarize: a) get a small tripod, b) spend a little bit of time before your trip and learn more about your camera by experimenting taking night shots at home. Your camera is probably more than good enough to take decent night shots. Just learn more about the camera and use a tripod, and you can save yourself a bunch of money.

 

[RogueHabit]

Changing the camera won't help if you don't know how to take those particular shots. Once you understand aperture, shutter speed, and film speed you can take nice pictures with any camera. Without that knowledge, even a $1,000 camera will not get you better pictures, unfortunately.

Agree 100%. Your best bet, if you are not very minded to those things, is to not spend more than a couple hundred dollars.

Personally I take a Kodak Z740 which my mife uses and a Kodak Z1285 that I use. I have obtained some fantastic shots with the Z740 in the past.

 

[dazzer68]

if you dont want to carry a large tripod around try a gorilla pod (google it) a great small tripod that is a ball and socket with rubber around it tripod, that you can wrap around tree branches, railings, posts etc, and use as a small table top tripod, on trash cans, benches etc! great thing.theres two sixes so get the one to suit the weight of your camera.
but just as everyone has said, its not the camera, its the lack of stability, for night shots, that causes the blur.

 

[heliumalias]

Yeah. Stability is the main issue here.
I don't take a tripod (don't want to carry it around) but I have a really large memory card in my camera and just try to take as many shots as i can of whatever it is while trying to keep the camera still. It's obviously easier if you're sitting down. Digging your elbows into your sides can also help. The other thing you could try is taking video rather than stills and then getting stills from the video. Again though, you'll want to make sure that any movements are slow and steady rather than jerky. Oh, and turn the flash off. It might give you a clearer picture but you'll miss out on the intended effect. Spectromagic floats look awful if the flash is on and I've certainly managed to get great pictures with a point and shoot just doing the stuff I've mentioned above.

 

[Laura]

For the record, I've never brought a tripod to Disney. I've always just used railings and trash cans, or adjusted my camera settings and lenses for a wider aperture and higher film speed when no stable surface was available. Also, no amount of stability will help with Spectromagic as the floats are moving...you have to be able to set your camera properly for that one.

 

[durangojim]

The brand and model of camera don't matter unless you know how to use it. As almost everyone else here has stated, to get clear night shots--regardless of camera--you have to use a tripod. Even with an expensive DSLR.

To summarize: a) get a small tripod, b) spend a little bit of time before your trip and learn more about your camera by experimenting taking night shots at home. Your camera is probably more than good enough to take decent night shots. Just learn more about the camera and use a tripod, and you can save yourself a bunch of money.

I don't quite completely agree. Today's DSLRs often time have excellent Hi ISO capability, combined with image stabilization, a tripod isn't always necessary for low light pics (although a tripod of course is best).
These were taken without a tripd about 4 years ago with my Canon 20d (which I have since sold) but I think they are a good example of what can be accomplished by just hand holding (the camera that is:animwink.
I'll try to post some examples later this evening.

 

[raven]

Basically when it comes to cameras you want something that has these qualities:

-Fast Speed (Sports setting)
-Flash modes (including off)
-Night Setting
-Easy to use
-A little more expensive than your average camera.

So, the saying "you get what you pay for" really comes into play here. If you wan to take good pictures, don't get a cheap camera. On the other hand you don't need a giant one either.

It would also help to know about composition. Make your photos interesting. Put subjects slightly off center and get the background as well for instance. Take a look at official Disney pictures and try to recreate them yourself! :wave:

 

[mickey7879]

Basically when it comes to cameras you want something that has these qualities:

-Fast Speed (Sports setting)
-Flash modes (including off)
-Night Setting
-Easy to use
-A little more expensive than your average camera.

So, the saying "you get what you pay for" really comes into play here. If you wan to take good pictures, don't get a cheap camera. On the other hand you don't need a giant one either.

It would also help to know about composition. Make your photos interesting. Put subjects slightly off center and get the background as well for instance. Take a look at official Disney pictures and try to recreate them yourself! :wave:

My camera has all the settings above, but it's hard when you can only pick one and they don't come out at night. I didn't know if anyone out there could just tell me what kind of camera that they use when their pictures came out looking good at night and then I'd just go and buy one! But I guess it's just not that easy! Where is that "Easy Button" when you need it! Haha! :lol:

It's also a pain when you want to take one picture right after another and it keeps giving you that little our glass and says it's processing......I'm a little impatient and want to keep taking pictures over and over again.

It also doesn't help that I have no idea what all these terms people keep using mean......Sorry.....guess I'm just a little slow!

 

[durangojim]

My camera has all the settings above, but it's hard when you can only pick one and they don't come out at night. I didn't know if anyone out there could just tell me what kind of camera that they use when their pictures came out looking good at night and then I'd just go and buy one! But I guess it's just not that easy! Where is that "Easy Button" when you need it! Haha! :lol:

It's also a pain when you want to take one picture right after another and it keeps giving you that little our glass and says it's processing......I'm a little impatient and want to keep taking pictures over and over again.

It also doesn't help that I have no idea what all these terms people keep using mean......Sorry.....guess I'm just a little slow!

The key for night shots is the ability to take high ISO pics with low noise as well as some form of image stabilization. Check out www.dpreview.com for some great info.

This is from my Canon 5D, it's way to expensive for your use, but it will give you an idea of what you can accomplish without a tripod.

 

[Laura]

My camera has all the settings above, but it's hard when you can only pick one and they don't come out at night. I didn't know if anyone out there could just tell me what kind of camera that they use when their pictures came out looking good at night and then I'd just go and buy one! But I guess it's just not that easy! Where is that "Easy Button" when you need it! Haha! :lol:

It's also a pain when you want to take one picture right after another and it keeps giving you that little our glass and says it's processing......I'm a little impatient and want to keep taking pictures over and over again.

It also doesn't help that I have no idea what all these terms people keep using mean......Sorry.....guess I'm just a little slow!

I've been using a digital SLR camera ($1,000+) since 2003 - the first Canon Digital Rebel to be exact. I recently upgraded to a Canon XSi, which actually cost less than I paid for the first one I bought.

Admittedly, once you move into the range of cameras where you can change out the lens, you can get some good shots without much effort. My favorite lens was only $70 and allows me to take fireworks and Spectromagic shots simply by turning on the Auto-No Flash mode and hitting the shutter, though theses shots do not come out nearly as nice as using a slower lens and leaving the shutter open for a while and using a railing for support.

But photography is not as simple as just buying a nice camera. You actually have to know how to use it and set it properly to get the most out of it, so if you decide to make an investment, make sure you also invest some time into studying photography.