[Mnchknbrat1982]

Hello everyone quick question here. I've got a DSLR Pentax ist D that I will be taking with me along with my p & s. I have 3 lenses for the DSLR the kit lense 18-55mm, tamron 28-80mm, and tamron 70-300mm. If you was to take only one lense which would it be?

I am thinking about taking the 28-80mm as it is a wide angle and has a little zoom with it. But I am not sure if this would be enough zoom for say the safari ride at Animal Kingdom.

Another question is what setting do you shoot in when doing fireworks and the night time parades in at Disney?

[ericc]

You will want more than one lens, I'm sorry to say. I did WDW last summer with my DS and a slew of lenses. The kit lens is what you'll want for the scenery and buildings. I used my Zenitar 16mm Fisheye quite a bit shooting at the scenery. It is not enough for the safari ride. It's also not enough to take shots of the animals embedded in the Tree of Life. I used my Tokina 28-105 on the safari and it was just a hair too short. I'd say ride the safari twice--once with the 28-80 and another time with the 70-300.

For fireworks, the 28-80 should be fine. Set the aperture at f11 or higher and use a tripod with a cable release. Use bulb mode. There are some recent articles at DPR on shooting fireworks.

Have fun!

[anomaly]

Since it will be the middle of the day, it sounds like you would be best served by the new Tamron 18-250mm.

But if you don't want to invest in more glass, the 28-80mm would be your best bet. You have to realise that 6mp is alot! If you can't zoom right in you can crop.

There is also the option of a teleconverter! You can get a third party 2x one for 75 dollars. That should give you enough zoom to get right in on the animals. An effective 240mm.

[rhermans]

Personally I would take 2 , the 18-55 and the 70-300.
The gap inbetween isn't that big and I guess that a wideangle + a zoom might be needed.

This is one of the reasons I got myself an 18-200, although they aren't fast they have a great range.

Ronny

[Deni]

There's a tamron 28-200mm on sale in the classifieds for $109. I have one and like it.

[Kingsofronin]

i do really think that buying the tele converter is his best option,
if he only wants to take one lens.

but i would drop that point and shoot,
and take another lens!


hehe.

[little laker]

I agree on the take 2 lenses advice, however if I was limited to 1 I'd chose the 28-80 just because it suites my personal style of photography more than the other 2.

After that being said, I often wish that I had a different lens on my camera but usually make the shot work out some way or another.

[Alvin]

Try to keep things light since you'll be walking around each park a lot. Keep the gear accessible for the security bag check at the entrance of each park.

At a bare minimum, I would be taking two lenses unless you have an 18-200/250. One to cover the wider angles and one to cover the telephoto. If you want to be creative and bring other lenses - I would recommend the wide angle variety vs. tele.

One other thing I would recommend you to bring is a peachtree dust blower - that thing bailed me out when I discovered dust in 10 of my shots right after a lens change.

I went to WDW in May and brought my K100D. I was using my 80-200 most often in the Animal Kingdom. I also used the tele in the Beauty and the Beast theatre and Fantasmic. Most other places, I found myself using the 18-55 or my fisheye.

If I was restricted to one lens out of your kit, I would bring the 28-80. Just to warn you, you will have to be a fair bit back to get all the fireworks at Magic Kingdom at 28mm, but you'll get good shots

Have fun!

[tonylansing]

I just came back from Disneyland with my new K100. Primarily used the DA18-55mm but also carried along the DA 50-200mm. Was also carrying bottled water and other stuff for the family (water is $3 a bottle in the park!). Anyway, one day I wanted to lighten my load and left the 50-200mm in the hotel. Wouldn't you know that was the day I would have used it because we decided to sit and watch the parade. Anyway we also went to Seaworld and the 50-200mm worked great allowing me to take nice shots while sitting above the splash zone. If you have a small children you will want to mostly take portrait photos of them with the Disney characters. By the way, don't hesitate to avail yourself of the many professional Disney photographers there who will shoot you with their equipment and give you a card to access the shots on the web. They are very accomodating about also taking a shot of you and your loved ones with your camera. It is easier than lugging a tripod around. Remember you have to carry your equipment and fit into the rides too. Also remember to bring your Ni-Cad recharger and extra set of charged batteries if you are going to be there for a couple of days. If you use burst mode / bracketing / RAW files bring an extra SD card or use a large capacity one. I filled up a 1GB card easily on the five day trip to CA. Had fun trying bulb mode for the fireworks. The photo environment is challenging, very hot and bright with lots of shadows. Use fill in flash and an antiglare sun filter. I do recall wishing I had a wide angle lense for some of the shots. A powerful zoom or telephoto lense could give you something to do in the long lines but size and weight is a consideration.

[wayne]

Hello everyone quick question here. I've got a DSLR Pentax ist D that I will be taking with me along with my p & s. I have 3 lenses for the DSLR the kit lense 18-55mm, tamron 28-80mm, and tamron 70-300mm. If you was to take only one lense which would it be?

I am thinking about taking the 28-80mm as it is a wide angle and has a little zoom with it. But I am not sure if this would be enough zoom for say the safari ride at Animal Kingdom.

Another question is what setting do you shoot in when doing fireworks and the night time parades in at Disney?

I did Disneyland and Sea World last summer, and found that I pretty much would need coverage from 18 to 200mm. Since I used an E300 instead of the ist D, I took both the 14-45 and the 40-150. With the ist D, it would have been the 18-55 and the 50-200. I now have a Sigma 17-70, which if needed, I could press into service as a single lens solution. I think I would still find room for the 50-200 or a 80-200 if I could though.

Wayne

[highyellow1]

As I am typing this I'm sitting in the airport waiting for the plane so I can return to AZ from Disney World and would have to ditto everyone else; you'll probably want to lense unless you have one that covers all areas. Well it does depend on what your purpose is, if you don't have little kids that will be taking pics with characters than you might be able to get a way with just the 70-300, but if you're doing pics with the chracters you'll want something shorter. I only have the 18-55 and bought the 50-200 down there, and used the 18-55 most of the time (took both). It was nice to have the 200 available tho, mostly in Animal Kingdom and Beauty & The Beast, etc that others have mentioned. Also if you're taking a point and shoot, maybe you can take whatever lense would be more adequate than the p&s (i.e. if it doesn't have much range but does a good job at the short end than take the 70-300 & vice versa). Have a good time! On a side note, I wish I would have bought camelbaks for the family so you could carry ample water and maybe cheap walkie-talkies (seen a family doing that and seemed like it worked out).

[Entropy]

Given that I'm planning on eventually reyturning to WDW, thanks for all the advice. I'll need it eventually.

Now, I'll give my own advice - Tamrac's MAS lens cases have been great for me as far as carrying lenses in a readily accessible form. Their medium cases are perfectly sized for the 18-55 with the hood in shooting position and the 50-200 with the hood reversed. Put one on your belt so you can take the 18-55 and the 50-200. Possibly two so you can change lenses quickly without fumbling around for a place to put one while you change. (Pop one lens into its case, move camera to other case, mount other lens, sort out lens caps afterwards.)

I would suggest the 70-300 to replace the 50-200 (only a 15mm gap from the kit lens) except it's kind of big and heavy to walk around with all day.

[Mnchknbrat1982]

that is my thing exactly with it being kind of big and bulky. I don't think I want to walk around with it all day in the parks. And I think the 70-300 would only really come in handy at the Animal Kingdom. And last time I was there I had a sony mavica that I took pictures with. I was able to get some pretty decent shots. So I've narrowed it done to the smaller two. I may just take them both. What do you think?