Good lens for a Disney trip? 28-300mm??

midnight rider

I will be taking my first trip to Disney in about a month. I can not wait to see my two kids faces when they get there. I will be taking a full frame camera. My current lenses are 15-30mm, 28-75mm, 50mm f/1.4 and a 80-200mm AIS.
I am considering getting something like a 70-300mm VR but it will only make me carry even more, which I really do not mind.
I am really curious if anyone out there can share some experience with either the Tamron 28-300mm or the Nikon 70-300mm VR.

bandgeekndb

I'll be flat out honest with you:

For a family vacation, a Sigma 18-200, Nikon 18-200, etc. will be all you need. The last thing you want to do is put your nice long lens on the camera, only to see your kid doing something close right near by.

Disney parks do not wait for lens changes! Best bet is something that compromises, like the lenses above, or something similar.

If this were professional, then yes, take multiple lenses. But for simple family shots, the large range lenses like the ones above will do everything you need, including allowing you to catch shots that vary wildly without changing lenses.

Just my 2 cents, but when I went on vacation, I missed some cool shots b/c I needed a wider lens when I had the telephoto lens on, or vice versa.

~Nick

InsuredDisaster

I second the imput about the 18-200's, but I believe that if you are taking a full frame, it won't be much good for you. What exactly are you taking anyway?


Second best would be a couple of D3's, one with a wide angle, and one with a telephoto. Of course, there might not be a disney vacation for a few years.:D

On a more serious note, I've heard that the Nikon 70-300 isn't so good above 200mm. I could be wrong though. Maybe the 28-300 Tamron is better, and of course, its a super zoom, so there will be compromises, but its more in line with the above 18-200 suggestions.


Have you instead considered a second body to give you both wide angle and telephoto at the same time, or maybe thinking longer term and getting one of the fancier 2.8's out there? It would probably mean putting off a 300mm for a while, but I think, if I'm thinking of the right lense, the 70-300 got some not so good reviews.

Another lense to consider is maybe the Nikon 80-400. I've heard somewhat good things, and it might be a nice super telephoto lens for you, giving you the 300+ range, and replacing your 70-200'sand what not.

ChatKat

Travel lens
I have the Tamron 28-300 vr for my full frame Canon 5dmk2 and my husband shoots with one (and a Canon 50d) and I have used it extensively for travel work and including Disney. I used to travel with 5-6 lenses.

For family photos at a theme park - it works great. As a matter of fact, you might want to consider for the price to buy a decent digicam because you can participate in the family fun rather than watching it through your lens. I highly recommend that too. Otherwise, you may want a nice lens like a 50 1.8 or at 35 low light and wide lens that is light and easy to carry for the inside rides that you cannot use flash.


Editing to add that I sold the 18-200 - it was not as sharp at the 28-300 3.5-4.5 vr

rainbow

First time at Disney? Well, you should have a great time. And you might consider a nice point and shoot or just one zoom (for my Canon, I brought a 24 - 105 on a 1.6X body -- but only because I have been to Disneyland too many times to count).

If you are looking for family snapshots (versus serious photos that you would post for C & C), a P & S does fine. They would stand in front of a ride or the castle or take photos with some of the Disney characters. There are crowds everywhere so you don't usually get to take a great photo of anything. Also, you will want to go on as many rides as you can, and wanting to take too many photos that take too long to set up will frustrate your kids.

One other consideration is that if you take a few lenses, you have to carry it everywhere (maybe for twelve or more hours) AND have to watch it everywhere, including while on the rides and at meals. Most indoor rides are difficult to take good photos in, even with high ISO and fast lenses: And if you take pics, you miss much of the rides.

So I encourage you to simplify and trade photo ops for good family time and having fun without emphasizing the photography.

AlbertZeroK

We did Disney this summer with my D90 with the kit lens and the 70-300VR. I can tell you, the 70-300VR stayed in the bag at Disney while walking around and only ventured out when we went on an Air Boat Ride and a few select locations. We also pre-purchased a Disney Photo Pass CD which I HIGHLY recomend (Google it, you can normally get them pre-ordered for $100.) Disney Photo Pass photographers are everywhere in the parks, about 6 or 8 stations in each park (a map is on the photo pass website.) They shoot with fill flash and a Nikon D60 or better. Not fully professional, but you go up to these guys, they scan your card and take some shots (and you can attach multiple cards to the same online account and share the cost of the DVD - we did with my mom and sister). And you have 14 days to return the pre-paid photopass CD, so if you order it the day you leave for your trip, if you don't like the photos (you can review them online), then you can just return the prepaid photo pass. Photo pass photographers will take pictures of you with your own camera, but typically ONLY after taking photo pass photos of you (which cost you nothing.)

Here are my photos from the photo pass. The cool thing about the photo pass is that you can add different disney themes to your photos and the website allows you to make virtual copies of the same image which allows you to style the images differently.

I don't recomend packing in a DSLR to disney. I'm glad we took our Olympus 1030SW point and shoot on most days. We packed the D90 in two occassions, for fireworks at Epcot and Fantastic at Hollywood Studios, both times, we took a tripod too. On those days, we went to the parks later in the afternoon (3is) and stayed the rest of the night.

If you want something fun to do with a camera, try Wild Willy's Air Boat rides, they are GREAT! Here are my shots. Willy really did a great job of watching me shoot from the front seat and helping me line up my shots. I only wish I had my 70-200 lens then. I shot mostly with the 70-300 VR and got some great photos. But put your camera in high speed shooting mode and take a BIG memory card.

Don't forget there is Kenedy Space Center out there as well but I don't think they have any shuttles out on the pads right now, so it's not quite as fun.

Great places to shoot for me were the at Hollywood Studios. Both the stunt presentation and the tour were great. The tour has a spot where an Oil well catches fire and I got some great shots of the fire. BRING A BAG ON THE TOUR to throw over your camera, it has water splashes at places. Also on the tour sit to the left or second to the left as the fire is on your left hand side. I wish I would have mounted my 70-300 for this but found the kit lens to do okay.

One last tip, the best place for pictures with characters is EPCOT. If you go into the park, on the right after the globe in what is kinda like a circular arrangement of buildings, they were having character shots. It's Air Conditioned, and if you get in first thing in the morning, the lines are manageable. There are tv's with cartoons while you wait. Selection of characters very, but it was very good and photo pass photographers would take pictures with your own camera AFTER they took photo pass pictures.

Disney also lets you bring bottled water into the park, so for me, being DAD, I had to carry in bottled water in a back pack (bring gatorade or some of those instant kool-aid things because if you fill up bottles in disney, the water is a bit nasty). So most of the time, I was carrying enough already that a Point and Shoot was really the best for me. The two days we took the gear in, I used my my LowePro Backpack with the TriPod strap on it.

time2smile

A good weatherproof P&S is the way to go for Disney.

midnight rider

bandgeekndb wrote:

I'll be flat out honest with you:

For a family vacation, a Sigma 18-200, Nikon 18-200, etc. will be all you need. The last thing you want to do is put your nice long lens on the camera, only to see your kid doing something close right near by.

Disney parks do not wait for lens changes! Best bet is something that compromises, like the lenses above, or something similar.

If this were professional, then yes, take multiple lenses. But for simple family shots, the large range lenses like the ones above will do everything you need, including allowing you to catch shots that vary wildly without changing lenses.

Just my 2 cents, but when I went on vacation, I missed some cool shots b/c I needed a wider lens when I had the telephoto lens on, or vice versa.

~Nick

Thanks. I am almost sold on getting the 28-300mm for the trip.
I may just pack it and the 15-30mm. I think the UWA may come in real handy.

midnight rider

InsuredDisaster wrote:

I second the imput about the 18-200's, but I believe that if you are taking a full frame, it won't be much good for you. What exactly are you taking anyway?


Second best would be a couple of D3's, one with a wide angle, and one with a telephoto. Of course, there might not be a disney vacation for a few years.:D

On a more serious note, I've heard that the Nikon 70-300 isn't so good above 200mm. I could be wrong though. Maybe the 28-300 Tamron is better, and of course, its a super zoom, so there will be compromises, but its more in line with the above 18-200 suggestions.


Have you instead considered a second body to give you both wide angle and telephoto at the same time, or maybe thinking longer term and getting one of the fancier 2.8's out there? It would probably mean putting off a 300mm for a while, but I think, if I'm thinking of the right lense, the 70-300 got some not so good reviews.

Another lense to consider is maybe the Nikon 80-400. I've heard somewhat good things, and it might be a nice super telephoto lens for you, giving you the 300+ range, and replacing your 70-200'sand what not.

Thank you for your reply. I am taking a D700 to Disney. I did see that the 70-300 gets some not so good reviews but I always take those reviews with a grain of salt anyway. The lower line lenses get a little slammed because of CA and softer corners and light fall off. Funny how the 70-200mm VR gets raving reviews and is not any better in those areas that the cheapo lens.
When I shot Canon I used 2 bodies. I had a 40D and a 1D mk2. Never again will I carry 2 bodies or one pro body on a family vacation. What a back ache. For now I think I am sold on the 28-300mm. I just can not decide between the older version or the new VR version.

midnight rider

ChatKat wrote:

I have the Tamron 28-300 vr for my full frame Canon 5dmk2 and my husband shoots with one (and a Canon 50d) and I have used it extensively for travel work and including Disney. I used to travel with 5-6 lenses.

For family photos at a theme park - it works great. As a matter of fact, you might want to consider for the price to buy a decent digicam because you can participate in the family fun rather than watching it through your lens. I highly recommend that too. Otherwise, you may want a nice lens like a 50 1.8 or at 35 low light and wide lens that is light and easy to carry for the inside rides that you cannot use flash.


Editing to add that I sold the 18-200 - it was not as sharp at the 28-300 3.5-4.5 vr

Any sample photos?

midnight rider

rainbow wrote:

First time at Disney? Well, you should have a great time. And you might consider a nice point and shoot or just one zoom (for my Canon, I brought a 24 - 105 on a 1.6X body -- but only because I have been to Disneyland too many times to count).

If you are looking for family snapshots (versus serious photos that you would post for C & C), a P & S does fine. They would stand in front of a ride or the castle or take photos with some of the Disney characters. There are crowds everywhere so you don't usually get to take a great photo of anything. Also, you will want to go on as many rides as you can, and wanting to take too many photos that take too long to set up will frustrate your kids.

One other consideration is that if you take a few lenses, you have to carry it everywhere (maybe for twelve or more hours) AND have to watch it everywhere, including while on the rides and at meals. Most indoor rides are difficult to take good photos in, even with high ISO and fast lenses: And if you take pics, you miss much of the rides.

So I encourage you to simplify and trade photo ops for good family time and having fun without emphasizing the photography.

I never said we were not going to have a great time nor did I imply anywhere that the photography was my main objective. If I were not looking for a light easy option I would not have started this thread. I would have just taken a heap of fast MF primes with me and been Done
Carrying everything will not be an issue. We will be utilizing a stroller so from point to point will be easy. Most of the gear in the stroller and the cam on a blackrapid strap that stays out of my way until I need it.

midnight rider

AlbertZeroK wrote:

We did Disney this summer with my D90 with the kit lens and the 70-300VR. I can tell you, the 70-300VR stayed in the bag at Disney while walking around and only ventured out when we went on an Air Boat Ride and a few select locations. We also pre-purchased a Disney Photo Pass CD which I HIGHLY recomend (Google it, you can normally get them pre-ordered for $100.) Disney Photo Pass photographers are everywhere in the parks, about 6 or 8 stations in each park (a map is on the photo pass website.) They shoot with fill flash and a Nikon D60 or better. Not fully professional, but you go up to these guys, they scan your card and take some shots (and you can attach multiple cards to the same online account and share the cost of the DVD - we did with my mom and sister). And you have 14 days to return the pre-paid photopass CD, so if you order it the day you leave for your trip, if you don't like the photos (you can review them online), then you can just return the prepaid photo pass. Photo pass photographers will take pictures of you with your own camera, but typically ONLY after taking photo pass photos of you (which cost you nothing.)

Here are my photos from the photo pass. The cool thing about the photo pass is that you can add different disney themes to your photos and the website allows you to make virtual copies of the same image which allows you to style the images differently.

I don't recomend packing in a DSLR to disney. I'm glad we took our Olympus 1030SW point and shoot on most days. We packed the D90 in two occassions, for fireworks at Epcot and Fantastic at Hollywood Studios, both times, we took a tripod too. On those days, we went to the parks later in the afternoon (3is) and stayed the rest of the night.

If you want something fun to do with a camera, try Wild Willy's Air Boat rides, they are GREAT! Here are my shots. Willy really did a great job of watching me shoot from the front seat and helping me line up my shots. I only wish I had my 70-200 lens then. I shot mostly with the 70-300 VR and got some great photos. But put your camera in high speed shooting mode and take a BIG memory card.

Don't forget there is Kenedy Space Center out there as well but I don't think they have any shuttles out on the pads right now, so it's not quite as fun.

Great places to shoot for me were the at Hollywood Studios. Both the stunt presentation and the tour were great. The tour has a spot where an Oil well catches fire and I got some great shots of the fire. BRING A BAG ON THE TOUR to throw over your camera, it has water splashes at places. Also on the tour sit to the left or second to the left as the fire is on your left hand side. I wish I would have mounted my 70-300 for this but found the kit lens to do okay.

One last tip, the best place for pictures with characters is EPCOT. If you go into the park, on the right after the globe in what is kinda like a circular arrangement of buildings, they were having character shots. It's Air Conditioned, and if you get in first thing in the morning, the lines are manageable. There are tv's with cartoons while you wait. Selection of characters very, but it was very good and photo pass photographers would take pictures with your own camera AFTER they took photo pass pictures.

Disney also lets you bring bottled water into the park, so for me, being DAD, I had to carry in bottled water in a back pack (bring gatorade or some of those instant kool-aid things because if you fill up bottles in disney, the water is a bit nasty). So most of the time, I was carrying enough already that a Point and Shoot was really the best for me. The two days we took the gear in, I used my my LowePro Backpack with the TriPod strap on it.

Thanks for the reply and the links. The air boat rides look awesome.
I have a Canon G10 that I will be taking. If I feel like the D700 is cramping my style any I can always leave it in the room or something and carry the G10. My kids are 5 and 2 and the truth is that a point and shoot sucks when it comes to kids that age. The shutter lag means that you miss every shot and luck becomes a much larger part of the good picture equation than skill and knowledge. I am going to look into the photo pass. It looks like it may be nice. Thanks.

InsuredDisaster

If you have a choice between a lens with VR/OS/IS and one without, and all other things being equal, I'd highly recommend the VR, even if there is a price difference. I've gotten lucky maybe, I've taken some rock solid shots at 1 second exposure times with my old Sigma 18-200OS, and that ability is very appreciated. I know that you can carry whatever you want on that stroller, but a tripod is pushing things I'd bet.


Now all of my lenses are fast, 2.8 or greater, but if given the opporutnity to buy a VR AND a 2.8, I'll save up longer if that's what it takes to get it. That being said, I wouldn't throw out (or sell) a perfectly good 2.8 in order to get the VR, should one come some time down the road.

ChatKat

midnight rider wrote:

Any sample photos?

Almost all the outdoor photos and many of the indoor photos in these galleries:

http://www.flashfrozenphotography.com/Travel/Baltic-Adventures/5065074_cHeWy#304758716_HKL3E

http://www.flashfrozenphotography.com/Travel/2007-France-Spain-Morocco/6949004_h5esZ#449229713_wsRaa

Also in the France 2008 - all the outdoor

The indoor images are all 50mm 1.2 (I shoot Canon)

And definite on the VR version of this lens.

midnight rider

InsuredDisaster wrote:

If you have a choice between a lens with VR/OS/IS and one without, and all other things being equal, I'd highly recommend the VR, even if there is a price difference. I've gotten lucky maybe, I've taken some rock solid shots at 1 second exposure times with my old Sigma 18-200OS, and that ability is very appreciated. I know that you can carry whatever you want on that stroller, but a tripod is pushing things I'd bet.


Now all of my lenses are fast, 2.8 or greater, but if given the opporutnity to buy a VR AND a 2.8, I'll save up longer if that's what it takes to get it. That being said, I wouldn't throw out (or sell) a perfectly good 2.8 in order to get the VR, should one come some time down the road.

Thanks. I was looking online and there are many sites/ reviews that actually say the non DI non vr is the sharpest of the 28-300mm tamrons.
But to be honest compared to what I am use to shooting with I doubt any of them are really all that sharp.
I use to be very concerned about really fast glass until I got the D700. I can get a very usable image at ISO 6400 so I now have the mindset that I can get m extra stops with the ISO instead of the heavy expensive lenses. Only a couple of my lenses in the past have had IS a canon 300mm, 100-400mm and a couple others and I can say that I think it is a great feature to any lens but it does infringe on IQ some.
I really never use tripod. My poor Manfrotto has been in the back of the car for months now with out any action. I never pull it out unless I am going to be in the picture and there is nowhere to set my camera or if I am doing HDR or really long exposures. I do not think it will be going.
I use to only own Canon L series lenses but when I switched systems I tried out some 3rd party glass. My Tamron 28-75 has honestly surprised me. I paid about 300 for it and it is now my favorite lens. They recently added VAR to their 17-50mm f/2.8 and I am hoping they will do the same with the 28-75mm shortly.

crmitche

I went light for our WDW trip last summer, one body & one lens, and picked up the Tamron 18-250. It was great paired with my 30D. Check out the images here. On your full frame the 28-300 will be just fine.

Cheers
Craig

midnight rider

crmitche wrote:

I went light for our WDW trip last summer, one body & one lens, and picked up the Tamron 18-250. It was great paired with my 30D. Check out the images here. On your full frame the 28-300 will be just fine.

Cheers
Craig

Thanks. It looks like you had a great time and you came back with some very nice photos.
Thanks for sharing
Kirk

cmkultradome

I took (rented) that lens (Tamron 28-300 VC) when I went to Hawaii last year as an all purpose lens because I was kind of limited on packing space. I absolutely loved it as an all-purpose lens and when I got back, I purchased the Tamron 18-270 because I wanted a little more on the wide angle side. Also agree that you should bring/rent a waterproof point & shoot. Pictures at Typhoon Lagoon & Blizzard Beach are a lot of fun but I wouldn't want to have a dSRL there!! Have a great time!!!

Stephanie

kini62

Sounds like your first trip to Disney with the kids. If so I would just leave the DSLR at home, take your G10 and "experience" the same joy, fascination and wonder your kids will.

At 2 and 5 with all that Disney is, stopping to take photos everywhere IMO will just get in the way of letting the kids be kids in the Magical Kingdom.

As others have said, for some good quality photos you can by the photo CD from the photopass photogs.

Spend the time with your kids not your camera.

Gene

pathfinder

I have a number of images with the Tamron 28-300 VR which I find a quite serviceable optic. It is slow, and not ideal for early sunrise landscapes, or wildlife deep in the forest, but in the sunlight at Disney, where you can shoot 1-2 stops smaller than the maximum aperture it will do quite a nice job.

Most of my shots with the 50D in this gallery were with the Tamron 28-300 - you will have to check the exif data as my landscapes were done with a 5D or 5D MkII.

This shot was what I call a drive by pano - a series of hand held jpgs shot with my 50D and the Tamron 28-300 VR - You will not see lens or camera data as panos seem to get the exif data stripped somewhere before they get to Smugmug, but this was shot as multi frame pano with a 50D and the Tamron 28-300 VR



This image was shot with a 40D and the Tammy 28-300 VR at 300mm at f8 and i/250th



I have not used this lens with my full frame cameras because they usually have primes on them

I do see some chromatic aberration with this lens on some images ( easily correctable in Lightroom or Photoshop, so not a real big deal ) and I see some CA on L lenses as well sometimes.

One does need to use good shooting technique once your focal length begins to stretch out. Some of the bad press these travel zooms get is not the lens fault I think, but folks who think they can hand hold 400+mm lens without any penaltties. Good shooting technique pays dividends as always.

Here was a Confederate trooper at Gettysburg recently shot with the Tamron 28-300VR. Like I said, handy in the sunlight. 84mm f8 1/250th again

midnight rider

kini62 wrote:

Sounds like your first trip to Disney with the kids. If so I would just leave the DSLR at home, take your G10 and "experience" the same joy, fascination and wonder your kids will.

At 2 and 5 with all that Disney is, stopping to take photos everywhere IMO will just get in the way of letting the kids be kids in the Magical Kingdom.

As others have said, for some good quality photos you can by the photo CD from the photopass photogs.

Spend the time with your kids not your camera.

Gene

Learn to read before you type.

midnight rider

pathfinder wrote:

I have a number of images with the Tamron 28-300 VR which I find a quite serviceable optic. It is slow, and not ideal for early sunrise landscapes, or wildlife deep in the forest, but in the sunlight at Disney, where you can shoot 1-2 stops smaller than the maximum aperture it will do quite a nice job.

Most of my shots with the 50D in this gallery were with the Tamron 28-300 - you will have to check the exif data as my landscapes were done with a 5D or 5D MkII.

This shot was what I call a drive by pano - a series of hand held jpgs shot with my 50D and the Tamron 28-300 VR - You will not see lens or camera data as panos seem to get the exif data stripped somewhere before they get to Smugmug, but this was shot as multi frame pano with a 50D and the Tamron 28-300 Vr



This image was shot with a 40D and the Tammy 28-300 VR at 300mm at f8 and i/250th



I have not used this lens with my full frame cameras because they usually have primes on them

I do see some chromatic aberration with this lens on some images ( easily correctable in Lightroom or Photoshop, so not a real big deal ) and I see some CA on L lenses as well sometimes.

One does need to use good shooting technique once your focal length begins to stretch out. Some of the bad press these travel zooms get is not the lens fault I think, but folks who think they can hand hold 400+mm lens without any penaltties. Good shooting technique pays dividends as always.

Thanks, Those are a couple of great shots BTW. I really like the first one.

SPDSpappy

I'm not a pro, but I think one of the smaller zoom lenses would suit just fine & be easy to carry around. We've done 2 family trips there & my cheap kit lens (18-135) seemed to be a good all around lens & didn't get in the way too much...
Pics: here in 2009 and here in 2008.

WillCAD

Wow I was excited to see this thread... until I saw that it was 4 months old.

Well, better late than never, I guess.

I go to Walt Disney World (WDW) every year. I've been taking SLRs since 1999.

My preferred walkaround lens for WDW is my Sigma 18-125. I find that there are an awful lot of situations where you need that 18mm wide angle, and quite a few where I need the 125mm zoom, with most situation somewhere in between. At some point when budget allows, I want to upgrade to a Canon 18-200 IS to give myself more zoom without the need to change lenses.

The place where you will need a longer zoom most is Disney's Animal Kingdom park. Kilamanjaro Safari, Pangani Forest Exploration Trail, and the Maharaja Jungle Trek are all animal viewing experiences with animals at various distances; to get a close-up, you'll need something at least 125mm, preferably longer. FYI: Kilamanjaro Safari is a rough ride; image stabilization is your friend.

When carying camera equipment at WDW, LIGHTWEIGHT is key. Most people walk an average of 5-10 miles per day in the parks, and anything you carry with you will soon begin to feel like a ton of bricks. Or a ton of feathers. A ton of somthing. And Florida's heat and humidity are legendary; if you're from a cooler or drier climate, the heat and humidity will hit you like a sledge hammer and sap your strength faster than you can imagine. Pare down your gear to the absolute minimum.

And keep your camera ready at all times. You never know when something photo-worthy might pop up, whether it's a view, a show, a passing monorail, or your kids playing with stuffed animals in the shops.