hcmcdole

You are so right! I forgot about that. They do have sensors in a lot of rides and you wil get an animated face telling you to put the camera down. HAHA!

Ched49 Loc: Pittsburgh, Pa.

My wife and took our five year five year old to Disney World in 1985, to this day, he still has the autograph book he kept of the Disney characters.

ncshutterbug

Due to my never-ending back problems, I bought a lightweight camera just for travel when I went to Dizzy World last year, and am so glad I did. My Canon 5d III was just too heavy. I got an Olympus FZ300 with 4K capabilities and set it on auto for most of the time and was thrilled with the results. Best of luck. I know you'll have a wonderful time. Enjoy it with your family instead of fiddling with the camera the whole time.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

When shooting fill outside I leave it to Nikon. Set the camera on aperture priority and the flash on TTL fill. I usually go -1 stop on the flash power and get beautiful results. Don't make it complicated, it isn't.

ToBoldlyGo Loc: London U.K.

My opinion, ditch the flash. Use whatever mode you feel happy with and take photos. The kids will get bored and angry having to wait and pose for you. It's supposed to be
a fun time and you want to make it serious and spoil the fun. Pick up the camera, get them to make a face and take a pic. The kids will thank you for the amazing and embarrassing pics. Trust me on this.

Anthony Jr Loc: Spokane Wa area

WDW is the place to have fun. We have been going every year since 1973. Don't bring the big camera. I talk from experience. Like others said, a small light weight camera is best or get Disney memory maker. You can down load or get DVDs of your pics. Get the memory maker before you go and save some money. Enjoy. We will be at Disney on Jan 30 to Feb 5. Staying at the Caribbean Beach Resort on property.
Tony

wteffey Loc: Ocala, FL USA

My first photography instructor (in 1968) emphasized getting something "in the can", referring to those little cans film came in, before getting artsy/craftsy. Which ever way you go, make sure you bring something nice home, even if you have to start with full auto. Yes, f8 will give greater depth of field, but most lenses are sharpest at f4 to f5.6. If you go with a smaller sensor the depth of field will be really wide anyway. Your first park visit (especially the Kingdom) will be frantic, with everyone trying to see as much as possible as quickly as possible. A small pocket or holster camera will be really nice, and even essential if you go on the rides. You can always schedule a second visit without the drama and take a larger camera then.

ELNikkor

If you like f8, put it there and use the aperture priority mode for most shooting. Don't make this "The Vacation We Took Photos" trip. Just have fun! I have been to Disney many times, and the best camera would be a good point and shoot. The grab shots will bring back many more good memories than all the "hold it and pose while I get the settings right, a better background, turn your body a bit" shots.

Joecosentino Loc: Whitesboro, New York

Use the Disney photographers and buy the photos you like after the trip. If you are this unsure about flash Disney is not the place to learn TTL will give you different results with every shot depending on exactly where the camera meters. It will be close. Auto ISO is good but you will be inside in the dark f2.8 area and out in bright sunlight f16. Outside its hands to over power the sun with a speed light so you can get the kids and a good background. Best advice is flash on manual meter the background and then use the flash at a lower power as a full for the kids. Somewhere in the 1/4 power. But that will change depending on how close you are. The closer you are the quick flash power drops off. Learn the inverse square law. If you are to close you could have 2 or 3 stops of light drop off between the kid upfront and Mickey in he background

Joecosentino Loc: Whitesboro, New York

Use the Disney photographers and buy the photos you like after the trip. If you are this unsure about flash Disney is not the place to learn TTL will give you different results with every shot depending on exactly where the camera meters. It will be close. Auto ISO is good but you will be inside in the dark f2.8 area and out in bright sunlight f16. Outside its hands to over power the sun with a speed light so you can get the kids and a good background. Best advice is flash on manual meter the background and then use the flash at a lower power as a full for the kids. Somewhere in the 1/4 power. But that will change depending on how close you are. The closer you are the quick flash power drops off. Learn the inverse square law. If you are to close you could have 2 or 3 stops of light drop off between the kid upfront and Mickey in he background

Dannj

My 2 cents: keep it simple, get a good p&s and let the kids have fun. Most kids will quickly tire of posing and waiting for you to get it "right". You'll miss a lot of the fun too.
If you really think it's necessary to do it "right" take an afternoon away from the family and wander the park on your own. You can fiddle and tinker to your hearts content.

Donkas1946 Loc: Southern NH

Spent a week at Disney world and used my canon sx50 and used the flash indoors. Had probably 95 percent keepers in P mode. Great camera and had no worries. Could concentrate on the trip with total confidence in the Camera and the quality of the photos. Left all the big stuff home I.e. 5Diii etc. also a lot easier to put that camera ina plastic bag if it rains or going from extreme humidy to AC.

ka5ysy

We have been to the DIsney parks since the opening day of the original Disneyland. We get over to wDW regularly due to business and having family there. Net result is literally thousands of images made with cameras from a Kodak Brownie (127 B&W) through Nikon 35mm film and later Nikon Digital. I used to carry a body (D7000) and several lenses. Usually a 12-24 zoom wide angle and a zoom of some kind. I switched to the Nikkor 18-300 lens only for a trip to the Galapagos and Machu Picchu due to severe weight limits traveling. That setup worked well but last year I jumped to the Olympus OM-D E-M1 II with the 12-100 IS Pro lens. This setup is smaller, lighter and weather sealed, so makes it a fantastic travel camera. My wife can use it as a point and shoot in Auto mode, and I can use the fantastic capabilities if I need to.

As everyone has previously said , have fun, and don’t worry about all the geeky stuff. Auto mode will do 98 % of anything you want to shoot in WDW. Flash is not really necessary and in the rides using flash will wash out the colors you see because the sets use lighting with color gels in most areas. For example, “It’s A Small World” cannot really be photographed with flash and look anything like you see.

So: Take at least three camera batteries and several huge memory cards, camera and a zoom lens, use P or Auto and enjoy WDW. Hopefully you are there for at least 5 days and have a park hopper pass. It’s a good idea to have a meal plan of some kind because the food is very expensive if you don’t . Be flexible on plans and be prepared to change parks if the one you are in gets overcrowded. And be sure to download the Disney World app so you can see what’s going on daily. For most big rides you need to get a fastpass early to avoid huge lines.

Most of all, have fun and look around.

jtal Loc: South Carolina

Enjoy your time there. Don't stress yourself and family with equipment.
They have a deal where they have photographers that will shoot shots with characters, etc. These photographers look competent, but the end results are not the best. Better than nothing though.

dcampbell52 Loc: Clearwater Fl

I agree and carrying a ton of camera gear is not going to be fun. It will also be an issue on some of the rides as there won't be a lot of space to carry baggage. Are you going to leave your camera bags etc. at the entrance while you are on the ride? Do you have someone going with you that can babysit the equipment while you are on the ride?.... When the Wife and I went to Disney World (Orlando) she took her Nikon D70s with a 70-300mm lens. I took my D7100 with an 18-70mm lens. Both lenses were/are fairly slow but the ISO range on the cameras made up for it. And, typically, except inside rides like "It's a Small World", Toy Story, etc. Most of the shots are out of doors and lighting wasn't a real issue. I almost NEVER use flash inside a ride as it will mess up the lighting colors. Also, be sure to have lens hoods and or clear/haze filters on all of your lenses to protect you from other people that will run into you, bump and / or jostle you while you try to focus and shoot.