should i take my dslr camera?

[princessat37]

i'm on the fence about whether or not to take my big ol' dslr camera. i want amazing pics but i'm not sure it's worth lugging around. we will be doing the photopass and i could just use my mom's good, small camera.
if i take it, i should carry it on the plane, correct? and my camcorder?

[faline]

Never pack cameras in your checked luggage. Only you can decide whether you want to bring a particular camera with you or not.

[danimator]

I took a large point and shoot 'bridge' camera (the Fuji Finepix s5200) that's about as large as a dslr, and I never had any problems with it on rides, or anywhere else.

I have a Canon dslr, and wouldn't dream of taking a Disney trip without it.

[bjs6]

I took over 1600 photos with my dslr in 2006 and plan to take it again when we go next year. I can't imagine having a dslr and not wanting to bring it with me on vacation.

[jonahbear2006]

dont go without it. you can purchase a backpack that will make it easier to tote around the parks but this will be fantastic for fireworks shots, if you stand behind the kids you will get a beautiful sillhouette of them in front of the castle and f'works. THAT alone makes it worth it for me. I will have days where we plan on taking it for photography days and days where we take the smaller camera so I can have a bit of a break from pictures. You don't have to take it out everyday. Also, if you have a tripod, you can take some marvelous professional family pics in the resort, to hang on your wall.

[BelleKP]

I will have days where we plan on taking it for photography days and days where we take the smaller camera so I can have a bit of a break from pictures. You don't have to take it out everyday.

I agree with jonahbear. Take both! I bring my dslr to each park once so I can take some 'good' pics of landscapes and icons, etc. Then the rest of the time I carry our small digital camera for candids of the family, when photopass is not around. And of course I use photopass too I usually average about 1000 pics a trip! Now my DD5 is really into photography (she likes all forms of Art) so she'll probably carry the small camera . . . with wrist strap of course
Whatever you decide . . . take the camera with you on the plane . . . don't check it.
Have a great time!

[Disney Doll]

I just got a DSLR and it's definitely coming to WDW. I'll probably bring my small digital camera too just in case I don't want to bother with the big one everyday, but I'm guessing I'll mainly use the DSLR. I brought my 35mm SLR a few years back and toting it around wasn't a big deal. I bought a small camera bag that also held my sunglasses and money and I was set. I had less to carry than most people I saw. These days we bring a stroller so it'll be no problem to plop my camera bag in the storage compartment. Definitely carry on though; I'd never check a camera.

[mudpuppysmom]

I lug mine with us and I wouldn't think about leaving it at home! Yeah, it weighs a ton (well, not really) and no you can't pop it in your pocket, but the pictures that you get are worth lugging it around if you ask me.

We take a little point and shoot also and my son takes his little Fisher Price camera with him, but I think we're going to try to get him his own point 'n shoot to take this year -- he just nags us too much about how his camera can't do this and that -- and he is responsible enough to have his own.

So, we'll have tons of pics this year with three cameras going!

Everyone always comments on "how'd you do that?" with the pics I take with my canon and how "wow, they are really nice clear shots"....so if you go in October and see a pack mule with a big dslr...that'd be us!

[dnickels]

I would just bring the smaller one. Unless you're planning to lug along a tripod also and make poster-sized prints, or if you have a really specific type of lens you want to use (i.e. fisheye or a low-light lens for taking pics on the dark rides) then a simple point and shoot digital camera provides more than enough image quality for what most of us do - putting pics online, prints, even enlargements up to 11 x 14. Be honest, when it comes to seeing pics our friends or family send us from Disney, have you ever said 'wow that must have been from a DSLR' or 'eh, must have been from a point and shoot'? The difference in quality matters in some situations, but Disney pics are generally not one of those situations.

The DSLR would be just one more thing you have to make sure you don't sit on when you get on a ride, gotta take the lens cap off everytime you want to take a picture, or...... you can travel light, have the little digital in your pocket and pull it out when need be!

To each their own, but I know I'd rather have my hands in the air on Big Thunder Mountain than holding on to my camera to make sure it stays put.

[BelleLovesTheBeast]

I take both my Sony DSLR and Cybershot. That way I have the option of taking either one. Some days I take the DSLR and others the Cybershot. It really depends upon what we are doing that day and which you feel like carrying. I've taken some great pics of parades that I couldn't have with the Cybershot.

[Sean Riley Taylor's Mom]

My Nikon D40 has made a few trips to WDW now. I would not go without it.

[princessat37]

thanks for all the great advice!!
and i really like the idea of taking the kids' fisher price cameras too

i think i'll take it. i'd rather take it and decide to not use it, than leave it and wish i had it.
i guess we can keep it in a backpack that dh can wear when we aren't storing it in the stroller.

[Disney Doll]

thanks for all the great advice!!
and i really like the idea of taking the kids' fisher price cameras too

That's such a good tip. When we brought my nieces we gave each their own kiddie camera and it was so much fun seeing the pictures they took. We made a book with each kid's pics and those are some of my favorite Disney pics ever....usually off center and odd angles, but so so cute! They loved doing it too.

[redleg96]

My wife always brings here Nikon DSLR and I bring my coolpix and camcorder..often times we'll bring the DSLR for specific occasions in the park or whatever and use the coolpix for everything else...photopass is great as well but we like having our own.