Upcoming Trip: Help me Pack My (Camera) Bag

[jcvalenti]

Okay folks - I'm getting ready for the upcoming trip. June 25 - July 9th. This will be my first trip down there with a DSLR. Since I'm also bringing down an 8 year old and a 2 year old (who is an absolute handful), I'm kind of dreading having to haul a giant camera bag around (and then having to keep tabs on it at all times while riding all the rides) ... but that's the price I have to pay for my obsessive hobbies.

So any way, here's what I've got that I'm considering bringing. Anything I can leave out ? Anything I'm missing ? Anything with an asterisk in front is something I am currently planning on bringing.

*Canon 5D
* Memory Cards (2 x 4GB, 1 x 8GB)
* Extra Battery
24-105L f/4 IS Lens
*17-40L f/4 Lens
70-200L f/4 Lens
*50 mm f/1.4 Lens
Speedlite 580EX II
Sto-Fen Omnibounce
*77mm Circ Poly Filter
*Canon SD1100IS P&S
*Canon HV30 Camcorder
Velbon Ultra Luxi SF Tripod

My biggest decisions are:

1. Do I bring the flash ?
2. Do I bring the tripod ? (I really can't see me having a lot of time in peak season to set up and dissemble a tripod)
3. Which lens / lenses to bring ? I love the 24-105, but it's big and bulky. I'm wondering if the 17-40 might be more useful, given that crowds will pretty ensure most of my portrait shots are close up.
4. Should I bring the 50mm for indoor shots and portraits ?

My shoulders are already hurting at the thought of hauling the bag around ... ugh. Thank God I'll have a stroller to pitch it into.

 

[Craig]

Canon 5D
* Memory Cards (2 x 4GB, 1 x 8GB) agreed
* Extra Battery agreed
24-105L f/4 IS Lens this lens would interest me the most to have on the camera all day, especially on a 5d, 24mm is pretty wide, and its IS
*17-40L f/4 Lens ? as stated above the range of 24-105 is more intersting to me
70-200L f/4 Lens in your situation, only for AK
*50 mm f/1.4 Lens small, light, only for rides, unless you are too busy taking care of your kids on the rides
Speedlite 580EX II I would think a must have, for photos of your family inside and in restaurants
Sto-Fen Omnibounce leave it at home
*77mm Circ Poly Filter small, light, but one more thing to stop you from getting the picture while you adjust it and hold on to kids and keep the whole group in one piece while they wait for you
*Canon SD1100IS P&S only if you are not going to carry it
*Canon HV30 Camcorder agreed
Velbon Ultra Luxi SF Tripod can you bring it, leave in the room, just in case you get out by yourself or could use it at your resort. but otherwise, it seems like it would be difficult in your situation

(*please note, all advice from a guy who has never traveled with anyone other than his wife.)

 

[DisneyGeek92]

I know it's a family trip but I would recommend getting away for a few hours. When my mom, sister, and dad go back to the room for a nap it's my opportunity for photography. That's when I pull out my photography to do list and start shooting.

 

[Roger]

Rent a 70-300, leave the 70-200 home, and I can't defer from the 24-105 on FF, I would actually lean towards that on FF rather than the 17-40. The 17-40 is great for both crop formats unless you are trying to go UWA.

 

[PolynesianMedic]

I rented the Sigma 18-200 IS (or whatever they call it) and used it the entire time I was there. It was a great walk around lens with a wonderful stretch from wide to tele. Just another thought to throw in the mix. I know the glass is not as good as the 24-105 (I so want this lens) but with the better range, it might not be a bad idea either. Here is a link to my photo's on Flickr that I took with this lens in November.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/polynesian ... 214276713/

The lens was on my Rebel XT which is only 8 MP so I am sure that the images would look better through the 5d anyway.

 

[mSummers]

I know it's a family trip but I would recommend getting away for a few hours. When my mom, sister, and dad go back to the room for a nap it's my opportunity for photography. That's when I pull out my photography to do list and start shooting.

Me too. I do the same thing at extra magic hours... everyone else goes back to the room to sleep and I'm in the park with the tripod.

I like to bring 2 camera bags. One that holds everything and a second one that will hold the body and three lenses. I never go into the park without my camera body, my 12-24mm, my 28-70mm and my 50mm. All of those fit in my small bag. With that setup, I can take 99% of the pictures that I want in the parks. If I'm going to shoot fireworks from TTC or animals at AK, I bring the big bag with the 70-200mm, and 80-400mm. That's the approach that works best for me.



*Canon 5D Yes
* Memory Cards (2 x 4GB, 1 x 8GB) You can never have too many
* Extra Battery You can never have too many (and don't forget the charger... you don't want to drive all over Orlando to find a ridiculously over priced off brand piece of $#!@... end rant)
24-105L f/4 IS Lens yes
*17-40L f/4 Lens only if you are planning to take ultra wide shots. If you have 2 bags, you could bring it and leave it in the room. I agree with Roger that the 24 should be wide enough on a full frame.
70-200L f/4 Lens yes, but leave in the room when you don't need it.
*50 mm f/1.4 Lens yes if you are going to take any pictures on the dark rides
Speedlite 580EX II yes if you want to take any portraits or play around with flash and blur at the teacups and carousel.
Sto-Fen Omnibounce yes if you bring the flash. It dosen't take much room in the bag, and when used while bouncing the flash off a wall, creates a very flattering light that looks great in portraits.
*77mm Circ Poly Filter yes
*Canon SD1100IS P&S Only if you plan to leave the dslr in the room some of the time.
*Canon HV30 Camcorder Up to you.
Velbon Ultra Luxi SF Tripod Yes. Like Craig said, you can always leave it in the room.

 

[zackiedawg]

Craig's suggestions were quite good, and along the lines of what I'd suggest as well.

Just to throw in a few ideas that might not have come up, or to expound on some things already answered:

1. Do I bring the flash ?

Sure. I would think that if you intend to do family portraits and not all scenics, the flash will come in very handy.

2. Do I bring the tripod ? (I really can't see me having a lot of time in peak season to set up and dissemble a tripod)

Personally, I always bring one. Is it a necessity? Not really...much of your photography can be done without one. But if you bring it on the trip, and leave it in the room most of the time, you at least have the option to bring it out for one night to go to the fireworks shows with it, or to take night scenics of the parks or hotel areas on nice slow shutter. You certainly don't want to be hauling it around all day at a park - so I would think it best to only bring it one specific planned time.

3. Which lens / lenses to bring ? I love the 24-105, but it's big and bulky. I'm wondering if the 17-40 might be more useful, given that crowds will pretty ensure most of my portrait shots are close up.

Personally, I'd rather have the 24-105. the extra range it provides would seem more useful to me - though the wider lens could come up for certain shots just for fun, there's usually enough distance to move around in the parks and do just fine with 24-28mm to capture almost anything you'd need. And the 105 would come in more handy to me, since there are alot of times such as during a parade, performance, etc where you need a bit more length to get the shot. 40mm would seem to limiting to me, and 200mm too bulky for all-day walkaround.

4. Should I bring the 50mm for indoor shots and portraits ?

If you intend to shoot inside the rides...I'd say yes. Like the tripod though, you can always consider bringing the lens only on the day you think you'd use it.

Which is my other suggestion - consider bringing your 'big' camera bag stuffed to the gills with all the lenses, filters, bits, and pieces you need...but then ALSO bring a small bag which is empty. When you get to the hotel, each day you can load just the camera and lens (or maybe two lenses), plus spare battery, into the small bag for walking around. I prefer this method - I'd rather have a bag full of all of my kit back at the hotel so I can go back each day, or multiple times a day, and swap out lenses for the situation. I might go to AK with a heavy 200-500 lens, but then head back to the hotel, unload that lens, swap on the 50mm or your 24-105, and use that for the next park or to shoot fireworks that night. That allows me to carry a bag not much bigger than the camera with lens, with side pockets enough to handle extra battery and memory.

I have a nice, small Tamron bag, roughly 10"x7"x6" - it's decently padded, waterproof, has enough room for a full-size DLR and all-purpose lens (like your 24-105) mounted and enough room to squeeze in, say, a 50mm prime...plus pocket room for batteries, memory cards, a microfiber towel, or other assorted little gizmos.

 

[gary]

ok i'll weigh in with my .02 here, since i have this dilemma every vacation anywhere i feel extremely qualified to have an opinion here
first limiting option, fly or drive??, when i drive all limits go out the window, when it's the camper it's 3 bags full yes sir

5d, this alone makes for a lot easier choosing, 24-105, trust me, i gave mine a serious workout at mousefest 07, 90% of my pics were with this lens
bring along the 50 1.4, great for dark rides with the iso jacked up, 1600 and 3200 with noise ninja plug in are very acceptable, this will also give you a real nice option for inside restaurants, you are not usually that far away from the subject anyway
if you bring the flash, then bring the stoffen, i almost never use flash without it, only downside to the flash is batteries are heavy, and really pricey at the world if you were to consider onsite purchase
ok so what room is left in the bag, the circular polarizer, i don't know, i've kind of stopped using one since the 5d, a little saturation boost in convertor program seems to usually do it for me, so very optional, yes it's small and light, but every ounce adds up on the bag and the shoulder
now you could bring the 70-200, great lens, leave it in the room except for ak, and mybe a little compressed world showcase if you've got time to get artsy with the kids along, if not, leave it home
tripod, absolutely, if you think you have any chance at some night/fireworks shots, if not leave it in the room until you can work something out
camcorder, i'm going to go against the masses here and say why bother, if you can't use it on a tripod you'll end up with the same blurred shaky home movies that your kids will hate in 10 years and and that give you a headache to watch, i've got my share of these, i no longer even bother bringing the camcorder along even on drive vacations, strictly used on a tripod at family events here in the back yard
point & shoot, agreed with msummers, light,small and maybe one day or park you want to go commando, light and fast,
so really if you want light and simple, 5d and 2 lenses, many a person travels with no more kit than that, my lowepro microtrekker holds that, plus the flash, diffuser, extra cards, battery and is pretty light to carry, and even has room for the 70-300 without too much more weight

 

[jcvalenti]

Okay - This will be a month project to come down to an acceptable list, but all your thoughts are appreciated. Here's what I'm thinking today (* Warning: Subject to change at a moments notice).

First off, answering Gary's question, it's a flight. With 2 kids. One of whom is 2. And we need to fit luggage for the four of us, plus my mother in law, in our rental car. So weight and bulk is a huge concern.

5D, 24-105mm, 50mm and the flash are in.

70-200 stays at home for sure.

I'd love to do some scenery and panorama shots, which are my favorite. That's primarily what I would use the 17-40 for (the extra 7mm makes a huge difference, IMHO) ... as well as the tripod. Here's my compromise: I leave these at home this time (since scenary shots is pretty tough in peak-season June anyway), and then I bring first week October when my wife and I are returning for a long weekend with some friends ... and no kids. Far less crowds, and I can just worry about the camera.

As for the P&S, that's coming, for my wife to use (since we often split up). Plus, the P&S is pretty much the only way I will even get myself in a picture at Disney.

The Camcorder is also a must have, despite Gary's correct observation that most video footage is miserable. As a souvenoir from our last 2 family trips, I've edited the living heck out of our vacation footage to make a momento "movie" that all the trip participants have loved. And I know they aren't just lying, because the kids watch it CONSTANTLY. I'm pretty obsessive about my filmmaking, so it isn't handycam shake footage - we do actual storyboarding, editing, effects - the whole nine yards. Pretty similar to these great Disney videos (which I highly recommend you check out if you've never seen): http://youtube.com/watch?v=zYS5VFvSMws

 

[Roger]

That sounds good to me. I'd probably rent the 70-300 DO. It's smaller than the IS, but does weigh a little more. I didn't mind the diffractive optics and the bokeh from it wasn't noticable under most conditions.

I'm probably doing the same thing the first week of June. 18-200 and 50/1.4, renting the 80-400 VR (the new Sigmas have my interest but I doubt they'll be out in time)

 

[jcvalenti]

I'd probably rent the 70-300 DO.

I'd think about that for AK, but probably for the October trip. I'm on total Camera Gear (and Wine) ban from the wife until we get back from Disney. I guess she thought 3 lenses, a filter, a tripod, a camcorder, a new P&S, and 2 memory cards was a little excessive in the last 12 months. Not to mention about 10 cases of wine ...

 

[Craig]

I'm on total Camera Gear (and Wine) ban from the wife

lol, me too! I've been told no new body, until mine breaks

 

[Roger]

lol, me too! I've been told no new body, until mine breaks

Did she give restrictions on the meaning of the word, break? I mean, accidents can happen from the roof of the Contemporary....


Or you can just put it on full auto and shoot small JPGs until the shutter breaks.

 

[DisneyGeek92]

Or, you could be like that jerk college student and poor apple sauce and a bunch of other crap on it. Honey I don't know what happend, I left and when I came back my camera body was covered with apple sauce and somebody poored soda and hot water on it. That's the way I would do it if I was on a camera gear ban. The only thing holding me back from buying new camera gear is my lack of money and my lack of ability to get a real job.

 

[jcvalenti]

The only thing holding me back from buying new camera gear is my lack of money and my lack of ability to get a real job.

Dont let that stop you - that's why God invented Best Buy's 12 months no-interest financing.

 

[jcvalenti]

Just reviewed the thread again as I pack my bag for the trip next week. I've now added the add-on battery grip, which I'll bring on the two heavy days. I'm going with the two bag system. Luckily, we've got a stroller to push, and I can stick the thing in there for part of the trip.

I'm dreading having to pack and haul all this gear around, but it'll be worth it to capture my kids in the park. Especially the two year old, who is simply going to freak out when he sees Buzz and Woody - his two favorite characters in the whole universe.