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Trip to Disneyland

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Luis Alzamora

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Hi all,

I'm taking the whole family to Disneyland in July for two weeks and I would like to know the best way to store pictures, I have 2 x 1GB cards but I'm sure that won’t be sufficient. Do you have any ideas what do I need to get? I normally shoot in raw.

20D
17-55
85mm
580EX
 
Hi Luis

I agree, you will need to do something to store your pictures. Either use a laptop, which can be cumbersome, and you always have to worry about theft. Or you could buy a portable storage device (PSD). I recently bought a case only from EBay and installed my own hard drive. Which was very easy to do. I have been using my new PSD as an external hard for my computer, it works great. I think the best idea is to head over the storage forum on DPReview, lots of good effective ideas at a reasonable price.

You will enjoy Disney, it takes years off of your life very quickly, makes you feel like a kid all over again.

Don
 
Luis Alzamora said:
I'm taking the whole family to Disneyland in July for two weeks and
I would like to know the best way to store pictures, I have 2 x 1GB
cards but I'm sure that won’t be sufficient. Do you have any ideas
what do I need to get? I normally shoot in raw.
Click to expand...
Disneyland (California) or Disneyworld (Florida)? I sure hope it's Disneyworld which actually has enough sights for you to visit for longer period of time. The California Disneyland is quite small and you can see pretty much everything it has to offer in a couple days.

If you have a light-weight tripod, I suggest you bring that too in case you're interested in shooting fireworks. The show in Magic Kingdom and Epcot are quite spectacular, I suggest you go see both.

sulka

--
Photography at http://www.flickr.com/photos/sulka/
 
I don't know the ages of your kids, and your equip list seems very professional, but if I can suggest one thing, it would be to bring along a mid priced p&s digicam. If you're dedicated to shooting with a DSLR, great, you will get some great quality shots for sure, but, for grabing quick, once in a lifetime moments that often pop up without warning, take it from someone who has done it numerous times - having a p&s handy is a real life saver. Then there is always the issue of lugging around all that additional weight and bulk in the hot Orlando sun.

Remember - you're there on vacation, and if you're not careful, and you have all these lenses along (and God forbid a tripod) it can quickly turn into a work like situation. It becomes like you're on a shoot.

Take it from me, kids, and spouses, can loose their patience real quickly, and then - the moment is lost - and the magic is gone, defeating the whole purpose.

Today there are several good models (I prefer canon or fuji) that offer the ability to capture very decent quality video clips as well decent pix.

I myself have a Canon S1 IS - has a long (10X optical) zoom and takes VERY good video clips. And while I admitt that its only 3MP, it has since been updated twice since I purchased it in July of '04. Depending apon the size of the CF card I use - I can (and have) garbbed priceless 10-20 sec clips of my kids that otherwise (unless I had a seperate vid cam along) would have been lost forever.

NowI realize that some purists out there might scoff at this suggestion - and I totally respect their committment to quality and their passion for photography - however, I just throw this out there for your consideration.
As one who's done it both ways, I can speak with some authority.

Enjoy DisneyWorld - its truly a magical place, and enjoy your little ones, trust me, they grow quickly.

Hope this helps,

DB
Canon D20, S30, S1 IS, & Fuji F10
 
Some of the other posters have valuable comments, about the weight of your equipement. At 9am it is light, at 3pm, the same is getting heavy. You could bring it all along and store the tripod, for example in a rented locker. Or perhaps the best option is to bring me along, I have a PSD device and I could help carry your stuff. hahahaha
No matter what, you willl have a wonderful time

Don
 
Definitely I will consider every thing said. I will be going to Disneyland in California, I know that Disneyworld is Bigger and probably better but I just love to see the ORIGINAL, then may get to visit Hollywood which I think is 30 minutes away from there. My kids are 12 and 5 so they will be able carry some of my stuff ; ) I can borrow a 200GB PSD from my brother but I not sure how to do the transfer without a PC or a card reader may be required ....I think I should do a further search in the PSD forum.

Thank you all for the valuable piece of advice

Luis
 
I would suggest getting a 2GB card to add to your collection, at least.

For storage, you can't beat the CompactDrive PD70X. It is very fast and runs on AA rechargables.

As to the weaklings who think it's just too much work to carry a decent camera bag - Give me a break! I carry a Stealth Reporter 400 AW that has everything that I need for just about any shot in the park (DL and WDW MK). It isn't too heavy, I haven't missed a moment with my family, and I have some fantastic shots to prove it!
 
you have an iPod? thats how i empty cards. and if the noise is stale throw on some tunes! =)

--

a butterfly flapping it's wings in one area of the world, causing a tornado to occur in another remote area of the world
 
Luis Alzamora said:
Definitely I will consider every thing said. I will be going to
Disneyland in California, I know that Disneyworld is Bigger and
probably better but I just love to see the ORIGINAL, then may get
to visit Hollywood which I think is 30 minutes away from there.
Click to expand...
It's 30 minutes if you're speeding and there's no traffic. Realistically it's more than an hour's drive to central LA.

California Disneyland has two parks, Magic Kingdom (half the size from Disneyworld one) and California Adventure (one thirds the stuff of MGM Studios). If you're smart with fast passes you can see all the better rides in a couple days so if you're coming for two weeks, I really do suggest you get a LA guidebook and check other sites to see so in case you run out of things to do in the parks, you'll have ideas on where to go.

The original park is cool though, all Magic Kingdoms are different and I do like the California one. I think the Paris Magic Kingdom is the most beautiful one though. :)

sulka

--
Photography at http://www.flickr.com/photos/sulka/
 
I would suggest a Hyperdrive. You can go to their website, just google for it. They come in different sizes and don't require a computer. I plan on picking one up myself as many people have posted saying they are real fast and reliable.
 
Sulka Haro said:
Disneyland (California) or Disneyworld (Florida)? I sure hope it's
Disneyworld which actually has enough sights for you to visit for
longer period of time. The California Disneyland is quite small and
you can see pretty much everything it has to offer in a couple days.
Click to expand...
There is plenty to do in Cali, we actually like DisneyWorld better in terms of Disney experience / size of the park, but the weather in Cali goes a long way when compared to the heat of Orlando in the summer. We spent 10 days in cali, 5 of which were at DisneyLand / California Adventure, and had a blast. We've been to Orlando several times as well.

I use a portalbe hard drive storage device, and a portable device that burns to CD (without a PC). This gives two back up means. I actually had a hard drive crash on an old hard drive device a few years ago.

It may be tempting just to buy more memory, the problem there is you may have plenty, but it's not unlimited, as it would be with a hard drive or CD storage device. We usualy take 700-1000 photos in a week of vacation, I can't imagine going through that many raw photos....

I know you didn't ask, but we've been to Disney parks the last 4 years in a row, so I can't help but run on a bit... I keep my wifes P&S in my pocket, it's small enough to ride a roller coaster and it doesn't bother me. I only haul the DSLR for specific days where I plan to shoot more than ride, and to character meals. We basicaly do the camcorder the same way.

We're going to Orlando at the end of May this year.

Have fun!
Barry
 
Good advice from Sulka, but trust me, Orlando is hot in July.

You can also check out Leggo Land, it's a couple hour drive, so you might drive down there late one day and get a room, then hit the park the next day and come home. Your 5 year old will likely be in his elment in LegoLand, the 12 year old may be a bit passed it's prime age target.

I can't remember the name of the character meals right now, but the Lilo and stitch meal was very good. The princess breakfast in the MK park was a nightmare, I've never seen a rude SnowWhite until that meal, as a matter of fact, it's by long and far the worst character meal I've seen at any park. Also, the meal at the Disney Land Hotel was good in terms of character experience.

Best of luck,
Barry
Sulka Haro said:
Luis Alzamora said:
Definitely I will consider every thing said. I will be going to
Disneyland in California, I know that Disneyworld is Bigger and
probably better but I just love to see the ORIGINAL, then may get
to visit Hollywood which I think is 30 minutes away from there.
Click to expand...
It's 30 minutes if you're speeding and there's no traffic.
Realistically it's more than an hour's drive to central LA.

California Disneyland has two parks, Magic Kingdom (half the size
from Disneyworld one) and California Adventure (one thirds the
stuff of MGM Studios). If you're smart with fast passes you can see
all the better rides in a couple days so if you're coming for two
weeks, I really do suggest you get a LA guidebook and check other
sites to see so in case you run out of things to do in the parks,
you'll have ideas on where to go.

The original park is cool though, all Magic Kingdoms are different
and I do like the California one. I think the Paris Magic Kingdom
is the most beautiful one though. :)

sulka

--
Photography at http://www.flickr.com/photos/sulka/
Click to expand...
 
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned it by now, the only answer is an Epson P2000. I have one and it is just awesome. You can store 40GB of images (more than enough for a busy phoptographic holiday) and the best thing is it takes CF and SD cards directly into the machine. Even better than that you can view the pictures on a brilliant 3.8" LCD.. Probably very important for your situation it weighs very little. I was on holiday recently had my camera with me all the time and would "dump" my daily shoot on the hardrive review the shots and clear the card for the next day!

have a look at Phil's review.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/epsonp2000/

--
http://www.pbase.com/farside
 
You need to have two copies of your image files.

There are a few ways to acheive this, but here's what I do:

Use a pair of 2G CF cards to shoot. I have a number of
1G cards for backup, but tend not to use them. 2 x 2G
is plenty of space for me for one day in Disneyland.

Then, take a laptop. Make sure it has a fast way to read
the images : I use a Cardbus CF adaptor. A USB2
adaptor would work well too. Do not use a $10 PCMCIA
to CF adaptor because it will be horribly slow (so slow
that copying your image files from a day's shooting
will take hours).

Finally, take an external hard drive. I use a WD 80G
unit that is small and takes power from the USB cable
so no need for an extra transformer.

Copy the files onto the external hard drive so you have
two copies for backup.
 
I think my SlingShot will hold more. In it I can store my 20D w/17-85+hood, a 10-22, a 50 1.4, a 580EX, a LightSphereII, and some cleaning supplies and backup batteries/cards. It also has the rain cover (which has saved my gear more than once down there) and I like the fact that when you sling the compartment in front of you the flap opens away from you. It also has sliplock attachments so I can attach my 70-200 F4 and two water bottles if I really wanted to. Very comfortable too given it's a sling bag, and light as a feather compared to my CompuTrekker backpack.
 
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