Disney Parks Photographers- Opinions, Please!

[Newsies]

Hey there, photography board

My birthday is coming up and I'm planning on asking my parents for a DSLR.

Back in 2015, my sister received a Canon EOS Rebel T5. She allowed me to take it with me during my College Program (Fall 2016), I had never worked with a camera before but once I learned how to use it, I was pretty happy with it. Last summer, I was able to pry it from her hands once again for our WDW Vacation and once again, I was mostly happy with it. She rarely uses this camera but refuses to part ways with it, so I'm inclined to ask for a different camera just so that there's some variety in between the two of us.

My friend has Canon T6i that she's smitten with, and I love her photos, but I'm not opposed to branching out to Nikon (I actually have an eye on the Nikon D3300, so I'd love to see some photos from any owners). I'd love some opinions from people who frequently photograph the Parks, if you have unedited photos you can drop below I'd be really appreciative!

TIA

 

[havoc315]

The photos from Canon, Nikon, Sony, Panasonic, Olympus, Leica, Fuji.... will all basically look the same. The camera body makes very little difference in terms of side by side web-sized image comparisons.
Image quality is much much more affected by your lens choices.

In terms of camera body, their image on image quality is:
- Resolution. A Nikon D850 or Sony A7riii will have much more resolution than a Canon Rebel or Nikon D3300, etc. But that won't affect you. In your presumed budget, all cameras have pretty much the same resolution.
- I presume you're really just looking at aps-c sensor cameras. In that range, they all give about the same noise performance. If you look at low light photos taken with the cameras under a microscope, you may find that some of he bodies give slightly better noise performance than others.
-It will make almost no difference if you are shooting JPEG, but if you are shooting RAW and processing yourself, you may see slight differences in dynamic range -- the ability to lift shadows and recover highlights. No big differences, but if you have a trained eye, you will see the differences.
-If you are shooting JPEGs, the cameras may handle certain colors slightly differently, especially in indoor artificial light. In other words, different cameras may essentially apply slightly different levels of warmth (or yellow) to the image and skin tones. The differences will usually be very minor, but they are appreciable if you know what you're looking for.

That's about it in terms of image quality differences for most people.
Comparing camera brands and bodies within the same price range, the bigger differences will be in the features, that will determine the comfort and ease with which you shoot.
Features like:
- How advanced is the autofocus system
- What are the video options, 4k? 60 frames per second 120?
- Live view autofocus.
- Size of the viewfinder and whether it is a 100% viewfinder or only shows 95% of the image
- Burst rate -- 5 frames per second? 10 frames per second?
- The quality and resolution of the LCD (and of the viewfinder if you get EVF)
- Size of the camera, whether you want something petite and light or something built like a tank that provides a large grip
etc etc

In terms of whether your images will be sharp.. whether you want nicely blurred backgrounds.... those types of issues come down to photographer technique and lenses.

 

[CarrieR]

I have a D3300... I’ve been pretty happy with it as an entry level DSLR. My one major gripe is almost certainly due to an isolated quirk (trying to use old lenses that won’t meter.)

I’m on my phone (not computer) now but I’d be happy to post a few pics - if I don’t come back by this time tomorrow, tag or PM me to remind me.

 

[DizneyMommy]

You should try them out in your hand and explore the features to see what is important to you, as they will all feel different.

Personally I shot Canon for about 20 years, then 2 years ago I was looking at upgrading my gear and Nikon just had a camera that met my needs better. It had more features I wanted and felt smaller/lighter in my small hands. I tried Sony and wasn’t happy with it, it just didn’t feel as intuitive and I wasn’t sold on mirrorless.

 

[havoc315]

You should try them out in your hand and explore the features to see what is important to you, as they will all feel different.

Personally I shot Canon for about 20 years, then 2 years ago I was looking at upgrading my gear and Nikon just had a camera that met my needs better. It had more features I wanted and felt smaller/lighter in my small hands. I tried Sony and wasn’t happy with it, it just didn’t feel as intuitive and I wasn’t sold on mirrorless.

Within 2-3 years... most if not all aps-c consumer cameras will be mirrorless. We are going to start to see the transition this year.

 

[DizneyMommy]

Within 2-3 years... most if not all aps-c consumer cameras will be mirrorless. We are going to start to see the transition this year.

Well then it’s a good thing that I don’t shoot with consumer level gear ;-) And no, I don’t believe it will happen nearly that fast. DSLR’s aren’t going anywhere.

 

[Newsies]

Thank you all so much for your responses, I really appreciate it!

 

[havoc315]

Well then it’s a good thing that I don’t shoot with consumer level gear ;-) And no, I don’t believe it will happen nearly that fast. DSLR’s aren’t going anywhere.

We'll see.... It's been almost a year since Nikon did an aps-c dSLR, and a year and a half since they did a consumer/entry level aps-c dSLR. (In fact, their 2016 upgrades didn't even do much more than add a bluetooth image sharing function )-- Canon is the only camera maker currently active in regards to lower end dSLRs.

The problems for the market:
- In a shrinking market, you can only develop, produce and market so many different models.
-dSLR sales are shrinking FAST, while mirrorless sales are steadily climbing.
- Once you get past the initial development costs, mirrorless are cheaper to produce -- and therefore potentially cheaper for consumers and/or more profitable for the camera makers.
- Especially in regards to what you can offer an entry consumer at low cost, you can offer them more with a mirrorless camera and the capabilities of mirrorless cameras are starting to surpass dSLRs.

So up to now, there has been a very slow and gradual shift. But as the market as contracted further, as mirrorless has advanced, I expect we get to a point where "the damn bursts" and I suspect to see that point within the next 12 months. Then 1-2 years after that, they start trimming out the models that aren't selling as well or less profitable.

Pure dSLRs for higher level shooters are harder to predict and they will likely stick around longer. But you may see more "hybrid" type models in the future -- the Canon 5D4 and 6D2 really already are semi-hybrid. Might be another few years before the mirror disappears completely. When we get a global shutter, the mirror probably disappears for good.. just don't know how far away that global shutter technology is.

 

[CarrieR]

Okay - some photos from my D3300. As requested, these are all unedited, so please excuse poor white balance, poor composition, etc. Probably the most important thing to remember is that I am definitely an amateur photographer, so definitely look at these through the lens of the camera's capability, not the photographer's - LOL! I uploaded ten into a photo album on Flickr - I think I set it to public, but let me know if it doesn't work. https://www.flickr.com/gp/163515825@N05/7X8927

I tried to grab photos from a few different environments. The two "nature" photos were taken with an old lens on which I have to manually focus and expose, including manually meter, since it doesn't pair with the body. The rest of them were taken with the kit lens. I included two "dark" photos; one with high ISO (from inside NRJ) and one with low ISO.

If there's any condition you'd like to see or like to see more of, let me know - I have a few thousand photos and am happy to search through them if it's helpful.

Here's a couple pics... rest are in the album.

DSC_0378 by Carrie R, on Flickr

DSC_0047 by Carrie R, on Flickr

DSC_0108 by Carrie R, on Flickr

 

[Newsies]

Okay - some photos from my D3300. As requested, these are all unedited, so please excuse poor white balance, poor composition, etc. Probably the most important thing to remember is that I am definitely an amateur photographer, so definitely look at these through the lens of the camera's capability, not the photographer's - LOL! I uploaded ten into a photo album on Flickr - I think I set it to public, but let me know if it doesn't work. https://www.flickr.com/gp/163515825@N05/7X8927

I tried to grab photos from a few different environments. The two "nature" photos were taken with an old lens on which I have to manually focus and expose, including manually meter, since it doesn't pair with the body. The rest of them were taken with the kit lens. I included two "dark" photos; one with high ISO (from inside NRJ) and one with low ISO.

If there's any condition you'd like to see or like to see more of, let me know - I have a few thousand photos and am happy to search through them if it's helpful.

Here's a couple pics... rest are in the album.

DSC_0378 by Carrie R, on Flickr

DSC_0047 by Carrie R, on Flickr

DSC_0108 by Carrie R, on Flickr

Okay, YOU are *AWESOME!* This is EXACTLY what I wanted to see! Thank you thank you thank you THANK YOU! I really appreciate this!

 

[CarrieR]

Oh good! I’m glad it’s useful. You’re welcome!

 

[mom2rtk]

I don't blame your sister for wanting to part ways with her camera. Even if someone doesn't use their DSLR often, it's understandable to want it available on special occasions.

If either of you think you'll ever add different lenses (one of the main advantages of having a DSLR) then it might be nice to have a Canon yourself so you can swap back and forth and share.

If you don't intend to add lenses, then just buy the one that has the best feel in your hands.

 

[manning]

The most important part is you. Composition composition composition. Familiarize with the rule of thirds.

https://digital-photography-school.com/rule-of-thirds/

 

[bob100]

Well then it’s a good thing that I don’t shoot with consumer level gear ;-) And no, I don’t believe it will happen nearly that fast. DSLR’s aren’t going anywhere.

good thing you're not shooting with "consumer level gear" !
www.flickr.com/photos/mmirrorless