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Going on vacation need some camera advise

maflynn

maflynn

macrumors Haswell
Original poster
May 3, 2009
74,561
44,851
I'll be heading to disneyworld in a few weeks with the family. In times past I'd not think twice about taking my Nikon D70s, but this year I'm kind of second guessing that.

For one thing, unlike prior years, my girls are now of an age that they'll not need or use a carriage, so they'll be walking around. Why does this matter? Well, I'd hang my camera and other stuff I take on the stroller. This time no stroller means everything I take I must lug and it gets hot in florida.

Second reason is that while it takes great shots I gets in the way often enough. on rides, or walking around.

So I'm thinking of taking a point and shoot camera. I have a panasonic DMTZ-5 which takes decent photos. What's the advice of my fellow MR inmates :)

I'm also open to a new point and shoot camera if it shoots in RAW or approaches the performance of a DSLR (speed and image quality)

Any advise and/or suggestions?

by the way if I take my D70s, I'll be using the 18-70mm kit lens which makes life a little easier. I have my everyday 28-70mm lens but that baby is a tank, and is heavy. The kit lens reduces the weight and bulk.
 
I find a p&s is invaluable in a theme park with kids. You really don't have time to mess with settings and the last thing you want to do is worry about your camera. I have a zs3 (tz-7?) and find the long zoom and wide angle perfect for all kinds of shots. The one-touch video button helps too because there is often some action you want to catch. Versatility is key for me in that kind of situation.
 
My only concern is speed. I'm used to turning on the camera and taking a shot. With P&S you have the latency, which drove me to the DSLRs in the first place.

I'll have to take a look at TZ-7, the wide angle may be enough of a justification to buy a new one
 
I'd take a P&S if you don't have a good camera on your phone. We went to Disney World in September and used my iPhone 4 FAR more than even our Canon P&S because I could snap photos and video and immediately upload them to Facebook and email them to family that wasn't with us. They loved getting shots from us on the go and I liked not having to do that stuff later when I was exhausted.

Also, I highly recommend taking at least one backpack to put sunscreen, water and snacks in. Disney World does allow food to be taken in now so I also recommend taking lunch some days as eating there every day is expensive.

Have fun!
 
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QuarterSwede said:
Also, I highly recommend taking at least one backpack to put sunscreen, water and snacks in. Disney World does allow food to be taken in now so I also recommend taking lunch some days as eating there every day is expensive.

Have fun!
Click to expand...
We have a back pack already set up for the trip, the more people post here the more I see P&S is the way to go. Now the question is, whether the TMz-5 is good or should I "upgrade" hmmm, decision, decisions.
 
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After doing a little research, I'm either going to keep my P&S or maybe just maybe upgrade to the Nikon P7000. It gives me RAW capability, decent performance and the size is just a hair larger then typical P&S cameras.

The price is about 450 and so now I'm grappling with the fact will I use it after my vacation. if that is the case, then I can justify the 450, if I go back to my D70s then its a waste of money. At some point I was going to start saving up for a successor to my D70s as that's getting a little long in the tooth. Again, if I drop 450 on a new camera, it makes less sense to get a new DSLR. So many factors so many options arrrrggghhhh :)

I have a few weeks, I'll head to my local camera shop play with the P7000, and see how it does. I don't need to rush into this and make a decision tonight. While my vacation is looming, there's no reason to jump the gun
 
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