Which one would you take?

I plan on going to Disney World and taking our boys and their families with us and stay for a week the week before Christmas. I am going to give a list of my lenses and I am curious as to what lenses you think I should take. Seems to me that the Sigma 17-50mm F2.8 should cover most of the shots and the Nikon 70-200VR F2.8 for the rest. Any suggestions, comments, or thoughts on what I should use. I will be using them on my Nikon D7000. I will take them all with me but do not want to carry more than I have to with me, Jeff

I might add that I have looked on the web at a lot of pictures of Disney World and from what I can tell the problem with most of the pictures is that the lens they used was not wide enough in most cases. And the others were to far away. This is why I chose these two lenses. Any thoughts you have will be greatly appreciated.

Nikon 70-200VR 2.8
Nikon 18-200VR
Nikon 70-300VR
Nikon 50mm 1.8
Sigma 10-20 Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 EX DC HSM
Sigma 17-50 Sigma AF 17-50mm f/2.8 EX DC HSM OS

With the gear you have listed and your sensor, here is what I would go for.

Leave the big dogs at home. Bring the 18-200, 10-20, and if you are so inclined the 50mm 1.8. The reasoning is the 10-20 is small and the 50 is tiny and weighs nothing.

I am betting with that arrangement you will either leave the 18-200 or the 10--20 on for the whole trip. If you want to control DOF and do some groovy shots of your kids or other cool stuff use the 50 1.8. That thing is an awesome lens

I am funny with lens choices for trips. A lot of times I only take one. And sometimes that 1 is a prime. It forces me to work around it and be creative with what I have at the time. This coming weekend I am backpacking. So it is either going to be my D300 with a fisheye or 20mm. Or my D3s with my 50 1.8 Any of which will work great. It is just deciding which I feel like working around.

If all the pictures were going to be outside the only lens I would probably take would be the Nikon 18-200VR because it is a fantastic lens and one of my favorites but a lot of the pictures will be inside and I think I will need the faster lens. I also want to be able to take the longer range at night. If someone would come up with a good 18-200 F2.8 with stabilization I think it would be the most sold lens of all time. I will definitely take your suggestion into account. Thanks zerodog for your opinion and reason for your choices, Jeff

Remember the camera you have and the high ISO ability it has. This is the single best trait of your camera. And remember, wide apertures are not always the best or only solution for low light.

Jeff, I don't know how helpful my input will be since I've never been to Disney nor do I use Nikon equipment but having traveled abroad for extended period of times in crowded places while carrying minimal gear, I have found that; 1) focal lengths up to around 100mm is more than enough for most people/scenic/family situations on a crop body, 2) a wide angle is often more useful than a telephoto, and 3) a fast prime wide or standard lens can be a life-saver for dark indoor/ambient light scenes.

I've traveled all around Japan for 4 weeks with just a 24-105mm zoom and 35mm prime and never wanted/needed anything else. Two weeks with a crop body (50D) and two weeks with a full frame (5D).

I'd bet that your 17-50mm will get used 90% of the time. I can't imagine a situation when you would need to use 200mm or 300mm on a crop body at a people-place like that (again, I have not been to Disney so I don't know for sure).

I'm with Loupey on this one.

I too have never been to Disney nor do I know anything about Nikon but when I travel with family, size and weight are 2 things that I consider the most. This spring I went to Washington DC with my wife and my parents. Our first day in the city I took my DSLR and 3 lenses ranging from 12-100mm. I put the 24-70mm f/2.8 on the camera in the morning and it never came off. The rest was all just extra weight to lug around all day. All it did was annoy me to the point where taking photos was not enjoyable.

On days 2 & 3 the DSLR stayed in the car and all I took was the Canon G9. We were outside most of the time so speed wasn't an issue for me for the most part. We did go into one of the Smithsonians that was pretty dark but I was able to find something to brace my camera against, but it wouldn't have helped for stopping motion.

If carrying the weight of an f/2.8 lens around all day isn't going to be a problem for you, I say go with the 17-50mm and leave the rest in the car/hotel. The less you have to deal with, the more you can focus on the fun.

Just bring your 18-200.

Let me say that I have been to WDW at least a dozen times but it has been several years since our last visit. From what I remember and what I can see looking at the Disney pictures on the web is that the wide angle both inside and out will be the most used lens. I don't know if it is lack of having a wide enough wide angle lens or it is just the style the photographers had in taking their pictures but most of the photos I have viewed look like they needed a little wider lens for the shot. I also want to be able to take pictures inside without any problems and that is why one of my choices is the Sigma 17-50 F2.8. This lens in not big and is no problem to carry. On the other hand the Nikon 70-200VR F2.8 I will definitely know I am carrying do to the size and weight. I want to be able to take the pictures I want but do not want to be aggravated by having extra equipment to carry around. Maybe the first day I should just take the Sigma and see if I even have a need for a longer lens. I do have a carrying case for the Nikon that can be hung on the handles of the wheelchair we will be taking for my wife so it may not be a problem either unless I leave it on the chair outside when we go into a ride and it disappears. I appreciate all of you that have given me advice and any more ideas that you have, please feel free to post. The more ideas the better! Thanks again, Jeff

I will say that if I thought the 18-200VR would get the inside shots that I might want it would be the only lens I would take. Maybe the best combination would be it and the Sigma the first day and see what it could do.

I had my 18-200 with me for my trip to wdw, and I may have had some others, but I can't remember. If I went again, I'd be glad I have my s95 now, or even flip for a g12/p7000. I think lugging that 70-200 around would get to be a drag after a while. Also, it's not the kind of place I want to be swapping lenses in either. The camera will take care of the low light stuff just fine.

I will take all my lenses on vacation with me and I can adjust what I carry each day as needed until I get the right combination. It is several months yet before we go but when I get back I will post a list of observations and suggestions from what I have learned and give my thoughts on what I would do the next time, Jeff

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Originally Posted by Grandpaw

I will take all my lenses on vacation with me and I can adjust what I carry each day as needed until I get the right combination...

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Ah, it was a trick question! I thought we were to pick one :)

Seriously, that's a lot of equipment to be traveling with. Good luck and I hope your insurance policy is up to date (as a separate business policy and not just a rider on your homeowner's policy - since you've sold some pieces and I believe you have them listed for sale on your website?).

One of the easiest ways to photograph friends and family in a crowd is to use wide angle focal lengths. Telephotos require a lot of space and you end up having people walking in between you and your people all day long.

Cant even imagine how much all that was!

I am still researching photos of Walt Disney world and have found a source that has a lot of pictures and also includes thr EXIF data. After looking my guess would be that about 90% were within the ranges of my Sigma 17-50 F2.8 with the remaining shots split between about 5% with an even wider lens and about 5% with a telephoto. Below is where you can find these pictures if you are interested in seeing them. I am still researching this so any suggestions or tips you have to offer please post them, Jeff

http://www.pbase.com/ilene/wdw

I'm a beginner in the world of photography, can you suggest a best camera for beginners

Grandpaw - take your 50mm as well! Not only is it faster, its smaller and lighter. You may want a lighter load periodically.

Problem_SD_Card, the camera that sounds the best for your needs would be the hasselblad H4D - link link

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Originally Posted by Anbesol

Grandpaw - take your 50mm as well! Not only is it faster, its smaller and lighter. You may want a lighter load periodically.

Problem_SD_Card, the camera that sounds the best for your needs would be the hasselblad H4D - link link

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I will be taking all of my lenses with me but only plan on carrying one or two with me each day. I have looked at many pictures on several websites and the focal length that is used about 90 to 95% of the time seems to be from about 18mm to about 39mm so I think the 50mm will be too long, but it will be avaikable if I see the need. I think the Sigma 17-50 F2.8 OS lens combined with my D7000 ISO capability is probably going to be the winning combination on most of my shots. I always welcome and value yours and everyone Else's input so feel free to give me ideas any time on anything I post. Thanks, Jeff