Packing Camera Gear for Theme Park Vacation

Theme Park Vacation Photography Gear

I’ll be spending a long weekend with my family at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. In this post, I’ll address the photography gear I specifically chose for this trip. Packing photography gear for vacation in general as well as theme parks specifically will be addressed. So if you are planning a trip to Disney World, Universal Studios, etc, this discussion may be particularly helpful, but I’ll address vacation photography planning in general as well. My readers know I’m a Sony shooter, so I’ll address Sony cameras specifically but similar reasoning applies to every brand.

Developing a Basic Photography Strategy for Vacation

The basic rules of photography gear packing can be summarized by these basic rules:

1. Pack what you need for your best and most important images.
2. Pack what you can carry.
3. Don’t overpack.

In terms of packing what you need, consider the anticipated trip and three photographs that you really want to capture. I’ll be in Paris later in the year, I want to capture the Eiffel Tower lit up at night. If I’m at Disney World, I want to capture photos in the dark rides. (My article on dark ride photography here).  When I’m in Times Square, New York, I want to capture street images. On a safari type trip, wildlife is a priority.

So before choosing your gear, choose what you actually want to capture. I suggested anticipating only your three highest priorities for a particular reason: It forces you to prioritize and plan. If you try to plan for every possible potential image, you will end up wasting time with far too much gear. I made that mistake on a cruise years ago: packed a macro lens, telephoto, wide angle, fast prime, standard zoom…. I brought about 6 lenses total, and really only used 2 lenses.

So my 3 priority images for Universal Studios Orlando:

1. Hogwarts Castle at Night
2. “Mardi Gras” parade
3. Environmental family portraits

Choosing Your Gear Based on Your Priorities

If you have only one camera body, then choice of camera is easy. But most of the readers of this blog will have a minimum of two cameras: their phone and their “real camera.” You may also have more than one “real camera” to choose from, or you may be choosing specifically for a trip. Briefly, the camera types and why you may choose them:

• Phone camera: Easiest to carry, easiest to immediately share images. Newest phones have surprisingly decent image quality. On the downside, capabilities still limited in low light, and limited in the ability to shoot ultrawide or telephoto.
• Bridge cameras: Point and shoots with telephoto zoom lenses. Image quality won’t be better than a phone but you can add a long telephoto at a reasonable weight and without changing lenses.
• APS-C ILC/dSLR/Mirrorless: The consumer mass aps-c sensor size and give you portability and the ability to match the perfect lens to the perfect situation. Image quality, when properly used, it a big step over phones. More bulk to carry but generally not huge.
• Full frame ILC/dSLR: The best image quality, especially for wide angle photographs. The best low light capability, especially when matched with a fast lens. The downside is the bulk and weight but that varies widely. Sony mirrorless full frame cameras are no bigger than aps-c dSLRs. But some full frame dSLRs, like the Nikon D850, are huge.
• For full frame: High or medium resolution? Every camera maker now offers a slew of full frame options at around 24 megapixels. But they also offer high resolution models. For Sony, the A7iii and A9 offer 24 megapixels and the A7riii offers 42 megapixels.  The high resolution will give you more capability to crop and also potentially more detailed photographs for landscapes, etc. But if you are taking thousands of vacation photos, you may appreciate the smaller file size from a 24mp sensor like the A7iii and A9.

MY CHOICE OF CAMERA BODY:

I’ve previously taken a Sony A6300 to Universal Studios. For many casual shooters, the new Sony A6400 would likely be a perfect travel companion. (Adorama link / Amazon link).

For this trip, I want to stress the best possible image quality. I debated between a 24mp camera and a 42mp camera. For most of my images, 24mp would be plenty. But there may be times I want to crop extra, as when shooting parade floats. And there may be some highly detailed landscapes I want to capture, such as Hogwarts castle.  I’m going with the Sony A7riii. (As of February 2019, it is on discount and qualifies for trade-in bonus).(Adorama link with extras / Amazon link with extras).

Lens Choices for the Trip

Many vacation shooters like to use a superzoom like the Sony 24-240mm. (review here).   (Adorama link / Amazon link).  This is not my personal preference or recommendation. If you’re an amateur photographer, your vacation will often present you with opportunities for your best photographs. Do you want to use your best lenses and gear to take photographs of your backyard or to take photographs of the Grand Canyon? Furthermore, a lens like the Sony 24-240mm may save you the need to change lenses but it doesn’t do you any favors in weight around your neck, at 780 grams. There is no reason to carry the weight of a telephoto lenses at times you aren’t doing telephoto shooting.

Typically, for most types of travel, I recommend bringing two lenses. (My article on The Two Lens Travel Solution.)  At most, considering your three priority images, you should carry 3-4 lenses. If you are carrying more than 4 lenses, then you’re probably carrying more than you can practically use.

As I mention in the Two-Lens article, I consider the priorities for any trip to be ultrawide angle and a standard prime. Ultrawide lenses bring two important benefits: the ability to capture the vast breathtaking vistas and the ability to capture images you can’t get with phones or most P&S cameras. In shooting a theme park, an ultrawide angle lens allows the photograph to capture the feel of the land of imagination that you are visiting.

My second lens is almost always a standard prime, something between 35mm and 55mm.  That focal length is similar to the field of view you get with your naked eyes. Thus, it gives the photographer to capture what they are seeing without a camera. While a standard zoom line a 24-70 or 24-105mm lens could cover the same ground, it does so with slower aperture and a heavier lens. By using a prime lens to cover the standard focal length, I’m greatly reducing the weight while increasing the image quality. Because of the faster aperture of a prime lens, it can be used easily indoors and in low light situations that always abound on vacations. With an ultrawide lens, a prime lenses, and occasional cropping, I can really cover the same field of view that I would cover with a 24-70mm lens.

MY LENS CHOICES

In this section, we have a bit of “do as I say, not as I do.” My priority images lead me to need three lenses but I’ll be bringing a fourth. I have the opportunity to test out the Sony 24mm F/1.4 GM lens. Thus, this fourth lens will cover some of my wide angle shooting as well as some of my fast prime shooting. My lenses and the reasons:

1. Sony 12-24mm F/4 G (review here): Most shooters are probably better off with the Sony 16-35mm F/4 (reviewed) or 16-35mm F/2.8 GM (reviewed), but I’m a sucker for super super ultrawide.  With a 16-35mm and a bit of cropping, you can easily use it for 16-50mm and can even stretch it longer. The 12-24mm with a bit of cropping can carry me from 12mm to 35mm. For my high priority images, the Sony 12-24mm F/4 G will get me Hogwarts Castle lit up at night. (Sony 12-24mm Adorama link / Amazon link)
2. Sony 24mm F/1.4 GM (Adorama link / Amazon link): I’ll be testing out and reviewing this fairly new lens on this trip. It may give me some handheld low light landscapes, some wide environmental portraits.  If I do any dark ride photography, this lens would be a definite candidate.
3. Sony Zeiss 55mm F/1.8 (reviewed): This lens is my workhorse for walk-around normal view. This will be my go-to for environmental portraits, including photographing my kids with the Transformers, etc. If I do any dark ride photography, it’s also a candidate. (Adorama link / Amazon link)
4. Sony 70-200mm F/4 (reviewed): As noted in my Two-lens article, I don’t always believe a telephoto lens is necessary for travel. On this particular trip, Universal has a faux Mardi Gras parade every night. So a bit of telephoto reach will help me capture some of the parade details.  (Adorama link / Amazon link)

Other Gear and Accessories

Bring what you need but don’t waste valuable packing space on things that you are unlikely to use.

If you’re going to be walking for hours with your camera and gear, then you need a good camera strap and camera bag.  For camera bags, I like shoulder/ messenger bags on vacation. Backpacks carry a lot and distribute the weight nicely, but they can be hard to reach quickly for lens swapping. It can be awkward to sit down if you have a big camera bag on your back. Shoulder bags are easy to carry in a theme park and allow for easy lens swapping.

My current camera bag, the Crumpler 7 Million Dollar bag, has been discontinued but you can find similar bags on Adorama here.  You want something that will hold all your gear well without being unnecessarily big and heavy.  In terms of walking around the theme park, the camera will rarely be in my bag. The bag is for extra lenses and accessories, I’ll be carrying the camera.

If you are using the neck strap that came with your camera, you are making a big mistake. Those straps are only good at forcing you to need neck surgery some day. Get a strap that even distributes the weight and secures the camera at your side in a comfortable shooting position. I am a fan of the Peak Design Straps (Adorama link / Amazon link) and Blackrapid straps (Adorama link/ Amazon link).

I debated whether to bring a flash. I don’t want to violate my own rules and bring gear that I’m not going to be using. But for family environmental shots, there is a chance I’ll need fill flash. I am bringing my smallest flash, my Godox TT350S, a very tiny compact portable flash. (Amazon link here. Adorama sells the same flash under the Flashpoint brand, here).

A critical item of gear is my tripod. I want to shoot nighttime landscapes. (How to shoot night landscapes with a tripod).  I actually own a variety of tripods but for a theme park trip, I’m going with the Joby Gorillapod 3K. The ability to hold 3kg of weight will easily allow it to secure the Sony A7riii and any of my lenses. The real critical aspect is the portability. It’s lightweight and will fit inside my camera bag.  (Adorama link / Amazon link). It’s extremely adaptable for challenging spaces. The only downside is it has no height — You are either shooting ground level of attaching it to something else.

I intend on doing some editing during downtime. So bringing my ipad (not pictured) with the Apple Lightening to SD card reader. (Adorama link / Amazon link). While photos can be transferred wirelessly to the iPad, the SD card reader will allow for much faster transfer or raw files which I can then edit in Lightroom mobile.

Shooting mirrorless, important not to forget a rocket blower. This particular rocketblower is especially portable.

Extra batteries, charger and SD cards….. and I’m good to go. And as shown, everything fits into the bag. Yes, the bag is overstuffed for the flight but it will not be as full when carried on vacation. The camera will often be over my opposite shoulder, not in the bag. Some items such as the charger will remain in the hotels. Won’t necessarily carry the tripod and all the lenses all of the time.

Coming Soon to Enthusiastphotoblog.com

It’s been a slow winter of shooting. Cold weather without anything that really inspired me to shoot. (Haven’t even had a pretty snowfall).  I’ll be making up for it with an extensive period of shooting on vacation. A review of the Sony 24mm F/1.4 GM is a few weeks away. I hope to do a “Guide to Photography at Universal Studios.” Additionally, I’ll do separate posts showing Universal Studios through each of the four lenses I’m bringing.

Thank you for reading. Please accept notifications from this blog or follow me on twitter for updates of all upcoming content.