Lens Selection Help

[FTb-n]

With four kids, I've had plenty of theme park experience to work out the best kit. For my full frame bodies the 35 f/2 IS and 70-200/2.8 II are a great combo. The prime with IS works great in dark rides and 35mm is nice for group or environmental shots. The 70-200 gets the most use with the kids on rides as you need some reach. Ocasionally, I'll substitute a 100mm macro or 135L for the zoom when I want to go lighter.

With your T4i, my suggestion would be to go with your 55-250 and pick up one of the new EF-S 24mm pancakes. Similar to 35mm on full frame and is really small and light. Not sure if f/2.8 is quite fast enough for the dark rides however. The 50 STM is a great little lens and would also be a nice option for something faster.

+1
Technically, 35 f2.0 IS + 70-200 f2.8 IS II would be a great combo for FF. For crop, I echo the suggestion of the 55-250 plus an EF-S 24 pancake. Keep it simple and light.

My last visit to Disney World, was before I ventured into the professional bodies and L lenses. My "good" camera was an XT with a 17-85 and a 70-300. But, I wanted to travel light, so I left these home and brought a Powershot SX20. It did a surprisingly good job at Disney and on the beach, plus shooting videos of Disney demos.

I admit that I have since become spoiled with faster lenses and FF bodies and it would be difficult to leave the 5D3 home if I made the same trip again. Still, for me, photographing Disney is more about recording memories than hunting for wall hanging photo-ops. If I were to go back, I would give some thought to the newer mega-zoom Powershots. But, I'd likely take my 60D and the older 18-135 IS plus an EF-S 24. The one shot I couldn't get with the SX20 was of my kids on rides. The shutter delay was too much of an issue.

 

[Jaysheldon]

What the OP hasn't said is he is unsatisfied with the current focal lengths/aperatures he has with his current lenses. Nor has he mentioned how patient/impatient his family is when they're together and he switches lenses. My suggestion is he take only the 15-55. LIke one of the posters said, when you go do Disney you want to remember the experience. If he really wants to spend, I'd suggest a new (or used) EF 24 mm 2.8. That gives a somewhat wide angle (missing in the 40) plus a wide aperture.
Jay in Toronto

 

[cpcw06]

Thanks for all of the replies everyone! I don't think I have to worry about my child running around too much as she will only be 9 months old at the time we go lol, but I do need to be ready for the day she finds her legs! I want to keep things simple and light, so I will take my zoom and 1 other lens (2 maybe if I include the pancake). When I look through my pictures I have taken on past trips to Disney World, I seem to tend towards both the wide end and a fair bit zoomed in (courtesy of the Animal Kingdom). The EF-S 24 is looking very attractive as is the 16-35. I am just having a hard time swallowing the cost of the 15-85 ($800) or 17-55 ($880) vs the 24-70 ($850) or 16-35 ($1050). Just something about that red ring that makes me feel it is money well spent.

I think I will leave off on any telephoto lens because I am satisfied with my 55-250 for the moment... Anyone think it is worth the upgrade from my older 55-250 IS II to the new 55-250 IS STM?

 

[privatebydesign]

The 16-35 f4IS is $989 http://www.canonpricewatch.com/product/05439/Canon-EF-16-35mm-f4L-IS-USM-price.html and a very very good lens. I used to use a 16-35 f2.8 on the 1.3 crop cameras so don't see why the same focal lengths wouldn't work on the 1.6 crop, but f4 is slow even on a ff for people shots, on a crop where the iso performance isn't as goos I'd be more concerned.

But as I said earlier, I'd happily do the trip with just the 24 pancake.

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

I might be the only one who sees little use for a wide angle lens at Disneyland. If I wanted to catch my kids on a ride, or coming down the log chute, I needed telephoto. With a wide lens, I get all the people I don't want into a photo. For a crop. I'd take a 18-135mm stm or something similar. You will need wider than 24mm, and certainly much longer. I've tried my 24-105 as a walk around, and it did not go wide enough. I'd take a fast 24 0r 35 mm lens (f/1.8 or 1.4) for use in the low light areas.

A point and shoot like my G1X is a good compromise with a fast wide range zoom, and large sensor. Even then, wider and longer and faster would sometimes be nice.

My kids have grown up, the last time I was at Disneyland, I had my Olympus superzoom because Digital ddid not exist. My daughter took my first digital to Disneyland in early 1998. It suffered greatly from any lowish light and suffered from backlighting and blowing out highlights.

My Fujifilm MX-700 in January 1998. 1.1 glorious MP. The camera was a ground breaker for Digital Photography. It had a fixed 35mm equivalent sensor. It also used Smart Media, the worst possible memory. I had a floppy drive adapter to get images into my computer, put the adapter with memory card in it into a 3.5 floppy drive to transfer images.

 

[Zv]

Thanks for all of the replies everyone! I don't think I have to worry about my child running around too much as she will only be 9 months old at the time we go lol, but I do need to be ready for the day she finds her legs! I want to keep things simple and light, so I will take my zoom and 1 other lens (2 maybe if I include the pancake). When I look through my pictures I have taken on past trips to Disney World, I seem to tend towards both the wide end and a fair bit zoomed in (courtesy of the Animal Kingdom). The EF-S 24 is looking very attractive as is the 16-35. I am just having a hard time swallowing the cost of the 15-85 ($800) or 17-55 ($880) vs the 24-70 ($850) or 16-35 ($1050). Just something about that red ring that makes me feel it is money well spent.

I think I will leave off on any telephoto lens because I am satisfied with my 55-250 for the moment... Anyone think it is worth the upgrade from my older 55-250 IS II to the new 55-250 IS STM?

16-35 f/4L IS is a wonderful and amazing FF wide angle zoom lens which I absolutely love - I feel it's talents would be somewhat wasted on a crop body. It would make me a little sad inside knowing that it was being used as a general purpose lens!

16mm on FF ... mmmmmm nice. 16mm on crop ... meh. Might as well use the kit lens, which is faster at the wide end (f/3.5 vs f/4).

I really think 17-55 or 15-85 is a better choice. 18-135 STM is also a good choice. You can get these lenses cheap now if you shop around. Or just rent it for the trip? Must admit the EF-s lenses don't hold their value as much as the L's. Selling them is painful.

 

[bholliman]

Thanks for all of the replies everyone! I don't think I have to worry about my child running around too much as she will only be 9 months old at the time we go lol, but I do need to be ready for the day she finds her legs!

Age of the kids is a big factor on kit/lens selection. When your daughter is old enough to ride by herself, your 55-250 will really be useful for the kiddie rides as you have plenty of access and the kids are not that far away, but anything under 100mm will be too short.

We have a 3 and 5 year old now and I use my 70-200 a ton for shots on kiddie rides. When they graduate to the bigger rides, getting a good ride shot is much more challenging as you are much further away and the rides are generally moving really fast.

I think I will leave off on any telephoto lens because I am satisfied with my 55-250 for the moment... Anyone think it is worth the upgrade from my older 55-250 IS II to the new 55-250 IS STM?

The STM does look somewhat sharper, but I only have experience with the II. These are really good lenses for the money.

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/ISO-12233-Sample-Crops.aspx?Lens=856&Camera=736&Sample=0&FLI=3&API=1&LensComp=777&CameraComp=736&SampleComp=0&FLIComp=3&APIComp=1

I might be the only one who sees little use for a wide angle lens at Disneyland. If I wanted to catch my kids on a ride, or coming down the log chute, I needed telephoto. With a wide lens, I get all the people I don't want into a photo.

+1 Much of the advice here is based around standard to wide zoom lenses. These certainly have their place, but I leave mine at home when going to a theme park. Most of the action is not going to be up close!

 

[Luds34]

Everyone's opinion and needs differs.

The EF-S 15-85mm is the best walk-around lens for crop bodies in my opinion. The extra 2mm at the wide end and the extra 30mm at the long end are significant. For a family vacation, you don't want to spend a lot of time changing lenses. With the 15-85mm, you can shoot 90% of the trip without ever changing lenses. When you need to go longer, you can use the 55-250, but you won't need it often.

+1

That extra on the wide end can't be ignored, giving a 24mm FF equiv focal length. A normal zoom like this will be the most versatile and prevent you from having to mess with changing lenses!
(something that doesn't always go so well being out and about with the fam)

 

[Luds34]

Whilst the 40 is a great lens and I 100% agree on KISS, as a Disney lens on a crop camera it just won't cut it, wide is the answer.

I find my EOS-M and 22 are pretty much perfect for Disney, small and light but great IQ and wide enough, bearing that in mind I recommend the 24mm pancake at $149 and be done with it.

This is the route I'd go, a fast/wide prime and be done with it. The focus is going to be on your kids/family, and a wider lens will show the environment. The only issue, as others have already stated, wide primes and EF-S don't really exist. The 24mm pancake is an awesome little lens. The only question is if you consider f/2.8 fast enough.

You did mention about wanting to go full frame and not being locked into a EF-S lens. While I'd find it a bit long for this trip, the 35mm f/2 IS would be an excellent lens to pick up.

 

[LovePhotography]

With a t4i, my advice is, stick with what you've got.
1. Saves thousands of dollars.
2. You won't cry as long if you drop it, somebody with a stroller crashes into you, or your camera gets whipped around on the rollercoaster.
3. The kind of pictures one takes 90% of the time at Disney can be taken by any decent camera. The pictures in the dark on a roller coaster going 40 mph shaking wildly back and forth can't be captured by any pro-sumer camera currently on the market.
4. Save the money for your kids college fund, or for when the dollar collapses. If you want a camera for small birds in flight 500 yards away, that's one thing. Pictures of a kid posing with Goofy are easy. My last trip with the kids, I took two bodies and 4 lenses, and took most of my shots with my iPhone 6s. And they turned out fine. Go figure. Would I have liked 50MB images? Sure. Did it matter that they weren't? Not to my kids. And, DxO fixed them up amazingly well. )
Just my $0.02. Pax.

 

[Treetownie]

Have any theme park veterans found that carrying an external speedlite (along with a dslr + mid-range zoom) is *more* useful than carrying fast prime(s), because it can compensate for the slower zoom in low light without sacrificing the versatile zoom range, plus provide some decent shadow-fill in the Florida sun? And if so, would you recommend also toting an ETTL cord for even more flexibility? Unfortunately my 6D does not have a built-in pop-up flash like the Rebels etc previously mentioned in this thread.

 

[privatebydesign]

Have any theme park veterans found that carrying an external speedlite (along with a dslr + mid-range zoom) is *more* useful than carrying fast prime(s), because it can compensate for the slower zoom in low light without sacrificing the versatile zoom range, plus provide some decent shadow-fill in the Florida sun? And if so, would you also recommend also toting an ETTL cord for even more flexibility? Unfortunately my 6D does not have a built-in pop-up flash like the Rebels etc previously mentioned in this thread.

I'd think a 430 series flash would make a lot of sense, I wouldn't bother with the cord though as there are plenty of buildings etc to bounce off of should you have the time and inclination to get that into it.

 

[bholliman]

I think I will leave off on any telephoto lens because I am satisfied with my 55-250 for the moment... Anyone think it is worth the upgrade from my older 55-250 IS II to the new 55-250 IS STM?

If you decide to switch to the 55-250 STM its on sale now at the Canon Refurb store for $99!

http://www.canonpricewatch.com/blog/2016/01/ef-s-55-250mm-f4-5-6-is-stm-refurb-99-at-canon-direct-store/

 

[cpcw06]

If you decide to switch to the 55-250 STM its on sale now at the Canon Refurb store for $99!

http://www.canonpricewatch.com/blog/2016/01/ef-s-55-250mm-f4-5-6-is-stm-refurb-99-at-canon-direct-store/

Thanks for pointing that out! Just placed an order for the 55-250 STM for $99 and the 50mm f/1.8 STM refurb was also on sale for $90, so I ordered that as well. I will trade in my old 55-250 to B&H for $60, so not too bad of a deal at all. Now just need to decide what to do on the wide end.

 

[bholliman]

If you decide to switch to the 55-250 STM its on sale now at the Canon Refurb store for $99!

http://www.canonpricewatch.com/blog/2016/01/ef-s-55-250mm-f4-5-6-is-stm-refurb-99-at-canon-direct-store/

Thanks for pointing that out! Just placed an order for the 55-250 STM for $99 and the 50mm f/1.8 STM refurb was also on sale for $90, so I ordered that as well. I will trade in my old 55-250 to B&H for $60, so not too bad of a deal at all. Now just need to decide what to do on the wide end.

Congrats, that's some pretty sweet glass for $180! My neighbor ordered a 55-250 STM for use on his T5i (700D)yesterday as well.

 

[Hjalmarg1]

The 16-35/4L IS is a fast and extremely sharp lens. It works well and it's wider than your 18-55mm lens while gives you a great all-around range in crop sensors. The 24-70/4L IS is also great but you'll miss the wide end.
The 50 STM is a no-brainer. Cheap and pretty darn good optically. Makes a nice portrait lens on crop cameras but, it will make your 40mm pancake redundant.
Above all, all these lenses are FF compatible so they are smart purchase in case you want to go FF in future

 

[bluemoon]

Arghhh! We were at Disney recently with a 3 year old and a vast majority of the shots were indoors with the characters. All at 1/10 th or 1/15th of a second at f4 on a 24-105. Carrying a 24-105 and a 6D was a bad decision. It was too big and bulky to be comfortable on the go and too slow for the indoor pictures. I ended up leaving it in the hotel for the most part and took pictures with the iPhone.
At that young age your kid will not be on a ride that will require a telephoto lens. If going again, I would take the 35IS with a FF body. F2.8 will be too slow unless you use the flash and kill the ambient lighting provided by Disney.
There are some cool shots to be had after dark and are the only time when a good sensor made a difference. The rest could have been taken by the iPhone.

Pierre

 

[gregorywood]

Everyone's opinion and needs differs.

The EF-S 15-85mm is the best walk-around lens for crop bodies in my opinion. The extra 2mm at the wide end and the extra 30mm at the long end are significant. For a family vacation, you don't want to spend a lot of time changing lenses. With the 15-85mm, you can shoot 90% of the trip without ever changing lenses. When you need to go longer, you can use the 55-250, but you won't need it often.

I can attest to this as well. When I only had an APS-C format body, my kit evolved from the kit lens (18-55) to the 18-135, and to the 15-85. The 15-85 is so versatile - essentially the crop version of the 24-105, I often went out with that lens only.

I know the OP said two lenses, but my kit was the EF-S 15-85, EF 70-200 f/4 and the nifty 50 f/1.8. It was darn near perfect for anything I needed to shoot. In the OP case, I would suggest the EF-S 24mm f/2.8 instead of the 50 to get a wider angle.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[bholliman]

At that young age your kid will not be on a ride that will require a telephoto lens.

I suppose everybody's usage is different, but I take more shots with my telephoto lenses (70-200 or 135/2 on FF) than I do with a normal lens for our pre-school kids, since the kiddie rides are very accessible, but the children are far enough away that you need some reach. I also like the ability to blur out busy backgrounds with wide apertures at longer focal lengths.

I use the longer lenses less with our older kids since the big rides are too distant and inaccessible for good pictures most of the time anyway.

Fast lenses in the wide to normal range are very useful for low light areas. I seldom bother to take a flash since they often are not allowed and bounce opportunities limited.