Disneyland is a man-made theme park in Anaheim, CA. Not the type of destination where you should spend much time pondering the one lens question. For fun, I brought along the 28-300mm and took some photos just to see how the camera and lens would perform.
In good light, the 28-300mm had no problems. For that matter, an iPhone could do the job for outside snapshots. Indoors, it’s all about trade-offs. The first task is finding the slowest acceptable shutter speed. The French can-can girls look acceptable when cropped and reduced. At 100%, the noise is quite noticeable.
Nikon D800, AF-S Nikkor 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR, ISO 6400, 65mm, f/4.8, 1/50s
It’s a Small World-version of Cinderella.
Nikon D800, AF-S Nikkor 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR, ISO 6400, 28mm, f/3.5, 1/50s
Disney waterfall in Toon Town. Would have been more fun with an ND filter and tripod. I did try to slow down the shutter speed as much as possible.
Nikon D800, AF-S Nikkor 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR, ISO 100, 32mm, f/25, 1/5s
Construction crane towering above Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, which was closed.
Nikon D800, AF-S Nikkor 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR, ISO 100, 45mm, f/5.6, 1/640s
During each ride, there’s a series of initial adjustments. I wanted the shutter fast enough to stop movement. The boat was moving. The characters were moving. However, I didn’t want the shutter to be so fast that the resulting photo would end up completely underexposed. Pirates of the Caribbean was particularly challenging because the entire ride was dimly lit. I started the shutter speed at 1/100s, increased it to 1/50s, and again to 1/25s.
Nikon D800, AF-S Nikkor 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR, ISO 6400, 28mm, f/3.5, 1/25s
While waiting in line for the Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters ride, I saw the parade pass by.
Nikon D800, AF-S Nikkor 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR, ISO 180, 300mm, f/5.6, 1/500s
At Innoventions, I sat through the Honda ASIMO robot presentation while waiting for my Autopia FASTPASS time to arrive. I was impressed by the mobility of ASIMO. However, I was underwhelmed when the host was video conferencing with his family. Facetime is already here. Video conferencing is the technology of today, not tomorrow. And, using Facetime certainly doesn’t trigger a ridiculous video and audio special effect. I guess the swirling effect was to make video conferencing appear futuristic.
Nikon D800, AF-S Nikkor 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR, ISO 5600, 116mm, f/5.6, 1/500s
Sleeping Beauty’s Castle during that wonderful moment after the lights are turned on but before the sky has gone dark.
Nikon D800, AF-S Nikkor 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR, ISO 6400, 105mm, f/5.6, 1/125s
Next time, I’ll bring a prime lens for fun.