Prepping DSLR for cast members

dtk07

Mouseketeer
Joined
Feb 6, 2017
Our upcoming trip will be the first with our new Nikkon dslr.

What is the best way to setup our dslr before handing it off to a cast member taking a family photo? Should I just flip it to automatic with live view on? Does it make a difference when handing it to a photopass photographer?
 
No need to go to automatic. Set what you want set. Then just show the CM which button to push. And remind them you have to look through the viewfinder.
 
No need to go to automatic. Set what you want set. Then just show the CM which button to push. And remind them you have to look through the viewfinder.
One exception: if you're a back button focus user (AF-ON button), then disable that, and make sure the AF mode is set to one of the automatic ones. And, really, if you're a serious DSLR user with practice, you have that enabled all the darn time and usually smaller selection areas as well.

To be honest, I've started carrying a small P&S with me with good quality and very fast flash sync, and handed it over in P mode with the flash on when we're outdoors and off when we're indoors. My usual one is a Nikon P330 because of its somewhat larger sensor and fast lens. The quality isn't as good, but the smaller sensor is much more forgiving of an AF miss, and you don't have to worry about them getting the AF points on people, which is a problem with every DSLR with the exception of the D500, and still an issue (though less so) with the D7100/D7200/D7500/7D/7D Mk II. I've found my hit rate for good photos when giving my camera to other people to have gone from about 50% to nearly 100%.
 
One exception: if you're a back button focus user (AF-ON button), then disable that, and make sure the AF mode is set to one of the automatic ones. And, really, if you're a serious DSLR user with practice, you have that enabled all the darn time and usually smaller selection areas as well.

To be honest, I've started carrying a small P&S with me with good quality and very fast flash sync, and handed it over in P mode with the flash on when we're outdoors and off when we're indoors. My usual one is a Nikon P330 because of its somewhat larger sensor and fast lens. The quality isn't as good, but the smaller sensor is much more forgiving of an AF miss, and you don't have to worry about them getting the AF points on people, which is a problem with every DSLR with the exception of the D500, and still an issue (though less so) with the D7100/D7200/D7500/7D/7D Mk II. I've found my hit rate for good photos when giving my camera to other people to have gone from about 50% to nearly 100%.
Yes! I forgot about the back button focus. I have just recently started using that and forgot how to quickly undo it last time I handed it off to someone. Oops! I need to get better at that before we go back.
 


Yes! I forgot about the back button focus. I have just recently started using that and forgot how to quickly undo it last time I handed it off to someone. Oops! I need to get better at that before we go back.
Settings Banks are your friend, but that's only on the Nikon pro bodies (not sure about Canon) since they can store settings like that. :)
 
I just usually show the CM how to operate the backbutton focus and leave it on P mode as mine's a professional body, and I always have the AF mode set to auto and matrix, though I've only ever got a CM to take a photo with my camera once in the Parks, though I just usually give them my phone in the absence of a PhotoPass CM.

The only other time I had a CM use my camera was when I had my birthday celebration in a Disney Store, and I had a bit of a hard time trying to simplify the instructions, since my D800 is one heck of a beast (I also had the Sigma EX 28-70mm f/2.8 DF attached, even though I could have used the nifty fifty for simplicity's sake), though I did still get great results of me by the big screen, and yes, it was one of those Imagination Park Disney Stores.
 


I just usually show the CM how to operate the backbutton focus and leave it on P mode as mine's a professional body, and I always have the AF mode set to auto and matrix, though I've only ever got a CM to take a photo with my camera once in the Parks, though I just usually give them my phone in the absence of a PhotoPass CM.

The only other time I had a CM use my camera was when I had my birthday celebration in a Disney Store, and I had a bit of a hard time trying to simplify the instructions, since my D800 is one heck of a beast (I also had the Sigma EX 28-70mm f/2.8 DF attached, even though I could have used the nifty fifty for simplicity's sake), though I did still get great results of me by the big screen, and yes, it was one of those Imagination Park Disney Stores.
Try having a settings bank set for full auto P/AutoISO/no back button AF. Keeps things easy for them. :)
 
The answer here could also depend on whether you're handing the gear to a "general" CM or to a PhotoPass photographer. And it can even depend on the actual abilities of the PhotoPass photographer...

In January of this year (2019), I stayed at AKL and visited all of the parks over five days. I had my D750 with me and leveraged the PhotoPass photographers on a number of occasions. Each time, I typically put everything in the Auto mode or possibly chose aperture priority with everything else auto. While all of the photos came out very nicely, the young man that was shooting on a tripod outside of HS loved having the opportunity to use my camera because he could move around and actually use settings that Disney would prohibit. He took the most shots for us in any one 'sitting' and got quite a few that are very nice. He spent more of his energy on framing and perspective (he moved around a LOT... lol) than anything else, but he took full advantage of that AND the use of different focal lengths on the zoom.

I genuinely doubt you would miss out on a good pic if you handed the camera off to mostly anyone in full auto mode. But, you would probably be smart to make sure you're either shooting RAW or RAW+FINE so that you can post-process it how you want.
 
The answer here could also depend on whether you're handing the gear to a "general" CM or to a PhotoPass photographer. And it can even depend on the actual abilities of the PhotoPass photographer...

In January of this year (2019), I stayed at AKL and visited all of the parks over five days. I had my D750 with me and leveraged the PhotoPass photographers on a number of occasions. Each time, I typically put everything in the Auto mode or possibly chose aperture priority with everything else auto. While all of the photos came out very nicely, the young man that was shooting on a tripod outside of HS loved having the opportunity to use my camera because he could move around and actually use settings that Disney would prohibit. He took the most shots for us in any one 'sitting' and got quite a few that are very nice. He spent more of his energy on framing and perspective (he moved around a LOT... lol) than anything else, but he took full advantage of that AND the use of different focal lengths on the zoom.

I genuinely doubt you would miss out on a good pic if you handed the camera off to mostly anyone in full auto mode. But, you would probably be smart to make sure you're either shooting RAW or RAW+FINE so that you can post-process it how you want.
I didn't think Disney would limit what settings the PhotoPass CMs were allowed to use, seeing as I've always been under the impression that, as photographers, they'd have some creative freedom, but then again, the bodies they tend to use are almost at the top of Nikon's DX DSLR range, but still below the D500, and certainly below my full-frame (FX) D800, since I get the feeling they'd need Full Auto ('cheat') mode for ease of use, even though they could also use P on professional bodies like mine, which is what I tend to use whenever I need a volunteer to take a photo of me with my camera, along with auto ISO.
 
I didn't think Disney would limit what settings the PhotoPass CMs were allowed to use, seeing as I've always been under the impression that, as photographers, they'd have some creative freedom, but then again, the bodies they tend to use are almost at the top of Nikon's DX DSLR range, but still below the D500, and certainly below my full-frame (FX) D800, since I get the feeling they'd need Full Auto ('cheat') mode for ease of use, even though they could also use P on professional bodies like mine, which is what I tend to use whenever I need a volunteer to take a photo of me with my camera, along with auto ISO.

They are 100% restricted on the settings. Each location has specific settings that are used in the camera for that location at that time of day with that particular weather at that time. The PhotoPass photographers are required to set their camera body with those specific settings when they get their assignment of where they will be. Period.

This is done because all of the photos are immediately transmitted off to a central QA team for proofing, but it is expected that a high percentage can be post-processed with standard presets. Controlling the specific settings allows Disney to ensure the highest likelihood of capturing a photo that meets their quality expectations.

Their ability to express any sort of creativity is sometimes limited as well. As I mentioned previously, the photographer outside of HS was shooting from a tripod. Fixed location, fixed perspective, fixed height, etc. He was not allowed to move the tripod or remove the camera from it for the Disney photos he was taking. Using a visitor's equipment is totally different and partially why he enjoyed shooting with my camera - he moved around, adjusted the zoom, etc. He didn't tinker with settings, but definitely got out some pent up frustration to express his more creative side. :)

Additionally, the cameras run a custom version of firmware and not the stock firmware that's available to us as consumers.
 
They are 100% restricted on the settings. Each location has specific settings that are used in the camera for that location at that time of day with that particular weather at that time. The PhotoPass photographers are required to set their camera body with those specific settings when they get their assignment of where they will be. Period.

This is done because all of the photos are immediately transmitted off to a central QA team for proofing, but it is expected that a high percentage can be post-processed with standard presets. Controlling the specific settings allows Disney to ensure the highest likelihood of capturing a photo that meets their quality expectations.

Their ability to express any sort of creativity is sometimes limited as well. As I mentioned previously, the photographer outside of HS was shooting from a tripod. Fixed location, fixed perspective, fixed height, etc. He was not allowed to move the tripod or remove the camera from it for the Disney photos he was taking. Using a visitor's equipment is totally different and partially why he enjoyed shooting with my camera - he moved around, adjusted the zoom, etc. He didn't tinker with settings, but definitely got out some pent up frustration to express his more creative side. :)

Additionally, the cameras run a custom version of firmware and not the stock firmware that's available to us as consumers.
Well, I did think that their cameras were customised, seeing as Nikon have a special deal with Disney to supply the Parks with D7xxxs. One PhotoPass CM was very impressed with my camera, since it was way more advanced than their standard issue cameras, again, being a professional FX body that's above the D7xxx series, but still below the D5, though the pixel count outclasses both the D5 and Disney's D7xxxs.
 
Well, I did think that their cameras were customised, seeing as Nikon have a special deal with Disney to supply the Parks with D7xxxs. One PhotoPass CM was very impressed with my camera, since it was way more advanced than their standard issue cameras, again, being a professional FX body that's above the D7xxx series, but still below the D5, though the pixel count outclasses both the D5 and Disney's D7xxxs.

The saying goes "Sometimes good enough is good enough" or something like that, and it applies here. Disney and Nikon have been tied together for a couple of generations of DX cameras and lenses and creating really nice results for the guests. While guests absolutely want to have very nice photos, using a higher capacity / quality camera than what they had prior or have now brings zero value to Disney. The very few additional people that would sign up for PhotoPass purely because of the extra photo quality are also those same folks who would be extremely likely to own and bring their camera of that sort of quality to get those pictures anyhow.

I have what I consider to be a very nice camera capable of taking excellent quality photos - definitely beyond what the Disney-operated cameras are capable of. Still, I have some PhotoPass photos from a DLR trip a couple of years ago that I love. I had only my smartphone with me, and appreciated the photos that I got with it, but the PhotoPass photos were definitely nicer and worth the small cost to me to acquire them (I think it was something like $20 or $30 for all of the photos taken that day, and that was actually the only day I had photos taken). And I honestly don't believe that photos taken with my own camera would be any more appealing to me than the ones that I got from PhotoPass.
 
Well, I did think that their cameras were customised, seeing as Nikon have a special deal with Disney to supply the Parks with D7xxxs. One PhotoPass CM was very impressed with my camera, since it was way more advanced than their standard issue cameras, again, being a professional FX body that's above the D7xxx series, but still below the D5, though the pixel count outclasses both the D5 and Disney's D7xxxs.
They also have some D90's kicking around for PhotoPass still. The customized firmware is feature removal, really, menu items are just disabled or removed entirely. It's otherwise the same firmware used on consumer cameras. They shoot using a custom tethered rig to transmit them almost immediately. Lenses are the 18-105 or 18-140. They selected these because they're almost ideal for the photos they're taking, and get deep DoF with quality that's clearly DSLR. They're also durable enough and cheap enough for them.

Personally I'd have equipped them with the 17-55 because of its better rendering and contrast even at smaller apertures, but that's a $1200 lens.
 

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