As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
So it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our long-running forums. They came online in 2000 and brought together so many wonderful Disney fans. We had friendships form, careers launch, couples marry, children born ... all because of this amazing community.
Thank you to each of you who were a part of this community. You made it possible.
And a very special thank you to our Guides (moderators), past and present, who kept our forums a happy place to be. You are the glue that held everything together, and we are forever grateful to you. Thank you aliceinwdw, Caldercup, MrsM, WillCAD, Fortissimo, GingerJ, HiddenMickey, CRCrazy, Eeyoresmom, disneyknut, disneydani, Cam22, chezp, WDWfan, Luvsun, KMB733, rescuesk, OhToodles!, Colexis Mom, lfredsbo, HiddenMickey, DrDolphin, DopeyGirl, duck addict, Disneybine, PixieMichele, Sandra Bostwick, Eeyore Tattoo, DyanKJ130, Suzy Q'Disney, LilMarcieMouse, AllisonG, Belle*, Chrissi, Brant, DawnDenise, Crystalloubear, Disneymom9092, FanOfMickey, Goofy4Goofy, GoofyMom, Home4us123, iamgrumpy, ilovedisney247, Jennifer2003, Jenny Pooh, KrisLuvsDisney, Ladyt, Laughaholic88, LauraBelle Hime, Lilianna, LizardCop, Loobyoxlip, lukeandbrooksmom, marisag, michnash, MickeyMAC, OffKilter_Lynn, PamelaK, Poor_Eeyore, ripkensnana, RobDVC, SHEANA1226, Shell of the South, snoozin, Statelady01, Tara O'Hara, tigger22, Tink and Co., Tinkerbelz, WDWJAMBA, wdwlovers, Wendyismyname, whoSEZ, WildforWD, and WvuGrrrl. You made the magic.
We want to personally thank Sara Varney, who coordinated our community for many years (among so many other things she did for us), and Cheryl Pendry, our Message Board Manager who helped train our Guides, and Ginger Jabour, who helped us with the PassPorter-specific forums and Live! Guides. Thank you for your time, energy, and enthusiasm. You made it all happen.
There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.
And we are no longer charging for the Live Guides. If you have a subscription, it's yours to keep for the lifetime of the Live Guides at no additional cost. The Live Guides will stay online, barring server issues and technical problems, for all of 2019.
That said, PassPorter is not going away. Most of the resources will remain online for as long as we can support them, and after that we will find ways to make whatever we can available. PassPorter means a great deal to us, and to many of you, and we will do our best to keep it alive in whatever way we can. Our server costs are high, and they'll need to come out of our pockets, so in the future you can expect some changes so we can bring those costs down.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your amazing support over the years. Without you, there's no way us little guys could have made something like this happen and given the "big guys" a run for their money. PassPorter was consistently the #3 guidebook after the Unofficial and Official guides, which was really unheard of for such a small company to do. We ROCKED it thanks to you and your support and love!
If you miss us, you can still find some of us online. Sara started a new blog at DisneyParkPrincess.com -- I strongly urge you to visit and get on her mailing list. She IS the Disney park princess and knows Disney backward and forward. And I am blogging as well at JenniferMaker.com, which is a little craft blog I started a couple of years ago to make ends meet. You can see and hear me in my craft show at https://www.youtube.com/c/jennifermaker . Many PassPorter readers and fans are on Facebook, in groups they formed like the PassPorter Trip Reports and PassPorter Crafting Challenge (if you join, just let them know you read about it in the newsletter). And some of our most devoted community members started a forum of their own at Pixie Dust Lane and all are invited over.
So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
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I found both these cameras on Amazon today. All I know for sure is that I want a Fuji or Canon. I don't know if I really need a 10 x zoom or not. I am a mom who take pictures of my boys and vacation pictures. I have a $100 vivitar digital now that we got free as a reward from my DH employer.
I like the ideal of having a 10x zoom , but am unsure if I like the size. I would like to stay around $200. Should I get a smaller camera or go for the zoom.
Any advise on either of these?
Fujifilm Finepix S700 7MP Digital Camera with 10x Optical Zoom $229.94
Canon PowerShot A550 7.1MP Digital Camera with 4x Optical Zoom - $159.
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Janell
Exercise Challenges January 825/625
February 715/750
March 725/800
April goal 800 minutes
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I am not an expert and only take pictures of my family and vactions, too.
I got a Panasonic Lumiz with a 12X zoom. I got it mostly for my grandchildren's dance recitals, school plays, etc. because I never know how far away I'll be sitting.
I'm not sure if I really needed it, but it sure is nice to have when I want a closeup of something. I've taken some nice pictures that I don't think I would have been able to get otherwise. One thing I have noticed is that very little motion can cause the picture to blur when I use more than 5X or 6X on the zoom. When I use the higher powered zoom, I use the viewfinder and try to steady the camera against my body. My camera also came with image stabilization (which I think helps, too)
We just bought Jan a Fuji FinePix S5200 at Sam's for $229. It is a 5.1MP and has a 10X optical zoom. She loves it.
We "replaced" her using a Canon A85 and an Olympus D-40 (both 4MP and 3X optical zoom) as well as my old Olympus C-770 (4MP and 10X optical zoom). The lower zoom cameras were good, most of the time, and she loved the ability to go to 10X when she needed to with the C-770. The C-770 has a slight problem with low light focusing, and that was why she stopped using it.
She loves the new one!!! When she needs the longer zoom, it's there. Does she use it all the time, no.. But it's there and the camera takes great pics, many are being used along with mine in our current trip report...
DO you NEED a 10X optical zoom camera, probably not. Will it make taking photos more fun at times, YES!!! You can always use less zoom than what's available, you can never use more zoom than you have!!!
I have the Fuji S9000, it's a 9MP with a 10x zoom and I love it. I can't say that I've actually used ALL of the zoom that the camera has to offer but I do like knowing I CAN if I want to or need to...
A friend of mine has the Fuji S5200 and LOVES it too... it's a great camera!
I LOVE my Canon S2 IS, don't remember the zoom at the moment, but It is by far the best feature about that camera or any camera I have ever had. There are several other things l love a bout this camera, but if there is a question of zoom, go for it..... you won't be sorry. You can shoot 'through' stuff, get detail that is wonderful. I will have to figure out how to post a couple of photo's that I took standing on the bridge at AK going into Africa looking toward Mt Everest, I took one just as Mt E looked, then I zoomed all the way out and the detail in the mountain is fantastic. I also wondered if I 'needed' all that zoom, but I have never regretted it for one second. Now to work on those action shots in low light levels! S
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My bags are packed.....when do we leave??
planning the next trip...
I've got a Fujifilm Finepix S9000 (28mm-300mm equivalent), and really enjoy it. Jennifer has had several Canon PowerShots, and they're also really fine cameras.
If it's just for the sake of the zoom... The Canon is far more compact, which means you'll be more likely to carry it with you, which translates to more photo opportunities.
While I find plenty of uses for the telephoto end of the zoom, it's far more important to me to have a wide angle greater than the typical 34-38mm-equivalent that most digitals come with. My Fuji has a 28mm equivalent, which is far more useful to me for scenics and interiors.
I find that many amateurs over-use their telephotos (even if it's just a 3x or 4x). For example, when taking a shot of family members standing in the hub with the castle as a backdrop, they go to maximum zoom and step way back until the castle fills the frame. This means the people are relatively small in the photo. I feel they'd get much better results by using a wide angle, stepping in until their family members fill the frame (yes, the castle tends to recede into the background, but a good photo of the family will be more important to you in years to come than a good picture of the castle).
Another way to put it is that telephotos encourage photographers to be uninvolved with their human subjects. The lens has a tendency to push folks back so they become distant observers, rather than active participants. When photographing people (especially loved ones), it's usually better to have some direct involvement.
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Co-Author, PassPorter's Walt Disney World, PassPorter's Disney Cruise Line, and PassPorter's Disneyland and Southern California Attractions
I have a Canon S2 and LOVE it. I take all of my photos now with it, we have a smaller Canon but I don't even look at it anymore. The photo I have on here of fireworks was taken handheld with the Canon.
I just came back from Sam's Club on a prescription run for Pat, and they had the S5200 for $199.81! A whole kit too! So I got it!
That's the same kit I got Jan a couple of months ago for $229. She it and I think you will to. She had to play with it for a while, but she won't part with it now and won't use anything else...
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I have the Canon S2 IS as well. There's a new S3 out now, but it has only a few "tweaks" to the S2--overall comparable. I LOVE my S2. It offers so many automatic options that give good photos (like GREAT SpectroMagic and fireworks pictures on just the Auto setting) as well as very good manual settings. We recently bought DH a super-compact Canon (the SD800 IS, I think), and I'll use it occasionally for situations when it's not really convenient to carry the larger S2. The smaller one is a really great camera, but I find myself missing the ability to manually change the exposure settings to get a shot "just so" like I can on the S2.
I've owned Fuji and Canon, and I much prefer the clarity and color of the Canons. Here's a link to a really nice camera review site that offers information about most models... Welcome to the Digital Camera Resource Page . I've used it in buying my last two cameras and been very pleased. Good luck finding something that works for you!
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Benjamin and Victoria's First WDW Vacation!
December 10-19, 2004
Port Orleans French Quarter - (planning) 1/08
Swan - 6/07
Wilderness Lodge - 12/06
Coronado Springs - 12/05
Pop Century - 5/05
Animal Kingdom Lodge - 12/04
I have the Canon S2 IS as well. There's a new S3 out now, but it has only a few "tweaks" to the S2--overall comparable. I LOVE my S2. It offers so many automatic options that give good photos (like GREAT SpectroMagic and fireworks pictures on just the Auto setting) as well as very good manual settings.
What I like also - the S2 is lightweight, I never feel it's too heavy to carry around or too bulky. I was really surprised when I was getting great fireworks photos on auto, and nighttime parade pictures. I never was much into digital photography - but my mom offered to buy me a digital camera for Christmas, and I spent a lot of time researching. The S2 (now S3 too) is a lot of camera, a lot of features for the money. My sister ended up with a more expensive ($700?) camera, my mom offered to buy me one but this looked fine - and it was more than fine! This is the first time I feel good with a digital over an SLR film camera.
I think you'll use the 10x zoom. I have a fuji S6000fd and love it - there have been lots of shots I never would have gotten without the zoom.. such as...
If you are up in the nose bleed seats at Lights Motors Action stunt show, a 10x can come in handy to zoom down on the action.
I have a camcorder with 1000x zoom. Yep you read it wright, 1000x zoom and I
can tell you that its absolutely useless.
First of all it is not humanly possible to hold a camera
still enough even with the much improved motion and jitter correction
features to use a lot of zoom. So you will have to get a good heavy 3 legged
tripod to always pack around which will become a big heavy PAIN.
I'm a Nikon and Panasonic fan myself, Yvonne loves the Canon Powershot,
and Kassie likes Olympus FE's.
All cameras are good!
Its just the finger that presses the button that is bad.
I am not an expert and only take pictures of my family and vactions, too.
I got a Panasonic Lumiz with a 12X zoom. I got it mostly for my grandchildren's dance recitals, school plays, etc. because I never know how far away I'll be sitting.
I'm not sure if I really needed it, but it sure is nice to have when I want a closeup of something. I've taken some nice pictures that I don't think I would have been able to get otherwise. One thing I have noticed is that very little motion can cause the picture to blur when I use more than 5X or 6X on the zoom. When I use the higher powered zoom, I use the viewfinder and try to steady the camera against my body. My camera also came with image stabilization (which I think helps, too)
I bought the same one last week! I purchsed this for the same reasons you did. I had some really great vacation shots of the kids this past summer and I had used my old camera that had 3X zoom and the pictures were not clear and blurry. I was so upset and disappointed. Now when we go to disney I know my pictures are going to be great!
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1991 - Disney vacation with family
1994 - Honeymoon WDW... the works
1997 - Disney with hubby
1999 - Son's first Disney vacation!
2006 - Daughter's first Disney vacation with hubbys family, all 14 of us!
2007 - Disney vacation with the family and friends!
Its just the finger that presses the button that is bad.
I mostly agree! I get a lot of questions about my camera, but I always have - no matter what type I had. When I needed my small Canon in a pinch a couple of weeks ago, it actually was great (though I prefer having the 12x to the 4x zoom). But both are really decent cameras.
There are some cameras which just aren't very good - but I'm very happy with mine, I'd not trade it in for a $700 camera (like my sister has). If anything, I'd not mind having an S5 eventually so I can have a hotshoe.
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The photo I have on here of fireworks was taken handheld with the Canon.
it and I think you will to. She had to play with it for a while, but she won't part with it now and won't use anything else...
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