The new camera has improved my dark ride hit rate, now that I can shoot pretty clean ISO6400 shots...I had the chance during Pixelmania to jump on Spaceship Earth before the rained out World Showcase meet and whipped out the Sigma 30mm F1.4 for some better shots of the ride scenes. ; These are straight from camera, shot in jpeg: Best shots I've been able to get of the Roman soldier scene: Love the lighting they set up for these scenes!: First time EVER getting a shot of the sleeping monk!: Could have gotten the focus a little better here, especially critical at those big apertures: Left the noise grain alone - the texture is nice and fine and didn't bother me at all: I really have to say lighting-wise, and backdrop wise, I love this ride, and love the enhancements from the makeover. ; The voice may not be quite as grand in the narration as before, but the scenes look fantastic.
very smooth for high ISO. ; i love the animatronics and set design but the narration and descent to earth leave a little to be desired. ; the jeremy irons narration and musical score were so regal and the cartoon future just doesn't do it for me. ; that being said, the first half of the ride is absolutely top notch!
Agreed there...the descent has just been cheapened entirely with the cartoon stuff. ; Can't ever match the original glowing city of lights and neon with the lines of communication streaming out. ; And Jeremy Irons just can't be matched! But yeah, the first half going up is all goodness for me.
the spaceship earth re-do is the only recent one (well two since the new TTA narration is not so good) that i didn't love. haunted mansion - great pirates of the caribbean - great spaceship earth - great it's a small world - great gran fiesta tour - love it!
I wasn't real excited about the Rio del Tiempo redo - I know, small insignificant ride and better character tie-in now...but the original was somehow more endearing to me. OW, I agree on the other 4 you mentioned!
I agree as well with your list Tim, when the rumors for Spaceship Earth's next narrator first surfaced and they included names like Patrick Stewart, I was really excited. ; When it came to the final decision, I think it is missing something now.
Patrick Stewart would have been an improvement - but still not as good as Jeremy Irons. ; Funny - this time I was on the ride, I didn't get Judi Dench - I was so busy taking photos that I never pressed the language preference, and mine defaulted to French...it wasn't Dame Judi doing it either. ; Didn't understand a word of it, but it sounded nice! ;
Thats interesting Justin, my kids came up with the idea to try that next time; we will have to definitely try that; we have pretty much exhausted the options on the descent. I'm in agreement, the refurb did wonders to the ride, but the descent is disappointing. I didn't get to ride it this trip
Nice work, Justin. ; I was going to attempt SSE but never got around to it. ; Next Pixelmania dark ride meet? ; What shutter speeds were you getting for these? ; Did you shoot wide open or were able to close down some at with the high ISO you were using?
I was using the F1.4 lens, and for some of the better lit scenes I was able to get between 1/100 and 1/160 with F1.6...so almost wide open...while others I used F1.4 to pull in as much light as possible and was still floating down to 1/60, 1/30, and even 1/25 at F1.4 for that darned sleeping monk! ; Generally ISO6400 and F1.4 is wide enough to get 1/100 or better through most of the ride, which should eliminate any motion blur. ; For the 1/25 and 1/30 shots, the stabilization may have given me a little help (one reason I really like sensor-based stabilization - everything is stabilized including primes!). SSE would be a very cool Pixelmania meet for dark ride. ; Great lighting and colors in there.
Great shots!!!! ; I've recently discovered how to set my ISO at 6400 (i was only getting as high as 3200 at first). ; I'll have to attempt some shots on Spaceship Earth one day.
Thanks SRisonS. ; Definitely do - it gives you a new respect for the effort they went through in set design and especially lighting and shadow - very artistically done and photography-friendly!
awesome shots Justin! Tim, I like your list of re-do's, except I agree with Justin on Rio De le tiempo. I always enjoyed the 70's look to that ride. it was fun! I do like the new ride, but I wouldnt mind if they hadnt changed it.... As far as SSE, put me down as another that thinks this version is missing the grandeur from before. the cartoons seem so cheap and except for the first ride through, now I just look around and try to see how the ride operates and look at tracks and staircases.
Thanks Craig! I think for me it was not only that I liked the old style of the original, but also that it was a close relation in style to the old 'If You Had Wings' ride, which I really miss! ; I think I might have rode that one more than any other in MK back in the 70s and 80s...due in no small part to the fact that it was an A ticket for a while, then TICKETLESS for a while...so after burning everyone's E tickets, we'd end up with 4 books full of As and a few Bs...and my uncle and I would burn them up on Wings. ; When Wings went away, Mexico's ride still had some of the same flavor in some parts. Though that can be fun too! ; I actually tried a funky shot last time, that didn't work, but inspired me to try it again: I think it might be cool to get a shot of the monitors all coming down around the curve.
