It’s been a long time coming, but change is on the horizon for the Disney PhotoPass cameras used at the Walt Disney World theme parks. While visiting EPCOT recently, we noticed that some photographers were using updated cameras and camera lenses, which should significantly improve the quality of Disney PhotoPass photos taken in the theme parks and beyond. Here’s what we saw, and what we know.
Disney PhotoPass Camera Upgrades
For years, Walt Disney World had a partnership with Nikon. That partnership not only included Nikon branding in the theme parks, but it also extended to the camera equipment that Disney used for its Disney PhotoPass service.
Disney PhotoPass is the name for the service that captures your Walt Disney World memories from on-ride photos to character interactions and everything in between.
The Nikon partnership, first announced in 2013, came to an end in 2021. We were the first to announce the end of the partnership. Shortly following our article about the end of the partnership, we started to see Nikon branding removed from the theme parks. While the Nikon branding has long been removed, what remained was the camera equipment utilized by Disney PhotoPass photographers.
Now, it looks like a big change is coming with regard to the camera equipment that Disney PhotoPass photographers will use.
During a recent visit to EPCOT, we noticed that a PhotoPass photographer was using a Sony camera and lens combination. As someone who uses Sony equipment daily in the theme parks, the camera stood out like a sore thumb (in the best way possible).
The camera being utilized was a Sony A7IV, a significant step up from the Nikon D7500 camera body that is currently widely utilized around Walt Disney World. While Disney is no stranger to Sony cameras, having used them for years now for some of their boutique photo offerings, this is the first time that I have seen a Sony camera in the hands of a frontline Disney PhotoPass photographer.
The Sony A7IV camera body alone is worth the upgrade and will lead to significantly improved photos. That said, Disney is also utilizing the 24-105 f4 G-series lens, paired with a Sony flash attachment. The entire ecosystem should allow Disney PhotoPass to produce some wonderful quality photos for guests.
The change in camera type bumps Disney from a crop sensor to a full-frame sensor, which should allow for higher-quality images. Improved image stabilization, while probably not completely necessary given Disney’s setup, is another feature of the new camera body. An improved LCD screen is another upgrade that should allow PhotoPass photographers some extra flexibility when capturing photos.
When you combine the $2700 camera body with a $1400 lens (I’m sure Disney isn’t paying full price for either), the result should be a greatly improved end result.
In speaking with a few different PhotoPass Cast Members, we learned that the Sony camera is currently a “test”, with plans to roll out to the entire Walt Disney World fleet of photographers sometime either late this month or early August. Of course, plans could change, and Walt Disney World did not return a request for comment about the camera updates. Currently, Disney has not announced any changes or updates to its Disney PhotoPass offering.
There are also some technical changes that PhotoPass is making with regard to settings used that should improve exposure levels for photos. A common complaint from guests is that the exposure levels of Disney PhotoPass photos are all over the place – sometimes over-exposed and sometimes under-exposed. Recent changes to stock settings and the camera upgrade should correct those issues.
I’ll close out this article with one caveat. While the in-camera image should be significantly improved over the current fleet of Nikon D7500s, Disney will still apply some editing that will likely downsize the image and, perhaps, affect overall image quality.
Unfortunately, image processing is a necessary evil, even on this website. I wish I could upload the full resolution, 9,000 pixel, 70-130+MB image that my camera produces with every shutter click, but instead, I have to reduce file sizes to less than 1/70th of that when uploading to this site. Here’s an example of the same photo, cropped to show the level of detail that I’m able to capture, but lose out when exporting the photo with size restrictions.
The same principles apply to Disney PhotoPass photos. The Sony camera that PhotoPass photographers will soon be using is capable of some really high-resolution photos. That said, PhotoPass may stick with their “high resolution” download tier of 5MB. 5MB isn’t bad, but it also isn’t the 45-80+MB file size that the camera is capable of.
I’d love to see PhotoPass make some processing and file size updates to match the capability of the new Sony cameras that will soon be in the hands of photographers, but we’ll have to wait and see how it plays out.
All that said, the end result will very likely be a marked improvement in Disney PhotoPass photos when these changes roll out!
As always, keep checking back with us here at BlogMickey.com as we continue to bring you the latest news, photos, and info from around the Disney Parks!
