Hmmm....photo op in SYD is during the landing cycle for this person. I think officially you are not allowed to use electircal equipment so if the camera is digital then no. However how could an ordinary digital camera bring a plane down? There are many photos by passengers during the take off and landing cycles.
One final note, if the landing is from the north then there is a double chance that the left hand side will get two views of the city, harbour, bridge and ophouse. This occurs as the flights from NZ are from the south and one of the flight paths takes you up past the eastern suburbs, past the heads along the northern beaches, turn over Pittwater, fly over the northern suburbs, upper harbour, past the bridge and city and on to Mascot. This occured on my last flight, 10 August but I forgot to take my camera for the trip and missed taking an aerialphoto of the house I grew up in!
Oh berlin_style just make sure the you are not seated over the wing as you may miss some of the sights. I hope that you get this path on your trip.