Lenses to take to New York

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tomdaniels

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Hi all,

I am heading to NY in late August which will be an excellent photo opportunity and have decided to figure out early which lenses to take. Space and weight won't really be an issue, I would just like to get the best shots possible :)

So far I have decided to take:

Sigma 10-20mm F4.5-5.6
Nikkor 50mm F1.8 or 35mm F1.8
Possibly toying with the idea of taking my telephoto 55-200mm but I can't really see it getting used much.

The trouble I am having is deciding which mid range lens to get as I don't have one in the camera bag. I was looking at a few and was tempted to hire either a 17-55mm F2.8 or 24-70mm F2.8. I spoke to a friend and he suggested I pick up a 18-70mm F3.5-4.6 cheap so obviously now I can't decide :bonk:

Can anybody offer any help or suggestions?

Many Thanks in advance.

Tom
 
The lenses you use most here - will likely be the same ones you'd use in NY!!
 
I went to NY back in 1999 and took a 28 to 105 so something similar to an 18-70 for general walk about stuff should be fine, I was in the process of travelling across Canada so I was limited to the amount of stuff i could take. Think a 70-300 telephoto would be great to take too.

Don't bother to go to the top of the Statue of Liberty it's not worth it
 
Ooh, nice! I went in Feb this year and took a D90 with 18-105 kit lens which my girlfriend used most of the time, and a D300s which I used with a Sigma 10-20mm, 35mm f/1.8 and 70-300VR. Didn't use the 70-300 all that much, but I did get some good shots with it so I'm glad I did - it got most use on the boat to Ellis Island for some Manhattan skyline shots and the Statue of Liberty as we passed by. Had we gone across the river to Brooklyn I'm sure it would have had more use.

Of your choices, I would definitely take the 10-20mm (lots of use that one got!), the 35mm 1.8 (great for night walkabout purposes, 50mm is a bit too long on a cropper), and the 55-200 - it's not that big and some extra reach is very welcome in that city, believe me.

Personally, I wouldn't bother with a midrange zoom if you're taking that lot - I didn't use one and didn't miss it at all. If it was your only lens, then sure, but if you take one you might find all the other lenses don't get much use as there's quite a bit of overlap.

Definitely check out the views from Top of the Rock and the Empire State Building - my advice would be to go late at night (ESB is open until 2am) and be amazed by the night time views, and complete lack of queues! Both were utterly deserted when we went up just before closing. Also, the 102nd floor observatory of the ESB isn't worth the visit - not open air and impossible to take sharp pics from what I could tell - I guess it sways a bit!

I've put a few of my NYC shots here, need to get round to adding more (all but one were taken with the Sigma, the ESB shot was with the 35mm f/1.8): http://www.jpwilliamsphotography.com/index.php?x=browse&category=2
 
awp said:
The lenses you use most here - will likely be the same ones you'd use in NY!!
Click to expand...

Yep. cant argue with that.

take the sigma and the 50 1.8
the 50 for portraits and the sigma for cityscape.
sorted.
 
take everything - I did...

long lenses are useful for picking out skyscraper-details and candids on the street.
Don't forget all the usual landmarks:
Grand Central Station
Chrysler building from Lexington Ave.
yellow cabs (blurred)
Guggenheim museum

blah blah blah...
 
I'd suggest you forget all the ususal landmarks - they've been photographed to death - find your own images of a very unique city.
 
Thanks for the tips guys, JPW those shots are great!
I think I am going to try and get a ticket for top of the rock for around sunset, so you get the sunset shots and night shots :). Does anybody know the rules on tripods at the top, or is just best to try and slip a mini tripod in ;)

Arkady, will definitely check out those, going to try and get all the iconic shots but I also want to try and get some that haven't been done as much, more of the capturing the moment shots.

A couple of people I have spoken to said their mid range lenses were glued to their cameras, do you guys not think that I would need one?

Thanks :)
 
awp said:
I'd suggest you forget all the ususal landmarks - they've been photographed to death - find your own images of a very unique city.
Click to expand...

What's the point of going to NYC and NOT photographing all the touristy bits? :shrug:

...there's a reason that they are landmarks, you know...you might try a different take on them but to suggest someone avoids them altogether is just the most incredibly dumb thing I've heard on this forum all weekend...:cuckoo:
 
tomdaniels said:
A couple of people I have spoken to said their mid range lenses were glued to their cameras, do you guys not think that I would need one?

Thanks :)
Click to expand...

I had two bodies, a 17-35, a 28-70 and a 80-200 when I was last there and used them all...
 
well if I was going I wouldn't get stressed about shooting all the tourist icons - just shoot what looks like NY to you - where you are. I don't see the point in just copying hundreds of photographers who have gone before you.
 
tomdaniels said:
Thanks for the tips guys, JPW those shots are great!
I think I am going to try and get a ticket for top of the rock for around sunset, so you get the sunset shots and night shots :). Does anybody know the rules on tripods at the top, or is just best to try and slip a mini tripod in ;)
Click to expand...

Cheers Tom! Tripods aren't allowed at TOTR but a small compact one like a Gorillapod or the like shouldn't be a problem. You could take a tripod up, but would probably be asked by security to close it down if you tried setting it up (trip hazard). I took my gorillapod up there but didn't need it anyway - there are plenty of flat stone surfaces at chest height to rest the camera on for long exposures (all mine were taken this way). To be honest, when we went up it was so deserted I could have opened up a full size tripod with no problems, but I imagine it gets very crowded up there during the day. It was a definite highlight visiting there, the view through the glass top of the elevator is quite something as you ascend, and when you go up the escalator to the observation deck the view that gradually greets you is breathtaking.
 
Great, thanks for that! I have just had a look and it appears that they have those stone things that should be fine hopefully! Really want to get a panoramic shot at night from TOTR!

Specialman - just been looking at the Tamron 17-50mm, looks really good actually! Seems great value for money, do you use one? If so how do they compare to something like a Nikkor 17-55mm F2.8?

Thanks
 
Have compared it to a 17-35mm Nikon and although the Nikon is ultimately sharper, there's a £900 difference between the two that for me didn't work, hence why I opted for the Tamron. It's relative to the cost - the Tammy doesn't give results that suggest it's less than half the price of an OEM 17-50/55mm... great lens. I use one for magazine work with no quibbles. I'll get a Nikon 17-55 in time because I do like being a Nikon snob :)
 
tomdaniels said:
Great, thanks for that! I have just had a look and it appears that they have those stone things that should be fine hopefully! Really want to get a panoramic shot at night from TOTR!

Specialman - just been looking at the Tamron 17-50mm, looks really good actually! Seems great value for money, do you use one? If so how do they compare to something like a Nikkor 17-55mm F2.8?

Thanks
Click to expand...

I've just bought a Sigma 18-50 2.8 HSM. I'm really impressed with it. I've put a few photos on today taken with it. It's really sharp and the Optical stabilisation lets you shoot at really low speeds without any blur.
 
Thank you for the input guys.
Looks like I will have to bite the bullet and either go for a Tamron 17-50mm or the Sigma 18-50mm. At least with a lens like this I can own it without the wallet being too much lighter! Will hopefully be better that hiring a lens that I cannot afford and having to give it back after 2 weeks!
 
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