What would be in your camera bag for New York?

cambsno

cambsno

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Going in March so a way off but now is the time to start looking for new kit if I need it (as if I need an excuse!!).

Will plan to do a lot of walking around, and see the major sights like Empire, Flat Iron, WTC, Brooklyn Bridge, Subway etc... Initial thoughts are to take the Fuji X100T as my 'compact', if I want to travel light, say in the evening. Would take the D750 too, but what lenses would be best? Have the 24-70 f/2.8, 70-200 f4, 20mm, 50mm, 85mm.
 
Honestly.. going to places like this does make you want to take the kitchen sink but when your there the only camera you'll find you use will be the x100t. I'd look st taking the converters with it if you have them or if funds slow, buy them for the trip and sell them on when your done.
 
Andrew Moore said:
Honestly.. going to places like this does make you want to take the kitchen sink but when your there the only camera you'll find you use will be the x100t. I'd look st taking the converters with it if you have them or if funds slow, buy them for the trip and sell them on when your done.
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I do like the X100T but feel I will need wider, just don't know if the 20mm will become a vital lens out there or stay in the bag?
 
Going through this myself as I'm planning on going March/April. Thought about taking my D750 and 24-120mm but think it'll end up being a pain, especially when you're pushing through busy streets etc. I do have the X-T1 and 18-55mm but on my recent holiday found 82.5mm eq wasn't enough reach, so probably going to get the 18-135mm. This has the advantage of being weather sealed too. I have contemplated getting an X100 though and thinking I don't need reach or a zoom for new york. Too many bloomin decisions :facepalm: :lol:
 
Personally if going to NY my A7 and either my 35mm f2.8 or 55mm f1.8 would almost certainly be going with me together with a pocket camera as I don't like taking pictures with my phone (which is pretty poor anyway) but a small MFT camera (GX80?) or APS-C camera with a small but good kit lens and a wide aperture prime could well be a good choice too.

The 12-35mm f2.8 and the much more humble 14-42mm f3.5-5.6 mega ois have impressed me in MFT land. The former is a very good lens and IMO allows MFT to compete better with FF and a f3.5-5.6 zoom and the latter is an extremely compact lens which is really just the size of a prime and it's sharp enough to use wide open.
 
If you like taking cityscapes (rather than street style portraits), take the widest lens you can get! Been a couple of times and most favourites at 9-12mm with MFT gear...18-24mm in FF-land.

Catch Grand Central with low sunlight, and don't miss top if the rock at sunset, it's stunning!
 
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I would take my 18-35 and 85 1.8G for the 750. So in your case 20mm and 85mm.
Plus your X100T of course.

If buying then as well as 18-35 you could check out the 16-35 which has VR.

I visited in film days and my most used lens was 20-35 on an F100.
 
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When I went a few years ago I took a D300 with sigma 10-20mm, 35mm and 70-300mm VR. The sigma got by far the most use, would have been very frustrated if I hadn't had the ultra wide perspective for those amazing cityscapes.
 
Peter123 said:
I would take my 18-35 and 85 1.8G for the 750. So in your case 20mm and 85mm.
Plus your X100T of course.

If buying then as well as 18-35 you could check out the 16-35 which has VR.

I visited in film days and my most used lens was 20-35 on an F100.
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Dunno about the OP but I don't want to be swapping lenses as it'd be a 'holiday' rather than a photography trip which is why I'm thinking of an all in one.
 
I took an EM10 and 12-40 pro and that covered most things. Unusually for me I never wanted longer (I nearly always tend to prefer tele for landscapes) and could sometimes have done with a little wider.

I also took an EPM2 as a backup body which was lucky as I smashed the EM10, it did the job well even with it's inferior 2 axis IBIS:

New York Sunset by Ned Awty, on Flickr
 
I was there 3 years ago, I brought the D800E with the 24-70 and my gf had the rx100, it was almost all I needed. I wished I had something wider for architecture shots. Also that combo was a bit heavy for street shooting, I'd suggest go light as you can, and focus on wide rather than long. You're not going to shoot much using a 70-200 for example. A couple of light wide primes is ideal. I would take your X100, the D750 w/20mm and 50mm and leave the rest at home. You'll be glad you did.

One world trade center upward by Enticing Imagery, on Flickr

This was at 24mm, something wider here would have been sweeter, and for other similar building shots I took.
 
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snerkler said:
Nice pics. Looks like you can 'get away' with 28mm eq then.
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You can for landscape, but remember, some streets are pretty tight, you really want something wider in the bag too. I almost bought a 14mm in B&H while there, only thought better of it. Was glad once I seen the reviews later for that lens :D
 
Cagey75 said:
You can for landscape, but remember, some streets are pretty tight, you really want something wider in the bag too.
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Guess it all depends on the shot you want? Saw some great shots from @dancook taken in New York recently all with the Leica Q which is 28mm.
Minimal gear is a priority for me, so I guess I could always take a 2 or 3 shot pano if I absolutely needed to (obviously not if there's a lot of movement in the scene).
 
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snerkler said:
Guess it all depends on the shot you want? Saw some great shots from @dancook taken in New York recently all with the Leica Q which is 28mm.
Minimal gear is a priority for me, so I guess I could always take a 2 or 3 shot pano if I absolutely needed to (obviously not if there's a lot of movement in the scene).
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If we're talking central NYC, there will always be movement :D At 3am in Time square it's like midday over here. I think you'll get away with it, but it's just nice to have the wide option, you will kick yourself a few times without it.
 
Cagey75 said:
If we're talking central NYC, there will always be movement :D At 3am in Time square it's like midday over here. I think you'll get away with it, but it's just nice to have the wide option, you will kick yourself a few times without it.
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Probably, but then it's a good excuse to go back ;) If they did a compact/pancake UWA then I'd consider it, but the 10-24mm is too much extra bulk. If I was to consider taking this lens as well I may as well just take the D750 with 24-120mm as this would then be less bulk and weight.
 
I'm going in June. I'll be taking three lenses with me, the 24-70 as a general walkabout, 16-35 for wide stuff and 35 for evening/night stuff. Different lenses will suit different purposes and occasions so I'll only carry one or two lenses with me at any given time. Part of me says to be brave and just take the 35 but I want to cover my backside - I couldn't bare it if I got there and then regretted not bringing a lens.
 
snerkler said:
Probably, but then it's a good excuse to go back ;)
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Been wanting to ever since I got back! It's an amazing city, we only had 5 days but I loved every minute. We didn't want to sleep! :D [late openings in some Irish bars helped that along] - It was this time of year too, a little later, end Nov. And the atmosphere was electric. You gotta do the Rockafella for the view.

Also, may sound weird, but it felt like the safest city in the world too, I never felt wary having my gear out

This was me, walking about with a D800E free-hand, no strap, late at night .... not a care in the world :D

daALnB4.jpg
 
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Looking like we could be going next August so following this thread with interest.

It will be me me and my wife plus 3 (16,17 and 18) as an alternative to two weeks in Spain (its only a couple of grand more so no brained really)

Went with my girlfriend at the time ten years ago for four days and had a fabulous time. Took loads of pictures but only on my compact at the time but much more serious about the photography this time albeit combined with family time.

Can't wait :-)
 
Whenever i'm in NYC as a tourist i'd bring a small camera package. I feel that its not really the venue to be smacking passers by with tele lenses., A decent wide-ish prime captured everything i needed (I used to take a 35mm and 15mm there) Also if you want to explore outside of the tourist parts then you probably don't want to be carrying lots of kit as you may feel a bit conspicuous. (Very much the same as you'd operate in London)
 
For New York I'd always have a my sigma 10-20mm. I was switching between that and the 24-105mm but the vast majority of shots were with the sigma.
 
Thanks everyone, so wide is the way to go, thinking the 20mm will be vital then, may take the 85mm too with the x100t for general stuff.
 
some of my favourite shots of NY were taken by Raymond lin (sp?) of this forum. i believe he tends to go with just a 5d111 and a fast 35mm
 
cambsno said:
Thanks everyone, so wide is the way to go, thinking the 20mm will be vital then, may take the 85mm too with the x100t for general stuff.
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Would do it similarly, but take a short tele for sure since I personally love tele shots of alleys and streets.
 
I used my 17-40 on FF a lot for architecture and street.

Planning a trip for spring and will probably take my 11-24

I may well take the 35 F1.4 as well for "street"
 
Not strictly photography related but just a heads up that, if you want to climb the Statue of Liberty to the crown, you need to book tickets for that in advance.
 
I would imagine the 16-35 would be the most useful and just leave the x100 at home.
 
snerkler said:
Going through this myself as I'm planning on going March/April. Thought about taking my D750 and 24-120mm but think it'll end up being a pain, especially when you're pushing through busy streets etc. I do have the X-T1 and 18-55mm but on my recent holiday found 82.5mm eq wasn't enough reach, so probably going to get the 18-135mm. This has the advantage of being weather sealed too. I have contemplated getting an X100 though and thinking I don't need reach or a zoom for new york. Too many bloomin decisions :facepalm: :LOL:
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Yourr not having mine:fuji:
 
I watched the intro video. I see the link to get a week free; can't obviously see how much it is to join. Do you have a ball park figure? Thanks
 
First time I went I took all my kit. Canon 7D, 11-16mm, 24-105, 50mm and 70-200mm with tripod and bits and bobs. Enjoyed it but felt that I was carrying about a 'lump' all the time. We are just back again and this time all I took was a sony a6000 with kit lens and a 50mm, which was great for wandering about and capturing what I wanted, but on the evenings I really wished I had my 7D and tokina 11-16 with me, even for walking about.

Horses for courses, depends on what you want. A full holiday with the camera in your hand and feeling oblidged to shoot everything you see, or a smaller package for those moments you spot and record.

It's been mentioned a few times but walking around New York is a safe place. Not once have we had any issues. The only annoyance is in Times Square, which is getting a Blackpool feel to it (no disrespect to flyders) and the amount of folks trying to peddle free music CD's and push for 'free' pics with superheros.
 
cambsno said:
Going in March so a way off but now is the time to start looking for new kit if I need it (as if I need an excuse!!).

Will plan to do a lot of walking around, and see the major sights like Empire, Flat Iron, WTC, Brooklyn Bridge, Subway etc... Initial thoughts are to take the Fuji X100T as my 'compact', if I want to travel light, say in the evening. Would take the D750 too, but what lenses would be best? Have the 24-70 f/2.8, 70-200 f4, 20mm, 50mm, 85mm.
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I would just take your X100T. It's small, light, discrete and delivers. What more do you want? If you're set on taking your D750 I would take the 24-70.
 
I've been 9 times now and my favourites from a photography perspective were the Nikon 10.5mm Fisheye, and the Nikkor 180mm 2.8. A long lens (particularly a compact one) is great fun in NYC, partly because 99% of pictures you see of NYC are either ultra-wide or taken on an iPhone, so a tele offers a perspective that you don't often see (plus there are loads of details to shoot that you can't always get near).

NYC 2013: Sunset by Chris Harrison, on Flickr

Of your kit I'd take the 20 and 85 and leave the rest at home.

^Joe said:
Can a tripod be taken up the Rock / Empire State ?
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No, but there are plenty of flat surfaces at Top of the Rock so that's doable anyway. ESB is little more challenging but still doable if you think on your feet and rest your camera/lens and hold on tight (https://www.flickr.com/search/?user_id=43894860@N00&sort=date-taken-desc&text=16/02/09: ESB Observatory&view_all=1.)

I would apply that to all of NYC actually, shot loads of night stuff but would never even contemplate lugging a tripod around.
 
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