Going on trip to NYC. What should I bring with me?

[cutsman]

I'm going to be going on a 4 night trip to New York in a few weeks and will primarily be in the manhattan area. I won't have a car and will be going around sightseeing on foot so I'd like to avoid carrying TOO MUCH weight. I also don't want to be changing lenses all the time since I'll be traveling with my gf and really don't want to stop every 10 minutes to swap lenses.

I know the easiest would probably be to pack the 18-200VR with 35mm f2 for lowlight, but there's a part of me that really wants to bring my 24-70 since it's a relatively new purchase for me and I would really like the opportunity to use it. If i take the 24-70 and leave the 18-200 at home, will I miss the 70-200 range?

Do I need the 10-20mm for some fun UWA shots?

What about flash? Do museums in NY allow the use of flash?

Any advice would be great. My kit is as described in my sig below. What would you bring if you were me?

 

[Phrasikleia]

No museums allow the use of flash. That much I can answer with certainty.

I would leave the superzoom at home and take the 24-70 and the 35/2. The latter will be good in museums, and the nice zoom will serve you well for nearly everything else.

 

[compuwar]

If you haven't already booked or have and are wishing it was cheaper, the Tudor on 42nd is awesomely priced and about as big a hotel room as I've seen in Manhattan. I've spent time in places 3x the cost that weren't worth a cent more.

 

[toxic]

depends on your style...do you use the 10-20 much? is 24mm wide enough for most of your shooting? i also don't think you'll be happy lugging a 24-70 around for hours at a time, if it comes to that.

my preference:
1. 10-20, 35, 105
2. 18-200, 35
3. 24-70, 35, 105

the 35 will be useful in museums (or anywhere indoors), and possibly the 10-20 as well since it's so wide.

 

[kallisti]

The 24-70 is a great lens. From personal experience I can tell you that it isn't too heavy to carry around all day. I make several trips to NYC every year and spend the entire day walking around with it and nothing else. I have an FX format camera, so it's a true 24-70 for me. You would lose a little on the wide end but gain a bit of extra reach.

The advantage of the 18-200 is that it gives you a wider shooting range. Whether you will actually take advantage of that in your shooting depends a great deal on you. NYC offers many, many photo opportunities. Some fall in the wide range, some in the normal range, and some in the tele range. Only you know the types of subjects that interest you.

The advantage of the 24-70 is that it's faster and that it has better image quality. You are the only one that can decide if the image quality improvements you might see matter for what you plan on doing with the images. The larger aperture probably won't be taken advantage of during the day while walking around in NYC. Would be useful indoors or at night. If you take the 35mm prime along, then you could use that for low light situations instead.

 

[147798]

For museums you can't be too wide or too fast. I did NY Natural History with my 35/2 (Canon). The speed was great, though the FL was a little long on a crop body.

Maybe look into getting a cheap monopod, which when handled properly can help with stability in a museum (they don't allow tripods generally).

 

[cenetti]

Sigma 10-20mm | Nikon 24-70mm f2.8 | Nikon 35mm f2 | Nikon 105mm f2.8 VR | Nikon 18-200mm VR | SB-600

10-20mm for cityscapes/skylines etc.... NY city Man...of course you need that lens.

35mm f2 for street candid shots. Again NY city...heaven for street photography

18-200 for general crap... though you wouldn't need it/my opinion ... but I'd take it with me anyway...

 

[rhomsy]

Of course you should bring the 10-20. If you're touring NYC, then you will want to take some architectural shots. You can't do it without an ultrawide on a crop body. If you have any interest it photographing buildings, lobbies, statues, etc, then it's mandatory to bring the UWA with you. Otherwise, you'll lose the shots.

 

[kallisti]

Also keep in mind that most hotel rooms have safes these days. If you are going to be in NYC for 4 days, you can bring more gear than you plan on carrying and then pick and choose which lens to walk with based on your plans for that day. Then lock the other lenses up. Lets you cover all your bases.

 

[anubis]

the 10-20 should be first on the list. then the 24-70. i don't really believe it would be worth it to bring the 35 f2. That's only 1 stop faster than the 24-70. Just incrase your ISO number by 1 stop, use Noise Ninja to clear up the noise when you get back home, and you're breaking even without having to lug more gear and switch lenses out

but yeah, 10-20 mandatory

 

[toxic]

the 10-20 should be first on the list. then the 24-70. i don't really believe it would be worth it to bring the 35 f2. That's only 1 stop faster than the 24-70.

only one stop? you think the $500 price difference between a Canon 70-200 f/4 and 70-200 f/2.8 exists only to suck in more money?

Just incrase your ISO number by 1 stop, use Noise Ninja to clear up the noise when you get back home, and you're breaking even without having to lug more gear and switch lenses out

noise removal removes detail if you do any luminance noise reduction. and what happens when he runs out of ISO? i'm gonna guess that museums will want something around f/2.8, 1/30 at ISO 1600. of course, it varies from museum to museum and room to room, but i doubt many rooms will be well-lit.

 

[gnd]

For museum shots I usually use two lenses, Sigma 24mm f1.8 and Pentax FA 50mm f1.4.
The 24mm is the perfect width for full size statues. Requires enough distance between the statue and me to allow enough DoF for the whole statue to be sharp even at wide apertures. Most of my museum shots with this lens are ISO200, f2.4 - f3.5, 1/8s - 1/20s.
For shots of head busts or details the 24mm is too wide, I would need to get very close to fill the frame but then the perspective distortion kicks in. So I use the 50mm f1.4 for these. Again most of the shots are at ISO200 or 400, f2.4 - f3.5 and 1/15s - 1/60s.
I try not to go higher than f2.4, mainly because of DoF issues.
Low light, stationary subjects, gotta love in-body SR

 

[rhomsy]

only one stop? you think the $500 price difference between a Canon 70-200 f/4 and 70-200 f/2.8 exists only to suck in more money?



noise removal removes detail if you do any luminance noise reduction. and what happens when he runs out of ISO? i'm gonna guess that museums will want something around f/2.8, 1/30 at ISO 1600. of course, it varies from museum to museum and room to room, but i doubt many rooms will be well-lit.

Dude, I think he was just trying to offer a compromised solution so that he doesn't have to carry everything with him all over the city. I don't think he was suggesting that there is no reason to have an f/2.8.