Best lens for New York?

[faris]

Any focal length you are comfortable with. then you would concentrate
on your photography..and not thinking too much about the frame.

having said that for me..on film the lux 50 asph; on the m8 the lux 35 asph.
these btw are the 2 lens combos i am taking with me to zurich/munich/prague.

 

[Pablito]

Sushi Yasuda at 204 E 43rd St near Grand Central. Some of the best sushi in town elegantly presented. Bring two credit cards. Expensive but worth it.

An online reviewer spend $200 per person there and left hungry. Very small portions, time limit, they instruct you how to eat the food "respectfully". Not for everyone, but no doubt exquisite.

 

[jrichie]

I was in NYC last year with my M8 and 28 Elmarit.

It was a great combo and was all I carried. No bag, nothing and all was great.

However, I am never sure that I don't get trouble as a lot of people say I am 'scarey' 🙂

attached is one of my favourite pics from the trip !! Have fun it is the best city in the world, and I am aiming to live there soon [well I would be now if there was a job for me!]

 

[figfoto]

On the M8 you will find the 24mm the most useful all around lens for shooting in NYC. You step 2 feet back you have a 21mm or 2 feet forward a 28mm. You can check out my gallery, most of the NYC stuff is with the 24mm.

 

[uhligfd]

Zeiss M 25 mm, maybe.

 

[kdemas]

I enjoy my 25mm Zeiss ZM when in Paris and New York. Great lens, nice focal length for street on my M8.

Kent

 

[jke]

An online reviewer spend $200 per person there and left hungry. Very small portions, time limit, they instruct you how to eat the food "respectfully". Not for everyone, but no doubt exquisite.

Expensive, but the rest of it has never been our experience. Portions are perfect given the quality of the sushi, staff is very knowledgeable, and we have never been rushed through a meal.

Sushi of Gari is another to try. On 78th I think between 1st and York. The best is the chef's tasting menu, which varies based on season and the chef's mood.

Of course, you never go home hungry in NYC. Cannolis at Cafe Roma in Little Italy are just a cab ride away.

 

[flip]

Go wide, but compact and discrete. In NYC, almost everyone's on the make.
Trattoria Spaghetto on Bleeker is tasty.
Central Park should be nice this time of year. 久しぶり。

 

[Benjamin Marks]

Sad to hear this. The Puerto Rican guys who sliced the pastrami were pals of mine.

Edit: just downloaded their menu. 14.95 for a hot pastrami sandwich. About twice what I paid at my last visit, a couple of years ago. Wow.

Edit Again: Sorry folks, I just find food SO much more interesting than lenses!

You know what? It's worth it. If you are in NYC for a vacation, this will hardly be the most expensive sit-down meal you have - - Make sure to get plenty of Katz's mustard, a plate of thick steak fries and a plate of assorted pickles - half-sours, full-sours and green tomato. Pabst blue ribbon lager or a cream soda on the side. If you are at all susceptible to Jewish soul-food (of the Eastern European variety) I am telling you, it is still worthwhile. Not kosher, but plenty tasty.

Ben Marks

P.s. Don't let them give you "lean" anything. You want the full-fat pastrami experience.

P.P.S - go with the fastest wide lens you have; I also take the C/V 15 it weighs nothing, but is great to have when that sense of space is what you want to convey. You want the speed-kings because much of what happens, happens at night.

Last time I went I had a 50/2, a 35/2 a 35/1.2, a 28/2.8 and a C/V 15.

P.P.P.S -- To the excellent eateries mentioned, I would add Grand Szechuan International

27th + Ninth
229 Ninth Ave.
New York, NY 10001
212-620-5200

Absolutely the best Chinese food I have had in NY -- and VERY reasonable.

 

[MartinL]

I just find food SO much more interesting than lenses!

Somewhere, on some food forum, people are wandering OT and talking about lenses. 🙂

The point about Katz's is not whether they are a "good deal" or "the best" at what they do. If those were my criteria, I'd never own an M8.

In an earlier post, I recommended the Tenement Museum. Once there, you can pick up a sheet of recommendations of neighborhood food "institutions" including where to buy the best bialy, the best pickles (barrels on the street), where to see a matzo assembly line - - -you know, the usual stuff.

 

[Pablito]

Somewhere, on some food forum, people are wandering OT and talking about lenses. 🙂

The point about Katz's is not whether they are a "good deal" or "the best" at what they do. If those were my criteria, I'd never own an M8.

In an earlier post, I recommended the Tenement Museum. Once there, you can pick up a sheet of recommendations of neighborhood food "institutions" including where to buy the best bialy, the best pickles (barrels on the street), where to see a matzo assembly line - - -you know, the usual stuff.

I'll never own an M8, however I also recommend the Lower East Side Tenement Museum. But you don't have get their info sheet for this:

Best bialy: KOSSARS on Grand St.
Best pickles: Gus' Pickes on Essex St.
Matzo "assembly line": peek into the Streit's Matzo factory on Rivington St. (buy a whole bag of broken ones for next to nothing)

 

[Nemo]

On the M8 you will find the 24mm the most useful all around lens for shooting in NYC. You step 2 feet back you have a 21mm or 2 feet forward a 28mm. You can check out my gallery, most of the NYC stuff is with the 24mm.

Please, do you have a link?

Thanks!!!

 

[Michiel Fokkema]

HI,
i just uploaded my set of NYC here:Flickr
I used a R6 and my most used lens was a 24mm. Some streets are just too narrow. I also used the 50/1.4 and the 60/2.0 quite a lot.

Cheers,

Michiel Fokkema

 

[afineman]

the pastrami at katz's is enough for 2 or 3 people to share, so the price is worth it.

if you would like a new yorker's guide to bargain eating in the city - it goes like this;
for breakfast, coffee and bagel (or pastry) - or you can go to Life Cafe on east 10th street for their $3.40 breakfast special 2 eggs, rice&beans or homefries and cornbread or toast and coffee or tea (used to include juice too).

for lunch, look around for lunch specials in a restaurant down in the LES it's usually $5-10 for a very good lunch special

for dinner, get a slice of pizza or two

that is my budget diners advice.

as for cheap and amazing eats:
1) Zaragosa = Mexican tortilla's and burritos, it's a tiny deli on avenue A and 12th/13th street
2) Not sure of the name, Medina maybe, it's Pakistani on 1st Avenue between 12&13 street on West side of street, dinner special there is $8 it's always crowded with cabbies during shift change time. very unassuming place
3) Chinese, on bowery 1 block south of Canal street, at the corner, the Noodle shop - they have a rice and duck special for $3 (may be up to $4 by now, but it was $3 a few months ago). it's not a lot of food, but I usually split that with some veges with a friend.

they city is full of many more places like this, these just happen to be the ones that I enjoy to go to when I am on a budget.

 

[afineman]

ok, sorry folks i know this has gotten way off topic from discussion of lenses but i just found this link to a map based list of New York Magazine Restaurant reviewed places to eat in the city and thought you might want to see it also:
http://nycfoodmap.com/

 

[Pablito]

3) Chinese, on bowery 1 block south of Canal street, at the corner, the Noodle shop - they have a rice and duck special for $3 (may be up to $4 by now, but it was $3 a few months ago). it's not a lot of food, but I usually split that with some veges with a friend.

The place is called Noodletown.

 

[Nemo]

ok, sorry folks i know this has gotten way off topic from discussion of lenses but i just found this link to a map based list of New York Magazine Restaurant reviewed places to eat in the city and thought you might want to see it also:
http://nycfoodmap.com/

Thank you very much!

 

[nightfly]

I live here and I'm digging the cheap eats recommendations. Also might want to check out the outer boroughs for food and photography. Walking the Brooklyn bridge is nice and good ice cream and pizza on the Brooklyn side. You can go hipster hunting in Williamsburg if you hop on the L train from Union Square.

FYI the Sushi at Sushi by Gari had the highest mercury content in the city in a recent test.

As for lenses, I shoot a 28mm on my film cameras and find it just about perfect. I've got a CV 28 3.5. When it gets dark I switch to a a 35mm Summicron. Good combo for me. Also a GR 1 for when I don't want to drag my Leica.

The cherry blossoms in the Brooklyn Botanical should be coming out this week. Not to be missed. (the ones around the lake have peaked but the main grove of them are just about to blossom). Avoid the Cherry Blossom festival this Satruday/Sunday as it's usually mobbed and go on a weekday. Down Washington street is Tom's Dinner. Great food, great service a short walk from the garden.

 

[Calzone]

If you go to Williamsburg and want a steak go to Peter Lugers. On the weekend make a reservation. BTW I heard they make a great burger also. They are famous for a great steak though.

Mandicotties in Long Island City near P.S. 1 is another great resturant that looks to be a hole in the wall outside off the the beaten path, but great Italian.

Williamsburg and LIC expose some desolate abandoned parts of the city, but they are only one stop from Madhattan.

As for lens choice, I'd go wider than you normally shoot. Its pretty easy to get poked in the eye by a tourist in Times Square. Getting close to people is not the problem.

Wides are also better for quick shooting and zone focusing. I use a Nikon F3 SLR with a sports finder and 24/2.0 on a focused at 5 feet at f5.6 like a point and shoot.

Also less gear is better. Perhaps only two fast lenses, one of them exteamely wide. A fifty probably the longest.

Calzone

 

[jke]

Go wide, but compact and discrete. In NYC, almost everyone's on the make.

Not in my experience. New York now is so entirely different from New York in the late 70's/early 80's as to nearly be a different planet. Take a step on the subways and you'll see people with iPods, cell phones, laptops, etc. all out in the open. Back then, you didn't wear a watch, women turned their rings inside their palms or left them at home, they wore their purses strapped to their bodies,etc. Now you'll see tourists all over the city slinging giant cameras and multiple lenses they just bought at B&H five minutes earlier. No one blinks.

The other day I saw a woman on the subway discussing the quality and price of her diamond ring with two strangers. I felt like I should mug her when she got off the train just to keep the earth from spinning off its axis.



Disclaimer: New York is a big city. Things get stolen, people get robbed, just like in any big city. But there is a surreal level of normalcy & safety in New York these days. Be smart, be aware, but have a good time.