NYC Gear Recap

Here is my report card for the gear that I packed for my New York trip:

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS - This proves my point that f/2.8 will always be better than f/4 + Image Stabilization (IS). It was fine in the daytime, but proved limiting shooting handheld at night. I should've taken a f/2.8 lens. The reach was nice though, but I did carry a longer lens and changing lenses would not have been much of a bother. I might end up selling this lens and just stick to my Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L as my mid-range lens.

Canon TS-E 24mm f/3.5L - No regrets here. I shot a lot of bridges and it was quite nice having this lens handy. I didn't get a chance to shoot a time-lapse with it though.

Canon EF 17-40 f/4L - I also shot a lot of cityscapes. Always good to have an ultra-wide angle lens around. No complaints here.

Canon EF 15mm f/2.8 Fisheye - While it is a novelty lens, it never wears off on me. Shot a lot of random fun shots with this - wide open at ISO 800 or 1600. Good Stuff.

Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 - I hardly used it, as I opted for the fisheye for shots that I would usually use the 50 for. Still, you can never go wrong with one of these in your bag.

Canon EF 80-200mm f/4-5.6 - As suspected, I wouldn't need it much. I'm glad I took this lens instead of my Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L. Lugging that big white lens around for eight days would not have been fun if I didn't get to use it much. I'm actually tempted not to sell this lens anymore. It fetches around $100, but for that much, I might just keep it for traveling purposes.

Canon EF Extender 1.4x - I actually forgot I took this. I only saw it when I was unpacking. For the size and weight vs. purpose, I think I would bring it on my next trip too.

The speedlight and other things ... didn't see much action either. Batteries on the other hand, were quite useful. With the cold weather dropping down to the 20s (with the wind-chill factor), batteries didn't last long. I'm glad I took four with me.

While I'm at the subject of gear, I paid a visit to the Mecca - B&H. I had no shopping agenda, but I didn't want to walk out empty handed, so I bought a Black Rapid RS5 strap. Its fantastic.

Thanks for reading, my next post will include photos from this trip (other than iPhone photo).