After Wall St., I walked towards the southernmost tip of the island, covering my camera from the elements. Though it was above freezing, the wind carried a real chill and the rain only made matters worse. The clouds were low, and I wasn't hopeful that the weather would improve. My plan was to get around as much of Manhattan as I could, simply to see things the first time around. I will visit again for sure, for longer, and will have a much less frantic trip.
The above photo is one of my favourites in this series. I like the colours, the textures, and ambiance. I took this photo at 55mm with what I consider to objectively be the “best” lens in my collection, and wide open, which I didn’t need to do and possibly shouldn’t have. However, as the lens is so sharp even at full aperture, it’s not like I have lost any detail in reality. I ended up using the 55mm lens a lot.
Oculus at 21mm
Changing lenses is a bit of a pain and I see the benefits of a travel zoom, yet again. I used to have one, but sold it in favour of primes. It was the 18-200mm LE lens (actually my first lens review, here), and though I would still recommend the lens, it is not the sharpest or fastest to focus. Sharpness is not everything, far from it, but if you’re going to lose detail it may as well be with digital zoom from a better lens.
I’d like the 24-105mm f/4. It’s not cheap at 1300USD, but the idea of such a lens is to replace primes when travelling, which it could have almost done in this case. I had the very wide 21mm Voigtländer lens with me, which is something different entirely. I love 24mm, and 105mm is longer than I usually shoot. OK, so I have sold myself the lens. Literally the only thing keeping me from the lens is money.
Having said that, a good zoom is great, but I have always appreciated the restriction of a prime. It forces you to think a little more than just point, zoom, and shoot.
It’s easy to keep your eyes at street level, soak in all of the adverts, and forget that there’s a skyline at all. There is some really interesting architecture in Manhattan, and I only scratched the surface.
By the time I had reached Staten Island Ferry, I was ready to take my next series of photos, so stay tuned for those :)