Originally posted by jonlg Occasionally Tamron 70-200mm F2.8 - but only on the day we get the Staten Island ferry to shoot Statue of LIberty (will I even need to take it for that or does the ferry get close?)
To bring that lens only for a ride to Staten makes not much sense to me. I've never took ferry to Staten Island, but I was on Liberty Island, and yes, ferry to Staten goes close by Liberty Island, so you can get nice shoots with 70mm, imo. Also, you always can take a trip to Liberty Island as well, and mostly I used my 21mm ltd wishing can have wider lens.
Your 2 zooms, and fish eye if you want, will be more than enough for NY .
As for safety, I was walking in Manhattan, rented apartment in East Side, and felt pretty safe there day time. Times Square at night is loaded with police, and I took lots of pictures there, then at 3am we, three girlfriends, took a cab back to East Side. The only place when I needed to be in alert was Penn Station.
As for bags, you can check BH and Adorama, it's so much fun! I bought Think Tank TurnStyle 10 (medium size) sling at BH, and love it except one drawback, it does not have a pocket for water bottle. It was comfortable for me wearing it up front (like baby sling
), and it fits K5iis with two extra lenses (short ltd), or two cameras K5iis with short ltd, and Canon SL1 with pancake lens. For the city walk slings are good. Of course the best is to check slings on your own, it's like choosing eye glasses.
Keep in mind that BH does not have the whole inventory on display, you need to ask sales person to bring selected stuff from warehouse to test. So, if you are interested, search the site online, and make your selection to request for testing at the store. It does not take long for them to bring it, I've been waiting no more than 10 minutes.
Oh, and here is someone's picture taken from the ferry with 9.7mm, you can figure out how close to the statue it will be.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/hiroc/18371517030