Trip to New York with Leica

[joao_figueiredo]

<p>Hello!<br>

i'm planning a trip to New york for 2 weeks.<br>

My problem is i want to take my Leica M6 and two lenses a 50mm and a 28mm + a nikon D80 with a 10-20mm. it's a nice Combo but i'm a little worried about the safety of my gear. i want to visit the city ride the subway, go to chinatown, all that tourist stuff...<br>

So, what do you think, can i and my gear be in danger doing this tourist stuff in NY? if i get rob i'm not wooried aboyt the nikon but my Leica is my BABY...<br>

can you guys advice me?!?!?!?!!?</p>

<p>thank you all in advace.</p>

[john_elder1]

<p>Just take the M6, the Nikon won't be safe. Seriously, NYC probably has the largest concentration of street photographers in the world. Its as safe as it gets in any city.</p>

[brucecahn]

<p>It is rarely, but occasionally dangerous. Keep the cameras in a bag and pull one out when you need it. Stay away from abandoned streets( if you can find any). I use an M6 in town all the time. It has never attracted much attention. The situation has only gotten dangerous for me a few times. That was when I used to carry a SWC, and was with a friend who also had very expensive cameras. Then we were stalked twice, but were not attacked. Pay attention to what is going on around you, but you do that for street photography anyway.</p>

[thomas_sullivan]

<p>I understand John's point....that the thieves want to turn over the theft as quickly as possible and that means they'll steal the Nikon (newer, more people want it)....but I walk around NYC all times of day and night with a Canon 5D and nobody bothers me. I am a big guy and full bearded, so I do have that going for me...but all in all, I personally feel much safer in NYC than I do in Philadelphia.</p>

<p>Just take caution and you should be ok. I wear my Domke bag backwards, so it opens the top flap away from me so that the gear is exposed to me....not everbody else. I also wear it not just on my shoulder, but over my neck onto the opposite shoulder. And I wear it mostly in front of me, off to one side of me. That way my camera hand does the camera and my other hand/arm usually rests over bag. The camera itself....it's strap is either wrapped aroound my wrist, or over my neck. NEVER hanging from one shoulder.</p>

<p>Change lenses and film/cards away from people....like in little nooks of doorways and corners of buildings.</p>

<p>And NEVER take money out in public. always do it in the store and keep it close to you when yoou do, so no one can see just how much you have. If you HAVE to buy something on the street, have a seperate cache of money in your pocket NOT on the side holding the camera.</p>

<p>All of that is really just common sense, and New Yorkers live like that even without cameras. But it's all designed to keep you from being a target. Dress like a slob also......heh......seriously......fancy duds says MONEY to thieves. And don't keep your wallet in your back pant pocket. Keep it in the front one.</p>

<p>Have fun....it's a great place to take pics!</p>

[starvy]

<p>It is useful to be in areas where there are people as well as what others have said above.</p>

[michael_a._shapiro]

<p>All sounds like good advice. Remember though, that camera is just a tool;it's not your baby! In other words, if you can't afford to lose it, trade it for something you can. Oh yeah, electrical tape over all the white and red stuff. If it's chrome, tape that up too.</p>

[Uhooru]

<p>Last I was there was in Nov. 07. I just took an M and a 35 mm. Left the bag locked at the hotel, just took film and walked around by myself for a week with 0 problems, But maybe I was just oblivious or lucky? BTW, the 35 was all I needed.</p>

[steve_levine]

<p>In daylight, there are very few neighborhoods that I wouldn't walk through in NYC with 10 cameras around my neck. And none of them are in Manhattan. If you go to Chinatown or Greenwich Village at 2:00 AM, you could find trouble. At 2:00 PM not so much. Use common sense, and shoot lots of film.</p>

<p>BTW, I walk the streets of NYC and shoot at least 2 days a week, during the day with 1 or 2 cameras around my neck.</p>

[will_wright1]

<p>I live here and shoot all the time with M's downtown. I'd endorse the "use common sense" thoughts. I carry a small bag and in crowds--like the subway or Times Square keep the bag under my arm and a hand on the strap...just like my wife handles her purse. NY is really one of the safer cities in the country...maybe the world. Lots of cops around. Yes you can shoot in the subway. Have fun with normal precautions. </p>

[chrise_boris]

<p>I toured the South Bronx on foot for two days with a camera. It was during the day and to be fair I felt very safe and relieved to get away from the tourist crowds on Manhattan. The Bronx is really a cool place with little traffic and a sleepy atmosphere, but don't go at night unless you know your whereabouts. Just keep lowkey, wear some beat up clothes and carry your Leica in a shopping bag.</p>

[joao_figueiredo]

<p>WOW!! thanks guys, great advice. i do look like a bum very slob ahahahah. my M6 is the black version, a bit more discrete. i will be careful and do a lot of tourist stuff also since i'm from portugal, buy the New York Pass to avoid crowds and have a lot of fun. maybe i'll meet some of you local new yorkers Photogs. if any of you guys go out there i'll be the one with a Black Leica and look like a bum and tourist at the same time. ehehehe</p>

[john_elder1]

<p>I was kidding about not taking the Nikon. Don't worry, take all the camera equipment you want.</p>

[mark_vail2]

<p>Anywhere you plan to go in Manhattan will be completely fine. Having lived here for five years now I can tell you that, as others have said, there aren't any areas of Manhattan you need to worry about in daylight - or, really, night either. If you are as cautious as you appear (nothing wrong with that) you would have to truly look for trouble in this city to find it - and even then would most likely not succeed. So, sorry to disappoint, but gentrification has made it so you will be bored by the lack of edge here...</p>

[joao_figueiredo]

<p>I'm not looking for trouble or some kind of thrill... i just want to enjoy as much of the city as i can. it's my first time there so it has to be some kind of prefect. ehehehehe.<br>

oh, and i'll probably be in Manhattan quite early in the traditional Market place to photograph that life. i was told it is magnificent.</p>

[paul_neuthaler]

<p>Btowning Hi Power w/110 grain hollowpoints & lots of B&W film</p>

[scott_paris4]

<p>I walk around in Detroit with my M6 all the time. Take comfort in the fact that people who are not camera freaks think Leicas are just really old cameras. Maybe cover up the red dot. Try to look crazy.</p>

[anthony_ilardi]

<p> </p>

 

<p>I grew up around NYC and go back fairly often to visit. Typically, I have a camera in my hand (not to protect it, but because it is much faster to shoot that way) whether a Leica M (with a 35 and 50 -- and sometimes two bodies) or a Canon 5D with grip (28 and 50) (which is a lot more noticeable than the Leica). Never any issue, even on the 1970s when New York was not as nice as today. If you are going as a tourist, I cannot imagine where you would be that you should have any concerns (that is pretty much true as well for Detroit, where I now live, and any other large city. Of course, it is always prudent to have your equipment insured -- who knows, you may drop it in the harbor leaning over to get that perfect shot of the Statue of Liberty! </p>

 

 

[bjarke_vejby]

<p>Pl. use a 21 mm; this is the NY street lens !</p>

[bjarke_vejby]

<p>Pl. use a 21 mm; this is the NY lens !</p>

[chris_raney1]

<p>I agree with most of the advice you've been given, especially Bruce's when he said leave your camera in the bag until you're ready to shoot. I just got back from spending a week there and I shot my Leica with a 35mm lens, which I never changed. I also bought all of my film up there and then shipped it back home since I didn't want to run the risk of having my film fogged by TSA scanners (a subsequent 'test' I performed with once, twice, and an unexposed roll of film didn't reveal <em>any </em>fogging from their machines...not that I still trust them).</p>

<p>Like Thomas, I'm large, though at 58 I'm not nearly as imposing as I once was. My security back-up when I travel is a Giotto monopod with a Manfrotto ball head that I carry everywhere. Pull out the last section and there's my name and phone number engraved in the barrel just in case I get too drunk to remember where I left it. But seriously, Joao, I would suggest you carry a good monopod for those times that you'll need a steady rest for those long exposures. A tripod is nice, but even the smallest are bulky and cumbersome. I took one along, and used it only once. And if you get stalked having that monopod in your hand looks all the world like you're carrying a club. The police sometimes eye me when they see me carrying that thing. But once they see the camera bag they don't bother. I've carried it in Europe as well. And if you had to use it as a weapon it would be formidable.</p>

<p>Where are you staying? If you're looking for cheap digs I suggest the HI New York youth hostel. I stayed 6 days and spent less than two-hundred bucks. I suppose I could have stayed at the elder hostel for the same price, but who wants to camp out with the walker crowd when you can possibly see some Amazon lose her towel in the hallway as she minces her way back to her room from the showers? (No, I don't photograph indoors there. I have no desire to get killed).</p>

[kbg32]

<p>I have lived here for over 30 years. Don't worry, be happy. I see tourists on the train all the time with their gear hangin' out. I now live up in Harlem. No problems whatsoever. Everyone has a camera these days. </p>