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Trip to SF...
- Thread starter Svenson
- Start date
victorian squid
Senior Member
Live near and/or worked in SF my whole life.
My guess would be the zooms. If traveling light, the 16-35 and 24-105. Most of your shots will probably be outside, most interiors I can think of the 16-35 will suffice lighting wise. It would even do well at Alcatraz, although the 35 & 50 would be perfect there.
If you're going any place specific I could make better recommendations. If you're going to leave SF proper and go to say, the Marin headlands, Point Reyes or something like that, the 70-300 would have its moments along with the 16-35.
If wandering around the streets, the 16-35 (union square, Chinatown, the Wharf). If it's a big question mark for the day (Golden Gate Park, Palace of Fine Arts, Fort Point), the 24-105.
My guess would be the zooms. If traveling light, the 16-35 and 24-105. Most of your shots will probably be outside, most interiors I can think of the 16-35 will suffice lighting wise. It would even do well at Alcatraz, although the 35 & 50 would be perfect there.
If you're going any place specific I could make better recommendations. If you're going to leave SF proper and go to say, the Marin headlands, Point Reyes or something like that, the 70-300 would have its moments along with the 16-35.
If wandering around the streets, the 16-35 (union square, Chinatown, the Wharf). If it's a big question mark for the day (Golden Gate Park, Palace of Fine Arts, Fort Point), the 24-105.
E
Eugene Powers
Guest
I made many trips to SF.
Mostly 24-105mm on FF.
16-35mm or sometimes even wider (Sigma 12-24mm) on the streets.
If you get a chance to drive to the Twin Hills (Peaks) you want 300mm for panorama shot to bring close the details.
But overall 24-105mm was the lens I took most pictures with.
--
Eugene
The only time a smaller sensor with the same pixel count is superior to a larger sensor (aka higher pixel density) is when you are focal-length limited.
Quote by Lee Jay
Mostly 24-105mm on FF.
16-35mm or sometimes even wider (Sigma 12-24mm) on the streets.
If you get a chance to drive to the Twin Hills (Peaks) you want 300mm for panorama shot to bring close the details.
But overall 24-105mm was the lens I took most pictures with.
--
Eugene
The only time a smaller sensor with the same pixel count is superior to a larger sensor (aka higher pixel density) is when you are focal-length limited.
Quote by Lee Jay
tonyjr
Veteran Member
like already posted - where and what are you shooting ? Downtown - the 16-35 and / or the 24-105 .
From Marin side of Golden Gate bridge , either - from top of hotel both .
Probably not a nice thing to say , but put some moth balls in suitcase and ask ahead if they have bed bugs - big thing on news here about a month ago .
All major cities have problems with them .
I always carry a can of Deet spray and hit the beds with it . I spray between the 2 matresses and under pillows , then go eat . Then come back and unpack .
I mainly go to LA area and Reno / Tahoe areas .
I have my own house in Mexico - you have the hand pump ones there . [ Airplane - don't carry anything in cans , they can explode and then everything is covered and stained . ]The house is closed up for 6 months and there I have / had problems with fleas - they jump off rats and mice , lay their eggs and wait for you .
--
1st it's a hobby
7D gripped XTI gripped
Canon - efs 10-22 , 17-55 , ef 18-55 IS
EF 28-90 , 28 @ 2.8 , 50 @1.8 , 28-135 IS
L's 35-350 , 70-200 MK II IS
Quantaray lens 70-300 macro
Sigma 135 - 400
2X III , Life Size converter
KSM filters for all
kenko auto tubes , EF 25
From Marin side of Golden Gate bridge , either - from top of hotel both .
Probably not a nice thing to say , but put some moth balls in suitcase and ask ahead if they have bed bugs - big thing on news here about a month ago .
All major cities have problems with them .
I always carry a can of Deet spray and hit the beds with it . I spray between the 2 matresses and under pillows , then go eat . Then come back and unpack .
I mainly go to LA area and Reno / Tahoe areas .
I have my own house in Mexico - you have the hand pump ones there . [ Airplane - don't carry anything in cans , they can explode and then everything is covered and stained . ]The house is closed up for 6 months and there I have / had problems with fleas - they jump off rats and mice , lay their eggs and wait for you .
--
1st it's a hobby
7D gripped XTI gripped
Canon - efs 10-22 , 17-55 , ef 18-55 IS
EF 28-90 , 28 @ 2.8 , 50 @1.8 , 28-135 IS
L's 35-350 , 70-200 MK II IS
Quantaray lens 70-300 macro
Sigma 135 - 400
2X III , Life Size converter
KSM filters for all
kenko auto tubes , EF 25
KENTGA
Veteran Member
Same as with most other cities. With a FF 16-35 and 24-105 for almost all shots. Maybe the tele zoom for some and the 50 1.2 for night shots.
Kent
Kent
pixseal
Senior Member
I spend 20-30 nights per year sleeping in motels and hotels. Some of those nights have included San Francisco hotels. I have never in my life experienced bed bugs. I have never met anyone who has experienced bed bugs.
I wouldn't worry about it.
--
-Dave
http://pixseal.com
Bigbob Irwin
Leading Member
Pleased to hear that bedbugs are not an issue as I'm spending a week in SF in late September.
…also location wise. Coming for Europe – bed bugs are not a real topic here – so I’ll take care about those 
. It turns out that the primes (maybe one of those will make it into my bag anyway) – and even my new 70-300 – have to stay at home (once more) and I’ll take the zooms with me. This is enough to carry around.
I wasn’t sure if SF is "more roomy" (need for a tele) then other big cities – but probably not or at least not in the areas I’ll be able to go to during my (business) stay.
Cheers,
Svenson
. It turns out that the primes (maybe one of those will make it into my bag anyway) – and even my new 70-300 – have to stay at home (once more) and I’ll take the zooms with me. This is enough to carry around.I wasn’t sure if SF is "more roomy" (need for a tele) then other big cities – but probably not or at least not in the areas I’ll be able to go to during my (business) stay.
Cheers,
Svenson
Hi "victorian squid" – I’d like to use your offer to make some recommendations. I'm staying in the Cupertino area (of course
). I'll be there for 5 days - having one day "free". So what would recommend doing for a first time, European visitor to SF? Thanks.
Cheers,
Svenson
Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair…also location wise. Coming for Europe – bed bugs are not a real topic here – so I’ll take care about those
I wasn’t sure if SF is "more roomy" (need for a tele) then other big cities – but probably not or at least not in the areas I’ll be able to go to during my (business) stay.
Cheers,
Svenson
--
Life is short, time to zoom in ©
...yeah - Summertime will be a love-in there
pixseal
Senior Member
Cupertino is 1 or 2 hours drive from SF (depending on the time of day and the traffic conditions). There are no good public transit options between Cupertino and SF; a rental car is your best transportation option. If you have never been to San Francisco, then that's where you should go on your free day.I'm staying in the Cupertino area (of course
If you have half of another day free , I recommend a trip into the Santa Cruz Mountains. Big Basin Redwoods State Park is less than 1 hour drive from Cupertino (and is better than Muir Woods in every way).
http://www.bigbasin.org/
http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=540
--
-Dave
http://pixseal.com
dmanthree
Forum Pro
Forget all that gear. Just get yourself to the martini lounge at the top of the Mark Hopkins hotel. Great martini menu and top notch view.
;-)
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'Hit Refresh if pix do not appear. Flaky ISP at work.'
;-)
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'Hit Refresh if pix do not appear. Flaky ISP at work.'
gdanmitchell
Veteran Member
I work in Cupertino and I shoot frequently in SF. Tthe drive from Cupertino to SF (most likely via 280, but 101 is an alternative) usually takes a bit less than one hour. If you make the mistake of going at the peak of rush hour it could take a bit longer, but two hours is very unlikely.
There is viable public transit. Take a VTA bus to one of the CalTrain stations and take the train. I do it all the time.
Dan
---
G Dan Mitchell - SF Bay Area, California, USA
Blog & Gallery: http://www.gdanmitchell.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/gdanmitchellphotography
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/gdanmitchell/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/gdanmitchell
IM: gdanmitchell
Gear List: Cup, spoon, chewing gum, old shoe laces, spare change, eyeballs, bag of nuts.
There is viable public transit. Take a VTA bus to one of the CalTrain stations and take the train. I do it all the time.
Dan
--Cupertino is 1 or 2 hours drive from SF (depending on the time of day and the traffic conditions). There are no good public transit options between Cupertino and SF; a rental car is your best transportation option. If you have never been to San Francisco, then that's where you should go on your free day.I'm staying in the Cupertino area (of course
If you have half of another day free , I recommend a trip into the Santa Cruz Mountains. Big Basin Redwoods State Park is less than 1 hour drive from Cupertino (and is better than Muir Woods in every way).
http://www.bigbasin.org/
http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=540
--
-Dave
http://pixseal.com
---
G Dan Mitchell - SF Bay Area, California, USA
Blog & Gallery: http://www.gdanmitchell.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/gdanmitchellphotography
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/gdanmitchell/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/gdanmitchell
IM: gdanmitchell
Gear List: Cup, spoon, chewing gum, old shoe laces, spare change, eyeballs, bag of nuts.
friedcorndog
Member
...if you have one more free day, consider Angel Island. Drive up to Tiburon, take the ferry to Angel Island. On the island, you can hike to the top of the mountain where you get a gorgeous 360 view of the entire bay. Total hiking time is around 3hrs. Tiburon is a very pretty town to photograph as well. If you do decide to go make sure you pay close attention to the ferry hours. You really need to catch either the 10am or 11am ferry in order to make the most of the trip.
Before you think about which lens to bring, just make sure don't forget to bring a jacket, you will need it so you can actually use all those lenses out there unless you are planning to stay in the air-conditined hotel room all day
For lenses, it all depends on your personal shooting style and type of things you are going after, but in general I would say the zoom may be more practical for a "tourist" if you are just walking around the city and have nothing specific in your mind trying to do there, I am a prime lens guy normally carry bag full of primes when I go out to shoot, but sometimes I do feel the zoom gives me more flexibilies when I am in a new place as a tourist or for family vacation trips.
For places, there is a few pretty popular spots you may want to check them out.
Of course there is the Golden Gate Bridge, a good spot will be on the Marine county side, you can drive or walk across the bridge to get to that, if you walk, right after you acrossed the bridge, there is under pass near the visita point where you will see many tour busses parked, you take that underpass go under neath the bridge, then there is a path to take you up the hill,l it takes about 20 minutes from the bridge and you will be there, if you drive, take the second exit after the bridge then find the way to turn left and follow the road to go up the hill, you will get to the spot I was talking, the first exit is for the vista point only and have no other outlets, and here is few sample I got from that spot I was talking about:
First shot with the 17mm and second with the 21mm, just to give a idea what focal length lens might work for you.
Took this shot right in the middle of the bridge with the Zeiss 21mm:
While you are in the same area, check out the Palace of Fine Arts too:
Nikon 14-24 @24mm:
TSE 17mm:
There is many other pretty cool location to shoot, just a few random sample I have on the computer here:
For places, there is a few pretty popular spots you may want to check them out.
Of course there is the Golden Gate Bridge, a good spot will be on the Marine county side, you can drive or walk across the bridge to get to that, if you walk, right after you acrossed the bridge, there is under pass near the visita point where you will see many tour busses parked, you take that underpass go under neath the bridge, then there is a path to take you up the hill,l it takes about 20 minutes from the bridge and you will be there, if you drive, take the second exit after the bridge then find the way to turn left and follow the road to go up the hill, you will get to the spot I was talking, the first exit is for the vista point only and have no other outlets, and here is few sample I got from that spot I was talking about:
First shot with the 17mm and second with the 21mm, just to give a idea what focal length lens might work for you.
Took this shot right in the middle of the bridge with the Zeiss 21mm:
While you are in the same area, check out the Palace of Fine Arts too:
Nikon 14-24 @24mm:
TSE 17mm:
There is many other pretty cool location to shoot, just a few random sample I have on the computer here:
gdanmitchell
Veteran Member
Depending upon the specific subject, I shoot in SF and the surround areas with primes and zoom, and focal lengths ranging from 17mm to 400mm. (I shoot full frame.) If simplicity and so forth are an issue, I'd stick to the zooms.
Rather than posting a bunch of my photos, here is a link to a section of my online gallery that includes SF photographs. You can also get EXIF (including shot data) on any of them if you wish:
http://gdanmitchell.com/gallery/v/HumanWorld/Cities/SanFrancisco/
Dan
--
---
G Dan Mitchell - SF Bay Area, California, USA
Blog & Gallery: http://www.gdanmitchell.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/gdanmitchellphotography
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/gdanmitchell/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/gdanmitchell
IM: gdanmitchell
Gear List: Cup, spoon, chewing gum, old shoe laces, spare change, eyeballs, bag of nuts.
Rather than posting a bunch of my photos, here is a link to a section of my online gallery that includes SF photographs. You can also get EXIF (including shot data) on any of them if you wish:
http://gdanmitchell.com/gallery/v/HumanWorld/Cities/SanFrancisco/
Dan
--
---
G Dan Mitchell - SF Bay Area, California, USA
Blog & Gallery: http://www.gdanmitchell.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/gdanmitchellphotography
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/gdanmitchell/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/gdanmitchell
IM: gdanmitchell
Gear List: Cup, spoon, chewing gum, old shoe laces, spare change, eyeballs, bag of nuts.
friedcorndog
Member
This was a gorgeous picture, Dan.
http://gdanmitchell.com/gallery/v/HumanWorld/Cities/SanFrancisco/GreaterBayArea/TreasureIslandBoatsBridgeDawn20091025.jpg.html
http://gdanmitchell.com/gallery/v/HumanWorld/Cities/SanFrancisco/GreaterBayArea/TreasureIslandBoatsBridgeDawn20091025.jpg.html
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