My name is Mike and I am new to the group and Street Photography. I just wanted to get some feedback from some of the member on what do you feel the best choice of lens, whether it's a 35mm or 50mm and why do use the lens of choice?
My name is Mike and I am new to the group and Street Photography. I just wanted to get some feedback from some of the member on what do you feel the best choice of lens, whether it's a 35mm or 50mm and why do use the lens of choice?
Hi Michael. Great question. I'm a big fan of getting in close, which really helps capture the emotion in the scene. For this reason, my favourite lens is 18mm - I rarely have anything else on the camera.
What do others think / use?
Hi, I use a 24-105 on my camera as it gives me the widest range of choices. okay its a bit of a lump and not that discrete but it works for me
If you have a full frame camera you can't go wrong with a 50mm, but for a crop sensor camera Id go with a 35mm. You have to go prime though. Zoom takes the fun and the art out of it for me at least and having a 1.4 or even 1.8 makes some really interesting shots
I use a 50mm prime for street use. Though if I go on vacation I bring a 24-70mm. I use Full Frame.
My favourite is 28mm on a full frame camera. I can get close to my subject & still have the surrounding area in the frame.
I love to use a 18-35 sigma art lens for street. It's a 1.8 zoom lens that works perfectly for up-close pictures and medium range. It's a lens for crop sensor cameras.. But I use it on my full frame D600 >:) Heres some examples of the range. -unedited
It really depends on the look you want. Do you want flat images like HCB or 3D images like Winogrand?
For the flatter look a 50 is what you want. Were as a wider lens such as a 28mm like Winogrand will give you a more 3 dimensional image.
For me it will always be a 50mm, a fast 50.
Historically there is no debate, look through countless Magnum Contact Sheets, for example, there is only one true classic and that is of course the 35mm on a full frame sensor (why use anything else?).
Again, it depends a little on the look you want. Whose work do you aspire to?
I would also counter the idea of "flat and 3D images" that's as much to do with your f stop setting and shooting distance as anything else.
A portrait using a 50mm at f2 at 5ft is anything but "flat".
If you take the image above, the young girl with the jacket, a full 20% of the frame, the bottom of the image is vacant. With a 35mm or even a 28mm, you would either get in closer and aim to fill the frame. I suspect this lens is set somewhat wider.
In fact, the wider you go, the less 3D an image can look. By having all the elements in the shot, all in focus it can look very flat as everything becomes undistinguished, homogenous, but shoot at f2 - 4 and at a close range, say 3-7ft, then things can really "pop"
28 / 24mm - for this to work, you need to be in very close, and no doubting in tight crowded scenarios, it's a lifesaver. The image however will get ever more distorted the wider you go and from 24mm down, you need to be intensely aware that towards the edge of frame, especially the corners, limbs, heads, bodies get sucked into these corners. Shot badly and a 24 or below can look dire. Prime lenses score better over wide zooms such as 35 - 17mm.
50mm has some advantages but it means you can not get in close (enough), this was my own go-to lens, until a magnum Photographer gave me his 35mm on a shoot and Bam! I went out and bought the Zeiss 35mm f2 the next day and have never looked back.
And yes, there are notable exceptions, but the humble 35mm prime is the lens you need on that FF body of yours.
Lastly, and something alluded to in an above reply is the camera's physical size. I never take my D800 out with me, never-ever on Street shoots. The Sony is perfect, it slips into my coat pocket, it is the same size as the Leica M series which is the Daddy of reportage / street photographers the world over.
In short, whilst a prime 50mm is a delight, for street and reportage, the default lens has to be a 35mm fast-ish prime (I sold my 35mm f1.4 yesterday on FleaBay), leaving me with the Zeiss f2.
Leave any zooms at home, if you're indecisive & thinking you need a zoom for Street, try a prime for one week & your zoom will never go out with you on the street. Again, something the Masters have shown us time & time again - if your shots are not working, likelihood is you're simply not close enough, so walk forward into the image.
Hope that helps - and for your own education, turn off any auto focus, learn to use the manual-everything. Look at the distance graduations on the lens to further assist. Good hunting!
PS - if you really want to view what is cutting-edge 2015 Street, go look at Glasweegee's most recent work outside Harrods. Also have a look on LensCulture at their recent Street competition?
I was talking perspective not depth of field.