This is how I prefer to do my street shooting...

[Juan Valdenebro]

Which cameras are the best tools for your street photography? Let' do it by parts, to find RFF's preferences and optimal camera design for our comfortable street shooting. Please give four answers, one for each subject.

 

[Mudman]

I use whatever camera I have with me. AF, Digital, MF, Rangefinder, small format, medium format, etc.

 

[taylan]

definitely a small and reliable camera

 

[Re Konn]

I was out shooting last weekend with my M2 and collapsible 'cron. Usually no one pays any attention to it other than the odd leicaphile who passes by but this time a number of people had asked me if it was the new Fuji X100. Guess i'll have to switch back to my black M6 until the X100 dust settles.

 

[jordanstarr]

One camera, one lens (I take a couple incase the scene is more suitable for one or the other), blend in with the crowd, act confident, ALWAYS TAKE THE TIME TO COMPOSE THE IMAGE AND NEVER SHOOT FROM THE HIP, dented and scratched up hood for an unprofessional look, work the crowd if possible, work closer rather than further away, mingle, be genuine, build report if necessary and most importantly....get the shot. Also, spend less time on photography forums and classifieds and get out shooting when there's light.

 

[PatrickONeill]

just one rule; just don't act like a creeper.

and even that rule can be broken

 

[jsrockit]

just one rule; just don't act like a creeper.

and even that rule can be broken

+1 ... ... ...

 

[Brian Legge]

All of the above (minus autofocus and zoom?)

 

[Juan Valdenebro]

After (only) two years of street shooting, here's what I've found:


About focusing:


In general I use prefocus and f/8. But I can't deny there are LOTS of light situations where I can't do it because I need a much wider aperture, so manual focus is what I do for nearly half my shooting. And if light is real low, my not too old eyes just can't focus fast enough... Then I use an AF camera. So, for this subject, I use (I mean I carry) a camera I can prefocus stopped down AND manual focus for wide apertures, and also my Hexar AF for low light as in churches. So no easy one-only answer here to me.


About lenses:


I have enough with any 28/35 set. 50 is being far to me and means losing too much angle in most situations. Then I carry more than one focal length: at least a moderate wideangle and a short tele. I can't be true if I say zooms are unusable: I carry everyday my compact 28-100 stylus epic, and it has given me some good images with great distance from subject freedom in the fastest way. Again, I can't go for just one of the poll's options.


About metering:


For sun there's nothing to think of. For soft light I find a meter in camera is faster than a handheld one, but I carry an incident one with spot just in case I can't reach the light from my place. Finally, I must admit AE is one of the most useful and effective options in street shooting, especially if film is not being wildly pushed. I've missed a lot more images because of slow settings decisions than because of AE unaccuracy, so my vote here would go to AE cameras.


About color:


No doubt to me: black is notably better for street in my experience.


So I see none of my cameras can do it all. Being honest and impartial, I feel my best tools for street shooting are the XA and R3A stopped down for soft light, and the Hexar AF for low light. Manual exposure cameras, and even worse, meterless ones, are inferior to me. I can use them well, though, and get great images, sure, but I also know they're just not as fast as other cameras for fast aiming in several directions with different light situations, and this is VERY common. I don't feel “knowing” the light from experience or from a previous handheld metering is enough: it's enough ONLY for certain situations that give us the great gift of time to think and decide, but if well used, an AE camera thinks well and A LOT faster.


That's why I carry two or three cameras at least. One prefocused and stopped down for direct sun without metering (Leica IIIF or R4M), one for most of the outdoors soft light scenes, prefocused or for manual focus if wider apertures are required (R3A and XA/Stylus Epic Wide100) and another one waiting inside the bag for real low light or just avoiding manual focus and manual settings anytime, but with total manual options too (Hexar AF).


Cheers,


Juan

 

[fuji645]

I use whatever camera has film it it at the time. My IIIc with the 35 Summaron is great for the street. Recently used a Mamiya C33 with a 65mm W/A and caught some great shots. I find that the combination of W/L finder and a wide angle works very well and people seldom realize that they are being photographed. One comment from someone on the street: --"What is that thing--an antique? You must really know how to use that!"

 

[taskoni]

I am using my Leica III with Summar 5/2, but I am too slow to rewind. I bought an M2 specially for street shots, equipped with elmar 35mm 3.5. Not the best leica lens but the smallest one I owe. Saving for fast 35mm or 40mm now 🙂

I also don't shoot from the hip, but I do like to sit and have a beer in an open bar and shoot from there. Beer photography?

 

[Arjay]

I have already taken street images with just about any camera I own: DSLR with zoom or prime lens, Hexar RF rangefinder or fixed lens AF camera (Hexar AF), but never without autoexposure.

I'm not really an expert at guesstimating light, so meterless cameras would leave me clueless, or at least slow me down too much. All I care about is light moods and/or contrast, which I need to understand so I can preset/compensate what my camera's meter will be reading. As for the rest, I'm grateful that there's a little automatic fairy in my camera that unloads me from metering chores.

Pre or zone focussing is viable most of the time, bit I prefer AF for fast, wide open shots with very limited DOF. If the camera has intelligent AF functions such as face recognition (like my DSLR), I like to use that too, as it allows me to shoot from the hip in AF mode (yes, that's feasible given enough light).

I started doing street photography using my big DSLR and a huge, fast zoom lens. Incidentally, I found I mostly use FL settings that correspond to either 28mm or 35mm, so I might just as well use primes.

Camera size, weight and complexity can be problematic, but aren't nearly as important as many would like to have us believe. 'Being invisible' depends much more on the photographer's behavior than on his camera. I think you could even be 'invisible' if you had a pink camera, as long as you understand to blend in well with your environment.

 

[Juan Valdenebro]

Another thing I've found since I use my silver Hexar AF is people look at my hand (down) while I just walk... Not everyone, but some people everyday. I guess it's natural for eyes to be caught by light... No one looks at my hand when I carry my black cameras. Body expression is very important: to tell with our body we're interested in things away from our subject while keeping our camera down... But I don't understand why, once seen with a camera, when it's black, common people feel less worried. Could it be black cameras are in common people's mind related to plastic toys used for less important snapping? I see everyday that the difference is considerable...

Cheers,

Juan

 

[whitecat]

I use a Contax G2 and a 28 or 35. The secret for me is no direct pointing. I hang it around my neck and use an electronic cable release which leads to my pocket. I can get close this way.

 

[brainwood]

Rollei 35 I find the best for street shooting. Scale focus , Fixed lens , exposure meter not linked to camera, so at the moment of taking the shot 'all' I need to do is think about shot I'm trying to get not what the cameras doing. I would preset as I approach the shot/light conditions change.... oh and its black but not sure this makes any difference

 

[Juan Valdenebro]

I use a Contax G2 and a 28 or 35. The secret for me is no direct pointing. I hang it around my neck and use an electronic cable release which leads to my pocket. I can get close this way.

Wow! For a prefocused 28 (what I use) that sounds great! No problem at chest level... Thanks!

Cheers,

Juan

 

[Keith]

I think the government has the right idea ... cameras located at every possible point photographing everyone and feeding the images back to a central monitoring base.

Damned effective!

 

[Juan Valdenebro]

Right now, the majority of RFF members voted for best street shooting tool...:

"Any color, fixed lens prefocused metered camera..."

I thought rangefinder focusing and meterless cameras were going to be the most voted ones...

Cheers,

Juan

 

[whitecat]

Good posting. Thanks, Juan.

 

[Roberto V.]

I use whatever camera I happen to have with me that day. Usually my M4 or my Canon A2E. With the A2E, I use aperture priority, sometimes scale focused when I shoot from the hip, sometimes AF. Same with the M4, scale focus when shot from the hip, RF focus when using the VF.