What is your go-to lens for street photography?

What is your go-to lens for street photography?

  • 28mm

    Votes: 38 17.4%

  • 35mm

    Votes: 108 49.3%

  • 50mm

    Votes: 50 22.8%

  • Other

    Votes: 23 10.5%
  • Total voters
    219
On the rare occasion when I street shoot with a Canon Canonet QL17 G-III 35mm rangefinder camera, the fixed 40mm f/1.7 is my go-to lens.
 
I am partial to the 50

The Canon 50mm f 1.5 or the shimmed Jupiter 3 is usually my pick from my bevy of classic RF 50 mils.
 
This set up for me
IMG_4423.jpg
 
maddoc said:
40mm, the Summicron-C. A 40 mm lens has a FoV that is close to the horizontal visual attention zone of the human eye.
Click to expand...

I must have wrong eyes, I'm finding 21mm to be my what I'm able to see and understand zone. :)
 
I’ve been shooting street photography for several years. I’ve developed techniques for getting in close to people and getting off a shot undetected; I was invisible. But, it wasn’t always that way. When I first started street I was nervous, heck, I was scared. Then with time I became more comfortable, and eventually I became the invisible stealthy guy that would invade a person's space without regard for their privacy or even dignity sometimes just to get the shot! Any camera, any lens, I made it work.

Well, I’m done with street photography. At least I’m done with the in-your-face privacy invasion style of street photography. Why this change? I don’t know. It’s kind of like when I quit smoking cigars; I woke up one morning and that was that, I quit.

What does this have to do with “What’s my go to lens for street photography?”... Nothing.

Have a great day,
Mike
 
I voted ‘other’ because although my preference is a 28mm f3.5 Zuiko. You see it is the 4 element version on an original Olympus Pen viewfinder camera. The angle of view is equivalent to about a 40mm on a full frame camera.
 
The lens on the iPhone may be one of the most suitable lenses for street photography. Nobody feels "attacked" by a photographer.
 
90% of my non-street photography is done w/ a 50, and I still use 50 for street as well.

But my go-to lens for street photography is a 35, either the Canon 35/2.0 on a Leica M, or an Olympus XA. Mainly it has to do with distance from the subject and how the subject fills up the frame. With a 35mm fov, I can be 10 ft away from a subject (my comfort zone) and get the subject's entire body in the frame (unless very tall). To get the same effect with a 28, I'd have to move in closer... to close for me. With a 50, I'm shooting street at a greater distance than 10 ft, or going for shots that capture a part of the subject.
 
If I have both a 50mm and a 35mm with me, I always hesitate which lens I will use. As a result, I lose my concentration. If I bring one lens, I don't have that problem. The majority of my successful photos are with the 50 mm, so I only take a 50 mm with me.

Leica M2, Summicron rigid 50mm f/2, Tmax400, printed on Adox MCC 110.

Erik.

48009160562_5cd64bfb83_b.jpg
 
Erik van Straten said:
If I have both a 50mm and a 35mm with me, I always hesitate which lens I will use. As a result, I lose my concentration. If I bring one lens, I don't have that problem. The majority of my successful photos are with the 50 mm, so I only take a 50 mm with me.

Leica M3, Summicron rigid 50mm f/2, Tmax400, printed on Adox MCC 110.

Erik.

32720404967_dba7d1e64b_b.jpg
Click to expand...

I will return to using the 50 as my main lens. During the summer vacation I will leave my 35mm lens home and I will instead take with me a 50mm lens.
 
I hate making decisions on my street shooting!
I agree with Erik, keep it simple.
I think that "most" use 35mm as it's easiest frame to see in modern M's..
The 28mm frame almost disappears, the 50mm miserable and inaccurate.
I started with M3, 50mm Collapsible-Summicron, Uv filter and hood.
I very occasionally take a spare roll...
Oh! 52 years later still my main camera kit!
 
40mm Summicron-C

40mm Summicron-C

olifaunt said:
40mm Rokkor.

Because street photography decisions are fast, I think it is good to use a focal length that shows you the scene as you see it so that you can compose intuitively. As much as I love Windogrand's work, for example, I had a lot of trouble composing with 28mm because it is not my visual field of awareness. I find the 40mm to cover almost exactly what I am aware of seeing.
Click to expand...

Same here though I use the 40mm Summicron-C. It was my first Leica Lens on my first Leica body, and it was the only combo I used for over a year; I couldn't afford another lens or body at the time. I learned to see with this and later moved on to a 50mm, but I last counted my photos with 40mm or 50mm and surprisingly they're almost even.

I tried to love the 28mm but just couldn't get into the grove. I was thinking it was the use of the external finder which causes me to shift from RF to VF, but I still haven't a clue. :confused:
 
If I had a Zeiss ZM I probably would be shooting more with a 28mm lens. The Leica's viewfinder is not adequate for that focal length since eye relief is so poor for eyeglass wearers. Leica's stubborn adherence to the traditional Leica form has prevented a re-design of its viewfinder on its film cameras. Fear of M5 syndrome??
 
If I'm in Tokyo, where I traditionally did most of my shooting, and due to time constraints do a fair big of now (compared to my home of Chicago), 28mm if possible. For Chicago, 35mm is better.
 
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