What is your go-to lens for street photography?

[mightbenow]

We used to have sub-forum for street photography...
Anyway. We are alive and on the streets.

The usage of the lens depends on the density of the street.
One shoot for all is 35 for me.
Dead streets in Canada (most of them) is 50.
If it is Toronto downtown, 28 will do.
If it is something like free candies or free ice cream, then those groundhogs will crawl out as crowd and I plough through them and their fruits of legum with 21 or 16.

Yeah that makes a lot of sense. I always was of the mentality of 'one lens one camera' but with primes you have to adapt. You've definitely given me some things to think about.

 

[Rob-F]

I most often use a 35mm lens. I've had my 35/2.8 Summaron for almost 60 years, and I like it as much as ever. Since then I've added Summicrons, Summilux, and recently the c Biogon. But I like the small size of the Summaron and also my pre-ASPH Summilux, so I probably use them the most.

 

[bayernfan]

I like the 35mm field of view. It's wide enough to provide context in tighter situations, and narrow enough to appear as the human eye would see it.

Any Summicron does the job, I'd take the ASPH over all the rest for the images it creates on color film. It's also quite nice on B&W.

 

[Geo Toreno]

I use a 50mm, mostly.

 

[E.M]

I use a M6ttl with 35 lux asph . I also have a 50 cron but don't use it , think I should give it a try again .

 

[meloV8]

28-35mm. 50mm is too narrow for me.

 

[narsuitus]

Zeiss 35mm f/1.4 Distagon ZM on Leica M6
Nikkor 35mm f1.4 AI on Nikon F2
Fuji 23mm f/1.4 on Fuji X-Pro2

Sometimes I use the following zooms instead of the prime lenses I mentioned in my earlier post:

18-55mm f/3.5 - f/5.6 auto focus zoom on Nikon SLR
28-70mm f/2.8 Nikon auto focus zoom on Nikon SLR
28-200mm f/3.8 - f/5.6 auto focus Tamron zoom on Nikon SLR
16-55mm f/2.8 auto focus Fujinon zoom on Fuji X-Pro2

 

[gavinlg]

35mm all day every day. Currently a Nikkor-o 35mm f2 with its oh-so-gentle and neutral rendering with hp5.

 

[Mcary]

28mm Summicron, Really started out shooting things other then people such as abstracts, shadows, building and city scapes but have recently started to try shooting candids and find that a 28mm works for all of theses. Currently I about half of the time I just carry my M9+28mm Cron and other half I bring the 28mm cron + 50mm lux for shooting street/candid portraits.

 

[Phil_F_NM]

Lately it's been the equivalent of a 28mm lens on my Ricoh GRD IV or an actual 28mm lens in my nikon AF600. I DID just pick up a Canon G9 (the old one) so I'm shooting with that zoom a bit but not really for quick grab shots. It's not nearly as quick as the GRD. As far as shooting with film, the lens I grab is the lens I use. If I head out with my F2, it's probably the 35mm N Nikkor but might be my 50mm f/1.2. If I grab the Konica T3, it's usually the 50mm f/1.7 Hexanon.

Phil Forrest

 

[jsrockit]

It seems like a lot of people like to use 35/50 instead of 28. I wonder why?

For me, it’s just a comfortable working distance without weird perspective distortion. I’ve used 28mm with a Ricoh GR and like it. However, it asked what is your go to not everything we use. I’m comfortable with everything between 28-85mm.

 

[kiemchacsu]

I most often use a 35mm lens. I've had my 35/2.8 Summaron for almost 60 years, and I like it as much as ever. Since then I've added Summicrons, Summilux, and recently the C-Biogon. But I like the small size of the Summaron and also my pre-ASPH Summilux, so I probably use them the most.

This!
My current setup is M2 and 35/2,8 summaron and 35/2 Summicron
Still don’t know which one I prefer, but I must say that the Summaron renders black and white really great.

 

[Godfrey]

Which lens is my "usual choice" depends on the camera. Whether I call my photos 'street photography' or 'walking about photos' or whatever.. 🙂

With Leica M, it's usually 35 or 50mm, evenly split.
With Leica CL, it's usually 43 or 28mm, with some bias to the 43.
With Hasselblad 500CM, it's Distagon 50mm.

Then again, I often wander with a wider FoV or a tighter FoV and shoot the same subjects. That depends on my state of mind and what I'm looking for at a given moment.

G

 

[Ste_S]

Hmm, for street photography composition is important. When you always work with the same lens, you get used to its angle of view, so you can react much faster. When you have to think about the lens or the angle of view, your moment is gone.

For me a 50mm, exactly in between a tele and a wide angle.

Erik.

A zoom usually has a 50mm 😉

Generally I'll walk around with a zoom set to 50mm then zoom in or out depending on if I want wide close up shots or tele shots for compression.

 

[Ko.Fe.]

That's how I feel with 28, seems like it's too wide but 35 seems like my sweet spot. It could also be because I wear glasses that aren't pressed against my face so looking through the viewfinder 35 framelines are easier to see then 28.

28 mm frames are too close to the edge even without glasses.
Only small and slow lenses will not block significant part of the frames.
I had 28 Elmarit III and now Ultron 28 1.9 and they are both blocking.
At some point it just doesn't makes sense to use 28 frames. External VF is not something I'm willing to deal with, either.

This is why 21 or even 16 is easier with the crowd. FOV is basically what you could see.
Framing comes naturally. And it is focal length where you are just part of the action. Not close intruder as with 28mm.
The only drawback of 21 and wider is distortions on the corners.
GW liked 21mm focal length and used it, but at some point he realized it was adding too much of the lens effect into the image, overtaking his effort.

A zoom usually has a 50mm 😉

Generally I'll walk around with a zoom set to 50mm then zoom in or out depending on if I want wide close up shots or tele shots for compression.

Yep. I put ribber band on my zoom to keep it on 21mm 🙂 If it has no 21mm, I just keep it on the wide end. 22, 28 or 24.

 

[narsuitus]

On the rare occasion when I street shoot with an Olympus micro 4/3 camera, the Panasonic 20mm f/1.7 is my go-to lens.

 

[Erik van Straten]

A zoom usually has a 50mm 😉

Generally I'll walk around with a zoom set to 50mm then zoom in or out depending on if I want wide close up shots or tele shots for compression.

Yes, but when you start zooming, your moment is gone. Photography of static objects is no street photography.


Erik.

 

[ptpdprinter]

Yes, but when you start zooming, your moment is gone. Photography of static objects is no street photography.

Just because you can zoom doesn't mean you do zoom to frame every shot. It is like exposure: unless the light changes, you do not have to meter every shot. Similarly, with a zoom, you can preset the focal length beforehand to suit the environment. People work differently. Some like the one camera one lens approach; others prefer to carry a couple of lenses in their bag. A short zoom obviates the need to swap lenses.

 

[Pentode]

Up until a couple of years ago I would have voted 35 without hesitation. For the past two years or so I’ve rediscovered the 50 and find I’m using it more than ever. I still use 35s a lot but I’m finding myself using 50s even more lately.

 

[Rayt]

If I carry one camera then it’ll have a 35mm on it. If I carry two then they’ll have 28/50 mounted.