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
At this time, the 25mm/f4 Voigtlander Skopar Snapshot. On Bessa-L or R4M.
I would really like to try the Voigtlander 28mm/f2 or 21mm/f1.8 but have to sell a few cameras and lenses first.



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aizan said:
If i have one body, I'll take a 28mm.

If I have two bodies, I'll take a 28mm and a 50mm.
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Lately for me it’s just this. First read about this combination on RFF, being a mostly 35mm Summicron user for twenty years. I then used this combination on a trip to Europe in 2014 with the Monochrom. In Paris, and Nice it was perfect, although in the old city of Nice a 21 would have been better.

There is no wrong answer. I certainly agree with Erik about the 50. And clearly you should stick with what you know and are comfortable with. That might be the most important rule of photography equipment. For years I only had a 50. Once I got more lenses, out to the angle of view of a 21, I was sure I would never need or buy a 28. I now have two. I first used a 28 on an SLR. I think I took one shot. The barrier to the 28 with Leica and glasses is not seeing the frame line clearly in the viewfinder. I think I bought the 28 aspheric 2.8 because it was a good price second hand and very sharp and I wanted to try a modern aspheric on the new Monochrom. I used the ZM 28/25 finder I had for the Zeiss 25, and I think I only used it with the 28 once and then just did without it.

Shooting from the hip works well without much practice with the 28 which is a big advantage. And the Monochrom files are so replete with data that even cropping out most of the frame returns a good enough image for smaller prints. And the 28 2.8 ASPH was the smallest lens in the catalogue of Leica, until the 28 Summaron-M which I also found second hand for a reasonable price. I now use that more than any other lens, tiny and slow, but with the high ISO capability of the Monochrom it doesn't matter. I love compact lenses.

My next trip will be two 28s and one 50. The 35 Summicron is on my M2, today, but I am surprised to find that 28 is my go-to for most things, because it's small.
 
I don't have a single go to focal length.

Since I had to pick one, I chose the 28mm because I use an 18/2 with an APS-C camera (65 deg. horizontal, 46 deg. vertical and 75 deg. diagonal angles of view). This is mostly for situations where the location's context is of interest and I am free to stand where I need to.

In small crowds I like 50mm (40, 27, and 47 deg.) or 35mm for my camera.

At events or large crowds I occasionally like to use medium telephoto lenses – 75mm (29, 20 and 34 deg.) or 50mm for my camera. With this field of view limited mobility to wade through people is less of an issue.
 
Still a fan of the 50, if I had to pick one lens on one camera. Cut my teeth on a Nikon FTn and the lovely Nikkor-S 50/1.4, and shot with just a plain standard 50 for a long time. (I need to have it AI converted; I miss shooting that lens)

Truth be told, I do tend to use wider lenses more frequently though. 28mm is my last remaining AF lens, and a Voigtlander 25 more or less glued to my RF. So I guess there’s a disconnect between what I like shooting and what I actually shoot with.
 
I dabbled with 28mm F2.5 (very compact, fits in a pocket) and 40mm F1.7 (much sharper but slow AF, natural field of view) on digital. 58mm F1.4 or 100mm F2 (quite a compact lens actually) on film. I like 58mm the most - put some good distance between me and the subject, gives 1x viewfinder magnification and gives plenty of flexibility with the 1.4 aperture.
 
Street for me means 35mm, mainly the Nokton 35/1.4.



It fits my "vision" best, and the 1.4 aperture is great to have if the light is low or if I want some oof areas.
 
40mm, the Summicron-C. A 40 mm lens has a FoV that is close to the horizontal visual attention zone of the human eye.
 
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.
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It's a great focal length and a gem of a lens. Wide, but not too much, just enough to constrict an anarchic frame. It's not a lens without flaws (it flares a bit more than later designs, has somewhat weak corners etc.) but when you get the hang of it it's capable for beautiful b&w. Had it , sold it, repurchased it. Lesson learned.

PS. Can't give a straightforward answer to the poll. I use most of all 35mm and 50mm but equally so. When I take one body, one lens (not very often) it's the aforementioned 40mm. Generally speaking, different places/situations call for different focal lengths.
 
Voigtlander 28/f2 Ultron.

28mm because it's wide enough to give context, but not so wide as to distort excessively towards the edges. I've also found that using the whole M2 viewfinder gives a good approximation of 28mm.

The Voigtlander because it's fast, has excellent ergonomics and build, not too large, and has no optical defects that bother me enough to affect the way I shoot. It's also considerably cheaper than a 28mm Summicron :)

If I'm traveling I'll usually add the 90mm Tele Elmarit.

Ste_S said:
...seems weird to limit yourself to one focal length with today's tech
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I find that shooting a single prime helps me to develop a consistent 'style' with my photography. Personally, this is more important that having catch-it-all versatility.
 
It used to be 35mm but I'm opting for 50mm nowadays.
Either the C-Sonnar, the Planar, Nokton 1.5/50mm or the Canon 1.4/50mm for my M5.
 
I've been doing street photography for most of the 40-odd years I've been shooting, and have taken candid street photos that pleased me using everything from a 12~24 zoom up to a 300 2.8 with 1.4 converter.
For me there is no Central Dogma regarding lens choice. The lens that gives the picture you want in any particular situation is the go-to one at that particular time and in that particular place.
Robert
 
Just moved to Bangkok and decided to get Sony E 20mm pancake for my a6300. Hopefully 30mm equivalent is not too wide for my street shots (“If your pictures aren’t good enough, you’re not close enough,”). Anyway, am calling the combo as my poor mans Ricoh GRIII, which was inspiration to get the lens in the first place :)

(yes the lens in considered mediocre by collective wisdom of Interwebs, but having a small camera was the key factor here)
 
jarski said:
Just moved to Bangkok and decided to get Sony E 20mm pancake for my a6300. Hopefully 30mm equivalent is not too wide for my street shots (“If your pictures aren’t good enough, you’re not close enough,”). Anyway, am calling the combo as my poor mans Ricoh GRIII, which was inspiration to get the lens in the first place :)

(yes the lens in considered mediocre by collective wisdom of Interwebs, but having a small camera was the key factor here)
Click to expand...

It'll be good enough for photography... enjoy it!
 
Been bouncing back and forth between 28, 35 and 50. I find the more I'm shooting, the better I'm able to utilize a wider lens.

If I haven't shot for a while, the 50 works well but eventually, I like to shake things up and challenge myself to fill the frame using a wider lens.
 
Most of my "street" work is with my Oly c5050 at the moment. I zoom in occasionally, but most of the time its zoomed out to its max 35mm eq.
 
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