nat Loc: Martha's Vineyard, MA

What is the best lens for street photography?

wingclui44 Loc: CT USA

Fast prime with focal lenth from 35mm -50mm.

dsmeltz Loc: Philadelphia

:thumbup: :thumbup: Depending on you sensor.

Armadillo Loc: Ventura, CA

nat,

This is determined by your other equipment beyond the camera, your experience in Post Processing; and what your end goals may become. For someone with little experience with Post Processing (PP), limited digital computer work, small laptop devices, or photography experience you would be more successful with a general photography short focal length lens that will provide a range of focal lengths in the 17mm – 70mm range.
The 17 – 70mm lens would allow you to work in the 30 – 50mm range, which is the average of fixed focal length lenses found on film camera over the past 40 years. The lens will allow you to photograph subjects without you having the camera in their nose, capture street scenes to include buildings and supporting subjects, and when needed a wide angle capture for nature. With this lens, you will experience Perspective distortions at the wide angle; buildings will appear to lean inward when you know the camera was level. This is natural distortion from the type of lens used; only much more expensive wide-angle lens with ‘Tilt-Shift’ would overcome this effect. PP, using the Perspective Correction tool can digitally correct this effect.

For most lenses in this range, using it in the mid-range will provide the best quality of capture, the sharpest image you camera can capture, and the most pleasing result for your project. In addition, this range will force you to move in a little closer, or farther away from your subject to frame the subject to your best advantage. It will be more closely comparable to a fixed focal length lens of 55mm.

Michael G

wingclui44 Loc: CT USA

Using on my Df, especially at night time.

MarkD Loc: NYC

It depends on your style and what you're comfortable with. Some people shoot from up close. For them a prime like a 35mm or 50mm or a short to medium zoom like a Sigma or Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 or a Sigma 17-70 f/2.8-4 would be good.

Others prefer to shoot from a distance. For them a 70-200 f/2.8 or 70-300 would be good.

I do both so I use a high ratio zoom. I've been using a Sigma 18-200 macro, but I just bought a Sigma 18-300. If you don't like superzoom lenses a Nikon 18-140 VR or Canon 18-135 IS would be good. I'm reading Jay Maisel's book, "Light, Gesture, and Color'. He's been a top street shooter (not exclusively) for 40-50 years and he says he uses a Nikon 28-300 a lot.

wilsondl2 Loc: Lincoln, Nebraska

I was going to write about the same thing. All of us see things in a differant way. Some see the whole picture others pick out individual people or objects. So you have to pick the best lens for you. I would just go with your "kit" lens for awhile and see what focal length you use the most or which one you wish you had and the decide. - Dave

OddJobber Loc: Portland, OR

For my neighborhood, Nikon 400mm f/2.8. :D

rook2c4 Loc: Philadelphia, PA USA

Get a 50mm lens, and work with it for a while. Most likely, you will become so accustomed to using if for street photography, you won't want anything else.

Kmgw9v Loc: Miami, Florida

I carry a Nikon Df with a 35mm 1.4G.

Crwiwy Loc: Devon UK

Many experts recommend a 'Nifty Fifty' Canon do one that is very small. They have good quality, aperture and price.

The big advantage is that people will not take much notice of someone with a small lens on their camera compared with someone sticking a great telephoto in their faces. :thumbup: :thumbup:

Billyspad Loc: The Philippines

Not sure how much street you have actually done but the good moments happen in an instant and you have to be ready once you see them. Go with the kit lens cos it has nothing to do with equipment. Its seeing the picture and having the balls to point a camera in a total strangers direction click the shutter smile and walk. A decent point and shoot would be just fine. Your out to capture a split second of real life. Gear makes no difference at all. Its all down to the person working the shutter.

lukan Loc: Chicago, IL

^^^ This x2. Be very matter-of-fact, point, shoot, and be gone. 8-)

jesse1dog Loc: Afon Fathew

The one on the camera that you are carrying at the time.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

The classic street photographers - Gary Winogrand, Lee Friedlander, Joel Meyerowitz, Todd Papagiorge, Robert Frank, etc. - typically used compact 35mm rangefinder cameras (often Leica...i.e., "full frame"), most often fitted with small 28mm, 35mm and 50mm lenses. Henri Cartier-Bresson once stated that he'd only ever owned and used 50mmm lenses. The idea was to use unobtrusive gear to get in close, prepare for the shot by zone focusing the camera and then quickly bringing it up to your eye and taking the shot before people can stop what they are doing and react to the camera.

But this isn't a hard and fast rule, by any means. Diane Arbus was an exception, working about the same time as Winogrand, etc. and she used a medium format TLR with a 75mm or 90mm non-interchangeable lens... but her work was mostly posed. Earlier, Walker Evans, working for the FSA during the Great Depression made a lot of his images with an 8x10 view camera. Even earlier still, in the 1890s Alfred Stieglitz delighted in the portability and freedom he enjoyed with his first handholdable camera - a Folmer & Schwing 4x5 plate (that replaced an 8x10). And, much later, Joel Meyerowitz later "graduated" to a 4x5 view camera for his "Cape Light" series and other works.

I would normally choose as small a camera as possible and fit it with a compact, prime lens with at least f2.8 aperture and, if at all possible, a focus scale. On my Canon DSLRs, at times I remove the battery grip I normally use and use EF 28/1.8 lens, which is one of the more compact (and serves as a slightly wide prime on a crop-sensor camera). I also sometimes use a 20/2.8 on that crop camera, though that's a fairly large lens. Canon 50/1.4 is a good, short tele on a cropper, too. (I avoid the cheap, very lightly built 50/1.8 II.... it's image quality is okay, but it's not very durable and it's autofocus just plain sucks.) On full frame camera, I would use the same 28mm and 50mm, forego the 20mm and maybe add an 85/1.8 instead.

I've known some street photographers who "black out" or tape up their cameras to be less intrusive, too. That also might help discourage potential thieves, if shooting in a "rough" area.