Best street photography lens?

<p>I just upgraded to a Canon 5d, and need a news lens (I was previously using a 500d with a Sigma 30mm 1.4 lens, which worked, but wasn't an entirely satisfying lens).</p>

<p>I work as a street photographer, and would like to get a similar effect to the photos on these blogs:<br>

http://copenhagenstreetstyle.dk/<br />http://thewholehole.blogspot.com/</p>

<p>I don't use any additional lighting, just me and the camera. It's important to me that the lens isn't too long too. I'd previously been using a Canon 50mm 1.8 lens, but there were often issues with getting enough distance between me and the subject. My old lens frequently had problems getting the subject in sharp focus, which is also very important to me.</p>

<p>Any suggestions?<br>

Thanks!</p>

 

<p>>I just upgraded to a Canon 5d, and need a news lens (I was previously using a 500d with a Sigma 30mm 1.4 lens, which worked, but wasn't an entirely satisfying lens).<<br>

It isn't the lens or the camera, it's the photographer and how he/she sees. There are the usual suspects; primes 35mm, 50mm, 85mm and zooms. On the street I often use the 5d MkII with the 24-105mm 4.0 IS. In some ways I think a better lens might be the Tamron 28-75mm 2.8 because it is smaller, lighter and faster. Primes are smaller, lighter, sharper and generally faster. Zooms are larger, heavier and slower but a lot more versatile. HCB did everything with a 50mm. It's just really a process to find out what works for you, the way you see and your budget. Good luck!</p>

<p>I'd say a 50/1.4 should do it. I'd possibly recommend an 85/1.8, except that you say you had a hard time getting enough distance between you and your subjects with the 50/1.8 on your 500D.</p>

<p>@Gil: I'm pretty much nodding at everything you wrote, but I think part of the "look" the OP wants is an extremely shallow depth of field and very blurry background (e.g. on the second website). That would pretty much require a fast prime wide open.</p>

<p>It seems the 'look' you seek is more about the subject (fashion!) than lens...</p>

<blockquote>

<p>...but there were often issues with getting enough distance between me and the subject.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>If this meant when you were shooting the 500d with the Sigma 30mm ..then you were shooting at effectively 48 mm there. The 50mm on your 5D will be just that too. I think you can see, where this is going? The next steps for primes are the 85mm, (a 100mm), and then the 135mm. Of course much more depends on lots of things that only you know. You seeking a one stop solution? Cost? Your style of method of shooting people out on 'the street'. You just want to carry just a camera with one lens? Your posting indicates a singular preference rather than plural.</p>

<p>Most of the images on that blog and all it's associated linked blogs seems to indicate that those people are actually willing to be shot. How do you operate? If you have your subjects co-operation than distance (or lack of distance) becomes a non-issue in that you can move them, or move yourself. If I were you I would carry all of the above mentioned primes, or just something like a 24 -70mm ...</p>

<p>In the first link you cite there is a range of FL used.<br />On a 5D, a 24 - 70L would cover most if not all FL I could identify.<br />As already mentioned the shooting style shown in that link, indicates the subjects are: aware; compliant and involved.<br />If this is your "street" shooting style and you work in daylight - then a large lens like the 24 to 70 should present little problem. So therefore I am at a loss to understand why the lens cannot be "too long"?<br />However a 50mm lens will give you what you had on your APS-S cameras - and this has been mentioned also - but I am unclear if you are saying want to replicate what you had? - if you do want a 50mm lens, then I vote for the 50/1.4 also.<br>

As to what is the best "street lens" for the close working style (which is shown in those images) - I would use the EF 35/2 on a 5D without a battery grip, for both the leverages of weight & stealth and also the ability to shoot in other "street" styles; such as From the Hip or doorstop Hail Mary, as examples – and also for the extra stop of speed it has over all the fast zooms.</p>

<p>WW</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Another vote for the 50mm f/1.4, given your self-described situation with the 30mm on the APS-C camera.</p>

<p>The 50mm f/1.8 is much cheaper, but it's not quite so fantastic on a 35mm-sensor camera as it is on the APS-C bodies (see Photozone.de on this, for some reason I can't get a link on this right now, but they have tested lenses on the 35mm-sensor bodies in addition to their 'standard' tests on APS-C).</p>

<p>Sarah is right when she points to the short telephoto (ca. 75-105mm) as the 'traditional' portrait/street sort of lens, but unless you used the 50mm a lot on your earlier cameras, probably not for you.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>It sounds like you need a 35mm lens or maybe even 28mm. And it must be a lens which is great optically. I've owned for a few years the Canon 35/1.4L on a 5D and if I was doing what you do, I'd probably love it more than my 85/1.2II</p>

<p>On that note, check out Leica history, I think you might be a Leica person:) Smaller bodies, easier to be invisible, but you need to know what you're doing (focus and depth of field...not to mention a little physics...ie parallax).</p>

<p>Shawn</p>

<p>If you think you want a single prime and you found 50mm a bit too long on a cropped sensor camera, try the 50mm lens on the full frame body - the angle of view coverage will be greater than it was on the previous camera. </p>

<p>In addition, if you aren't certain which single focal length will cover all of your needs (cough, cough...) it makes a lot of sense to begin with a zoom. For the type of work shown at the link you shared, there is little or nothing to suggest that a prime would be required. The DOF isn't extraordinarily small, the light is not low... a zoom would work fine here. </p>

<p>I sometimes shoot street with a prime or with a few primes - typically the 35mm, 50mm, and/or 85mm focal lengths. But just as often I shoot street with zooms. Each has its advantage. The fact that old-school street photographers used a prime and a rangefinder camera does not imply that you must be conservative and stick to this traditional approach.</p>

<p>Dan</p>

<p>35mm 1.4.</p>

<p>Thanks for all the help!<br>

I guess I should post my photoblog, so that you have an idea what sorts of photos I have already:<br>

stilinberlin.de (only the photos taken outside on the street are mine, not the indoor portraits)<br>

I always ask my subjects to be photographed first, so discretion is not an issue here. I had two problems with the 50mm 1.8 when I was using it on my 500d though. First, the lens didn't always focus on the subject as well as I wanted. This was also a problem with my Sigma 30mm 1.4 though.<br>

Second, was the patience they may or may not have. I prefer a clean background without other people in it, so finding a space that quickly that allows for enough distance between me and the subject was often tricky.<br>

I mostly work in Berlin, where the light is often limited (lots of very grey days and not much light coming in between the buildings). I'm leaning towards the 50mm 1.4 in any case, but can anyone foresee any problems that might arise in regards to the dark light and the ability to focus at such a large distance? Of course, the close I get, the easier the camera focuses on the subject (I normally use auto-focus, because my time is limited).</p>

<p>Thanks again for all the help</p>

<p>Generally, I answer these sorts of questions with it depends, but you have given a bit of information that is valuable in actually coming to some resolution.</p>

<p>My guess is that something like the 24-70mm f2.8 would be ideal. With the original 5D, the faster lens might be an advantage, but the 24-105mm f4 is also a good lens. I shoot most of my own "street" portraits with the 16-35mm (on my website which is linked on my profile page here). For some it is too wide, but for how I work I find it delivers what I am after.</p>

<p>If you want a prime, the 50mm is probably a good choice based on what you said, but I find the zooms listed to offer great flexibility and are very well suited to this sort of photography.</p>

<p>Start with a 35/2 and the 50 1.4 or 1.8. Then rent a 35/1.4L, the Zeiss 35/2 and the 50 1.2L. Make your final decision and don't look back.</p>

<p>For street photography I recomend 3 prime lenses, 35mm, 50mm, & 135mm. Why because these are the lenses I started out with. If you want to get closer, you might want to invest in a 20mm or 24mm but these lenses add quite a bit of distortion that is more suited to documentary, or fine-art work.<br />Of course you can allways use a Zoom, somewhere in the range of 24mm to 135mm, but these are often bulky & slow, and ight scare some subjects away. Remember the purpose of Street Photography is to capture scenes that require no cropping, staging, Photoshop, or other manipulations. The goal is to capture the scene as-it-is and at the same time to tell a story. <br />If there was one lens I had to use with no other choice, it would be the Canon 50mm f1.4, but on a cropped camera it is the equivalent of an 80mm lens which is sometimes way to long to capture street scenes.<br />For cropped cameras, the Canon 35mm f 1.4 would be my favorite alternative(unfortunately it is very expensive and draws too much attention). You might get by with the cheaper, buzzing NON-USM 35mm f.2 if it does not break appart in your camera bag after a couple of weeks.<br />I would stay away from exotic Manual Focus Carl Zeiss lenses when it comes to Street photography unless you are an expert at manual focusing. You just miss too many shots with those lenses although the optics are very good for other type of work. <br />I'm not an expert, but if you work within these boundaries you might find a good Street Photography lens. Small, quiet, fast, light, rugged and very sharp and it does not have to be a Canon or Nikon.</p>

How close do you want to get to your subjects and how much context do you want to include? For most

people comfort level drives the how close consideration. Lens focal length choice pretty much boils down

to those two factors.

 

For me, a 50mm on a full-frame is much too long. I currently shoot with a 35mm and that feels about right,

though there are times when I wish it were wider.

<p>Go to the store that rent lenses and try all mentioned and for a few $ you will have all answers u need...</p>

<p>Comments following are assuming a full frame camera. Make the corresponding focal length adjustment for DX. <br>

I keep a 50 on the camera and it provides a good perspective on groups of people, a 28 for interesting buildings etc and and a 90 for close people shots or where I can't get close enough. The two lenses not being used, I keep in a bumbag. All are manual primes. That covers everything and as all are small 52mm filter size lenses, I only need to carry one set of filters. Most of my shots are at f8/f11 so speed is not that important. But sharpness is, so be choosy.<br>

Its a bit more difficult with Canon as the backwards compatibility with earlier (smaller and non confronting) manual lenses are not there like they are with Nikon. The biggest issue I have found is the size of your kit. Thats why I want back to film and small bodies (FM and FE). I'd use Leica if I could afford it.<br>

HCB used 50's mostly and in the latter days he used 35's sometimes, but he was heard to say that the 35 made him have to come in a bit too close. He kept his Leica at F8/F11, speed at either 250th or 400th, and focus set at 10' to infinity. The combinations of these two f stops and two shutter speeds gives him 8 possible combinations to allow for the changing light. So who needs a light meter? Then he used the oldest zoom in the book to adjust focud distance...the feet. This way he was concentrating on the image and the framing. In his book he talks about being "in the scene without being seen"...quite an art. The small camera and the ability to take an almost silent shot so fast that no one notices, is also an art. He certainly didn't fiddle with focus or exposure settings. There wasn't time for that. He could walk past someone and just turn to frame, click, and he was gone...all in one stride.<br>

If you look carefully at his most celebrated street images, you will start off by saying that many were not sharp or they were too contrasty. Then you look again and dismiss all that from your mind as you see his capture of an interesting "moment" without distracting the subject. Hence "The Decisive Moment". This last objective is very difficult to achieve with a large and noisy DSLR.</p>

<p>Re Prime Lenses and Zooming and Moving one’s feet:<br />The Photographer moving in or out with one’s feet is NOT zooming.<br />Moving one’s feet (the Camera’s Viewpoint) changes the Perspective.<br />Zooming with a zoom lens does NOT change the Perspective but only changes “The Shot” or the “Field of View”.</p>

<p>***</p>

<blockquote>

<p>“Then he [Henri Cartier-Bresson] <strong>used the oldest zoom in the book</strong> to adjust focud distance..<strong>.the feet.</strong>”</p>

</blockquote>

<p>No. This is not correct. The intention of the statement might be true, but these statements cause confusion and mis-understanding IMO. <br>

HCB knew these facts and did NOT "zoom with his feet".</p>

<p>These facts and the differentiation between a positioned zoom lens and moving a Prime Lens are important to understand: particularly as this thread is about Street Photography, where both <strong>Perspective</strong> and <strong>The Shot</strong> are important as both Technical Photographic and Artistic elements.</p>

<p>WW</p>

<p>@WW<br>

What's "doorstop Hail Mary"?</p>

<p>In an huddle at the door (a press or news “Doorstop” of a politician etc) the stills’ photographers usually shoot high and with a 35 or 24-70 zoom.<br>

Their hands are above their head in “Hail Mary” style AKA “Doorstop Style”.<br>

Previously with TLR (twin Lens Reflex) the camera would be held inverted and framing could be achieved by viewing the ground glass.<br>

With 135 format the 35mm prime lens became a favourite lens and so did “F/8 at 1/400s - tri X develop to suit”:<br>

In other words at F/8 and manual focus set to about 10ft to 15ft you had a truck load of DoF.<br>

Before automatic camera exposures within TTL metering, one would shoot at about “1/400s @ F/8” and adjust the soup (developer) time and temperature to suit the ASA (ISO) one want the film to be rated at, according to the light levels prevailing at the scene – kind of like Photoshop, but the old fashioned way.</p>

<p>WW </p>

 

<p>Thanks WW</p>