Street photography lens

<p>Hi guys!</p>

<p>I am looking to buy a prime lens for street photography. I use a crop sensor camera and my options are the 24mm and 35mm (both non L) I have read some reviews but still find it to be a hard choice.</p>

<p>I am leaning towards the 24mm.</p>

<p>Any advice/ knowledge regarding these lenses would be great!</p>

<p>Thank you</p>

<p>Phil</p>

<p>I had a 24/2.8 and thought it was a fun lens. I liked the close focus too.</p>

<p>The 35/2 is supposed to be very good but I've never used it.</p>

<p>In short: the focal length should probably be the deciding factor here, not the tiny differences between those two lenses in image quality, build quality or otherwise.</p>

<p>If you have a standard zoom I'd advice you to take it to the test. Go out shooting with the zoom the first half of the time on 24mm and the other half of the time at 35mm. Then decide which you liked best.</p>

<p>(Me I'm looking at a two lens kit using a 20/3.5 MF Voightlander and a nifty fifty. I got the 50 but I'm looking for the 20.)</p>

<p>35mm/1.4 would be a excellent choice. So would be a 28mm/1.8</p>

<p>Or the Sigma 30mm f/1.4 HSM. Or the EF 20mm f/2.8 USM.</p>

<p>This depends on the way Philip is presently working. I am curious as to what optic(s) he is currently using, or is this a first foray into the street?</p>

<p>With a crop body, the 24mm focal length makes a lot of sense, as does the 20mm, assuming lens speed is not required (or affordable), but one size does not fit all, nor all situations. He did say non-L lenses, which leaves out the 35/1.4.</p>

<p>The 24L is the one to get if possible.</p>

<p>24mm on a crop body</p>

<p>It is really a matter of personal preference more than which is generically right. What are you shooting with now - the 18-55mm kit lens? If so, you can look through your photographs and see what focal lengths you tend to use and in what percentages of your overall shooting. If you can't yet answer this question based on your use of such a lens, I urge you to start by shooting a bunch of street subjects with the zoom until you get a feel for this.</p>

<p>You can also see that the very specific responses (get lens X) are all over the map. This suggests that what I'm writing above about the choice being personal is true. (It also suggests that some people make some odd choices for shooting street... but that's a different issue.)</p>

<p>Among my subjects, I do some street photography. Sometimes I can work more quickly and effectively using a zoom. In some ways it lets me respond faster to the changing subjects often found in street photography. On the other hand I sometimes carry one or more primes. I shoot full frame and sometimes I'll go out with just a 50mm lens (sort of the classic street lens) and sometimes with just a 35mm lens. (These would be equivalent to using 30mm and 22mm on your camera.) More often I carry several primes - both of these plus a 85mm prime.</p>

<p>I own L lenses and non L lenses, but I would hardly ever take a large L prime out to shoot street - for a whole range of reasons. I do use the 35mm f/2 for street, and I can imaging using the 24mm f/2.8 on crop.</p>

<p>But that's just me. Shoot that zoom a bit and start to figure out where your preferences lie.</p>

<p>Dan</p>

<p>Tamron 17-50mm 2.8. Street like sports can benefit from a zoom because you can't always zoom with your feet adequately for quickly moving and changing scenes. I use the Canon 17-55mm 2.8 on the T2i but the Tamron is just as sharp and a lot lighter. Good luck!</p>

<p>IMO, many examples of "street" photography posted on the web are ill composed, badly exposed, noisy images which could (and possibly should) have been shot with a good P&S camera!</p>

<p>I have a 24 and 35. I generally prefer FL = 24 on an APS-C for this type of work.</p>

<p>WW</p>

 

<p>If you have a crop sensor camera I would lean towards the 24mm which would be the equivalent of 38mm lens on a FF.</p>

<p>Richard, your response is one of the more ignorant responses I have read on this forum.</p>

<p>The 35/2 lens is an old design (pre-USM) and has a very audible motor noise when focusing. I'd prefer something more discrete for street photography.</p>

<p>thats a good point ken,</p>

<p>What about the 16-35 L? does the IQ of that lens equal that of non L prime lenses within the same FL?</p>

<p>Phil</p>

Unless you're shooting in a ghost town, nobody notices the sound of your lens focusing (or the camera's mirror and shutter). People react to your behavior, not to the camera you use.

<p>Richard helpfully shared:</p>

<blockquote>

<p><em>IMO, many examples of "street" photography posted on the web are ill composed, badly exposed, noisy images which could (and possibly should) have been shot with a good P&S camera.</em></p>

</blockquote>

<p>Of course, when it comes to "photography posted on the web," you could make the same point about just about any kind of photography: portraits, sports, landscape, wildlife, cats, test photographs of brick walls...</p>

<p>But the best street photography, just like the best work in (almost) any of the genres listed above is wonderful stuff, and worth seeking out and learning from.</p>

<p>In all seriousness, some point and shoot cameras can make fine street cameras. If you go with one classic notion of street (HCB is a precedent), these cameras let you work quickly and unobtrusively and without a bunch of equipment, and they allow you to produce fine prints at 8 x 10 sizes. There is a legitimate argument for considering them.</p>

<p>On the other hand, just because people shot small and basic cameras in the past when they did street (after all, this was the best and arguably only option for this type of work back then), there is nothing that says that people need to work in a retro manner today. I've often wondered how many of the classic practitioners of street photography who had no choice but to shoot with film and a single lens might welcome something different today.</p>

<p>Dan</p>

<blockquote>

<p><em>"What about the 16-35 L? does the IQ of that lens equal that of non L prime lenses within the same FL?"</em></p>

</blockquote>

<p>Now you are moving into a different territory and certainly far away from asking for a selection between two budget priced prime lenses.<br />The EF16 to 35F/2.8L MkII is my most use lens on my APS-C cameras as it is my “standard zoom”, but it is NOT used a lot for street work, by me.<br />To answer your question directly, I don't think you will have too much difficulty accepting the IQ from the 16 to 35 at all apertures and all FLs when used on an APS-C camera.<br />If you are prone to pixel peeping at 100%; shooting at F/2.8; at 16mm; in Flare prone situations, you might argue the 20/2.8 could be better, but hey that ain't 16mm, is it?<br />BUT if you are now playing zooms - why are you not considering the EF-S 17 to 55F/2.8 IS USM? or - if you are speaking of daylight hours and outside use - the 18 to 55 IS kit lens is quite a budget priced but yet good value performer, if it is used between F/7 and F/11.<br />That point aside, I disagree about the noise of the 35 /2 - I agree that it is a littler noisy, but I disagree that the noise would be a problem for street photography - anyway if you need to be that discrete to veil the noise, you would use zone manual focus and shoot from the hip, anyway.<br />Which leads me to commenting more about the 16 to 35 - for street work: if you are concerned about the noise of the AF of the 35/2 - then you certainly should be concerned about a whopping great big lens which attracts attention - the 16 to 35 is that . . .<br />For reference I have: 16 to 35; 24L; 35L and 35/2. The previous mention I made that I would prefer a 24 on the APS-C was referencing the FL I would normally use for street work: generally I would use my 5D and the 35/2.<br />Although even with a big lens like the 24L - Hip Shooting can be quite discreet: <a href="../photo/11164431&size=lg">http://www.photo.net/photo/11164431&size=lg</a></p>

<p>WW</p>

<p> </p>

<p>. . . PS: now you previous question makes more sense to me, after I read this: <a href="00Xl2w">http://www.photo.net/canon-eos-digital-camera-forum/00Xl2w</a></p>

<p>WW</p>

<p>If you are going the zoom route, the EFS 17-55mm f/2.8 IS provides equal (at least) image quality and more utility on cropped sensor camera than does the 16-35. </p>

<p>Concern about the "noise" of the 35mm f/2 for street work is just plain silly. First, it isn't that noise. The sound is a <em>bit</em> louder than newer lenses, but it is still a very soft sound. Second, what "streets" are people shooting on that the sound of a lens AF'ing is too loud!? To second William's point, the sound of the 35mm lens AF motor is going to be far less "obvious" than the fact that you are there with a camera!</p>

<p>(Don't believe a lot of the over-the-top descriptions of the sound of this lens that you read on the web - nutty stuff like "swarm of bees buzzing" or "chainsaw whine." This stuff is pure hyperbole. As is a fair percentage of stuff in forums about the "problems" with this or that piece of equipment.)</p>

<p>Dan</p>

<p>thank you for a lot of great responses! I chose to go with the sigma 30mm 1.4 as it is the closest i can get to 50mm:)</p>

<p>Phil</p>