small high quality camera/lens setup for street photography

Hi All,

 

I've got a sizeable investment in Canon SLR gear, but am keen to do more impromptu street photography. For me, this means a smaller body with a small lens (fixed or zoom, ideally a 20-35mm-ish range) - something I could ideally pocket. I don't want to take too many compromises in terms of picture quality however. With the explosion of different mirrorless options, I am at a loss for what system to go for. I don't want to pay the excessive pice tags for the Leica Q or Sony R1X, but am willing to spend US$2000. Something like the Sony 6500 seems like a good choice, but high-quality small wide angle lenses do not appear available in the Sony range. Can anyone recommend a good camera/lens combo?

 

Many thanks,

Joel

Sure, but you really need to be more specific. In general, the mirrorless micro 4/3 bodies can do a terrific job AND use your legacy lenses. Do you plan to do poster sized enlargements or art prints? A micro 4/3 probably wouldn't cut it, but if you are doing web sized stuff or keeping enlargements below 16x20, could be worth a try. I've been augmenting my full sized film & digital gear with a used m4/3 OLY body for about 3 years now, used tons of legacy lenses as well as some of the top notch M4/3 AF lenses. If you really wanted a top notch body in the Sony line, which has made a lot of photographers quite happy, the AR7 lineup is hard to beat for the money....full frame sensor, etc. That body and an adapter or two to accommodate your lenses would be terrific, a lot of my Leica friends have found it quite satisfactory at about 1/3-1/4 the price of the equivalent Leica body.

I carry mostly now the Sony a6000. For over a year I used just the Sony 35mm 1.8 lens which is a very high quality lens for a very reasonable price. For now the 35mm Sony lens is getting swapped out for the Sony/Zeiss 16-70mm 4.0 zoom lens which is a gem but expensive. Another lens I'm interested in is the Sigma 19mm 2.8 lens (which gives the 35mm equivalent of 28.5mm). I think it might make for a really good street camera set up. Here's a sample with the a6000 and the Sony 35mm 1,8 lens:

 

Camera:

 

Lenses:

Pocketable

• Panasonic 20mm (pancake lens, about 1 inch long)
   
  
• Olympus 14-42 EZ (collapsing lens, for compact storage at 1 inch collapsed)
  
• Note by pocketable, I do not mean P&S cigarette carton size small. These are SHORT lenses at about 1 inch in length. The camera+lens would fit into a cargo pocket, or small bag.
  

Not pocketable

• 14 or 17mm lens (2x crop factor)
  
• Panasonic 14-45 (small standard zoom)
  
• Once you get past a inch thick, it becomes more difficult to put it into any kind of pocket. So these are really small bag cameras.
  

My own choice as a GP lens is the slightly longer Panasonic 12-60 (about 3 inches long). At 3 inches long + thickness of the camera, it is definitely not a pocketable kit.

Fujifilm X100T. For me, the near-perfect street rig. No zoom but a hi-quality 23/2 Fujinon lens(35mm equiv). Whisper-quiet, unobtrusive to the point of invisibility, hybrid optical/electronic viewfinder. Often discounted now with the current X100F offering a slightly bigger sensor and a few added features. Worth a look.

 

I feel interchangeable lenses quickly begin to offset the advantages of these small cameras. Guess that's what appeals about the Fuji.

I also have a sizeable Canon digital kit and I bought a Fuji X100s and it is fantastic for "street" photography.

 

I expect later models (i.e. X100t) would serve better.

 

Additional to what already has been mentioned, these Fuji fixed lens cameras have a Leaf Shutter which I use, and it also works well with an R72 Filter.

 

After the Concert, Vienna,

 

*

 

 

WW

"...but high-quality small wide angle lenses do not appear available in the Sony range."

 

- There's a quite tiny 20mm f/2.8 E-mount lens.

 

And if you just want the camera for stills, I don't see the point of shelling out extra for the a6500, when an a6000 would do the job just as well.

thanks everyone. I am interested in the Fuji, but I would prefer something slightly wider than 35mm. I'll also check the 20mm Sony, although reviews suggest it isn't very sharp. Not sure what the practical experiences have been_It would be nice to pair it with the 6000/6300.

 

The Panasonic 20mm gets nice reviews on photozone, so also worth a closer look.

People get too hung up on lens sharpness IMO. It's far too easy to pixel peep, and forget how the image is actually going to be used.

 

If pictures are just going to be posted online, then almost any old lens will do. Even for moderate sized 'art' prints, the prospective market is probably quite undiscerning of technical quality. If the picture is good or interesting enough, it'll sell regardless of the lens or camera used.

 

Prints from crappy 400 ISO 35mm film still managed to get sold or published after all.

For street photography you want something small and unobtrusive. A 24 MP sensor is a sweet spot for both resolution and speed, and an APS-C sensor will provide nearly the image quality of a full frame sensor, in a smaller package and smaller lenses. A 20 mm lens on an APS-C camera is not particularly wide, at 30 mm equivalent. Still it is in range which I find most useful in an urban setting - 24 mm to 35 mm. It will be hard to find a small zoom, although you can look around. Fuji and Sony make small, "rangefinder" sized APS-C cameras, with a wide choice of lenses. Features and ergonomics vary, so look for features that suit your needs. Traditional street photography relies on zone focusing (preset on the distance scale). That requires a manual focus lens. If you want autofocus (3x faster than manual), the Sony A-6500 would be a good choice. These cameras have a smaller footprint than the traditional "street" camera - a Leica M.

Ricoh GR or GRII if you can live with a fixed (non-interchangeable) 18mm lens on this 16MP APS-C sensor camera. The Nikon Coolpix A is quite similar but discontinued.

thanks everyone. I am interested in the Fuji, but I would prefer something slightly wider than 35mm. I'll also check the 20mm Sony, although reviews suggest it isn't very sharp. Not sure what the practical experiences have been_It would be nice to pair it with the 6000/6300.

 

The Panasonic 20mm gets nice reviews on photozone, so also worth a closer look.

Another offering is one of the Ricoh GR or GRD models. Fun camera to use and takes pretty good photos.

Hi All,

I've got a sizeable investment in Canon SLR gear, but am keen to do more impromptu street photography. For me, this means a smaller body with a small lens (fixed or zoom, ideally a 20-35mm-ish range) - something I could ideally pocket. I don't want to take too many compromises in terms of picture quality however. With the explosion of different mirrorless options, I am at a loss for what system to go for. I don't want to pay the excessive pice tags for the Leica Q or Sony R1X, but am willing to spend US$2000. Something like the Sony 6500 seems like a good choice, but high-quality small wide angle lenses do not appear available in the Sony range. Can anyone recommend a good camera/lens combo?

Many thanks,

Joel

 

I do street pics with a Canon mirrorless and 22mm f/2 'pancake' lens.

 

Untitled by c w, on Flickr

Also, a generation back, the Panny GX7 is a great street camera.

William, that Vienna shot is superb. Terrific photojournalism right there!

 

As for cameras, I agree with many of the suggestions offered. GR, X100, A6000, etc.

 

If you are okay with no VF, try a Sony NEX-C3 or F3 with a small lens. You can fit that in a trouser pocket. For example, even with an adapter, a C3 with an MS Optics 17/4.5 is astonishingly small. I assume that the vignetting will be trivial on a smaller sensor:

 

Camera Geekery: MS-Optics Perar 17mm f4.5 Ultra Wide - Japan Camera Hunter

thanks everyone. I am interested in the Fuji, but I would prefer something slightly wider than 35mm. I'll also check the 20mm Sony, although reviews suggest it isn't very sharp. Not sure what the practical experiences have been_It would be nice to pair it with the 6000/6300.

 

The Panasonic 20mm gets nice reviews on photozone, so also worth a closer look.

 

Watch the crop factor, as it can get confusing.

Panasonic and Olympus is m43, 2x crop, so a Panasonic 20mm = 40mm FF equiv, a 17mm = 35mm equiv, a 14mm = 28mm equiv.

I "think" the Sony APSC is 1.5x crop, so a Sony 35mm = 50mm FF equiv, 20mm = 30mm equiv.

Thank you Karim.

" me, this means a smaller body with a small lens "Joel.

 

If you are taking photos on the street you will be conspicuous.. The more you sneak and hide regardless of camera size you will be noticed with suspicion.

 

Im a photographer I take photos.

 

To answer your question a Sony RX100.

" me, this means a smaller body with a small lens "Joel.

If you are taking photos on the street you will be conspicuous.. The more you sneak and hide regardless of camera size you will be noticed with suspicion.. . .

 

Noted that nowhere in the Opening Post was 'sneaking and hiding' mentioned: nor were the topics of being conspicuous or inconspicuous detailed - the OP did mention a pocket size camera, assumed this detail was for small and lightweight carriage of the tool.

 

Indeed it is a fact that taking photos on the street is usually a conspicuous task and also it seems logical that if one were to sneak and hide, such actions would be viewed with suspicion.

 

However as neither 'sneaking and hiding' nor 'conspicuousness' was mentioned by the Opening Poster, it is best not to continue this line of response: as doing so does imply attributing unwarranted traits to the OP.

 

WW

true, smaller cameras and "pancake" lens are more inconspicuous for candid street shots

 

Untitled by c w, on Flickr

"Small and inconspicuous" is not a requirement for a camera used for street photography. Human behavior is far more important. For years, I did street photography with a Mamiya 7, sometimes with the large-ish 43mm lens and its finder on top of the camera. What I do find important at this point in my life is carrying something light and easy to use. FWIW, I usually use a Fuji X100T, which meets those two criteria but it's really more of a personal thing as to what is easy to use.

Jeff, just looked at some of you concert photos. How's your hearing?

How's your hearing?

 

Damaged years before I started shooting concerts. I wore high quality earplugs for all the shows I photographed. Due to moving, I'm not shooting concerts anymore.

Look into the Sony RX-100 V. It has a great sensor, face detect, eye-detect, 24-fps, is small, light and quick.The built-in 24-70mm equivalent is sharp.