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Why many Mpix camera is better for street genre


ruslan

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I actually much prefer NOT to get something usable every time I press the shutter. Reminds me I'm human and not a machine, makes the usable frames more special to me and I think, in the long run, makes my photos better. I speak only for myself, however.

Sounds like a formula for success ;) Does anyone return your calls?

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Although I don't care for street photography as a genre, I've been around long enough to recognize the equipment and technique required. While you have more ability to crop with a 40-50 MP camera, the speed of operation is paramount, especially focusing. A high frame rate can be useful too. I find that a short burst (3-6 frames) is more likely to capture the best expressions and positions in a dynamic situation than a single, supposedly well-timed frame.

 

Eh...camera aspects such as those have never driven my urban photography. I think I can make street pix I'd be happy with using almost any camera. Though for me, having a compact and lightweight camera always in my shirt pocket (ie a phone cam) rules.

Edited by Brad_
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To impose camera limitations on yourself when shooting street photography is to miss out on the unlimited possibilities available. The genre of street photography is one of the least impacted by number of pixels. The perceived limitations can be turned into advantages. Physical, technical, asthetic and creative advantages. There is a long evolving history of great street work that has not been limited by resolution or pixel count.

If you are not happy with large print quality that you are producing or having done for you then consider an alteration to your vision and imagination and shoot with small prints in mind. If you want to limit yourself to large prints only then take a critical look at how they are being produced. The best prints will not be produced by trying to look like they were shot with a massive mega pixel camera. The most beautiful prints are made by craftsman who understand the differences and are not encumbered by rules and expectations of pixel count. It is in the awareness of the characteristics that you see as an obstacle that you can expand your vision and learn to use it to your advantage.

Any camera for street work.... history bears this out.

Edited by inoneeye
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n e y e

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Eh...camera aspects such as those have never driven my urban photography. I think I can make street pix I'd be happy with using almost any camera. Though for me, having a compact and lightweight camera always in my shirt pocket (ie a phone cam) rules.

You know what makes a good street image and you are ready when you see something interesting to shoot. I never even think about what kind of camera you are using because the images are superb.

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To impose camera limitations on yourself when shooting street photography is to miss out on the unlimited possibilities available. The genre of street photography is one of the least impacted by number of pixels. The perceived limitations can be turned into advantages. Physical, technical, asthetic and creative advantages. There is a long evolving history of great street work that has not been limited by resolution or pixel count.

If you are not happy with large print quality that you are producing or having done for you then consider an alteration to your vision and imagination and shoot with small prints in mind. If you want to limit yourself to large prints only then take a critical look at how they are being produced. The best prints will not be produced by trying to look like they were shot with a massive mega pixel camera. The most beautiful prints are made by craftsman who understand the differences and are not encumbered by rules and expectations of pixel count. It is in the awareness of the characteristics that you see as an obstacle that you can expand your vision and learn to use it to your advantage.

Any camera for street work.... history bears this out.

Well written and true! You and Brad have the street thing down!

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Some things here never change... :rolleyes:

 

The wannabe elitists will always hawk the greatest gear 'they' think is appropriate. It was not that long ago before the digital transformation that anyone doing street was called an incompetent boor by the purists if they did not carry a Leica. All hail Bresson!

 

Do what you want--and find what works for what you want to do. I have been out with everything--Speed Graphic doing a Weegee imitation, a Yashica TLR, an Argus C3 brick, an RB67, all kinds of DSLR, SLR, and phones. Ya know what? I got a shitload of fine pix with each kind!

 

It's not always the gear--but the thing that turns it. Always going to be haters and elitists. Put a smile on your face and keep clicking!

 

stare.thumb.jpg.85527d50943c931a098a6a62972da6c4.jpg

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I wouldn’t take a giant SLR for street. I’d take some mirrorless camera. MP doesn’t matter. All the cameras now have plenty.

 

Yes, Weegee said there are no candid cameras, just candid photogs. While not exactly true some cams are better for candid that others and technique makes a big difference.

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Personally I like 'in your face' candid work with a wide angle and small body. Almost all my serious street work is superwide.

 

Totally different perspective. A 21mm is like a normal lens to me.

 

All photos candid...

 

lost-princess-2013-daniel-d-teoli-jr-lr.thumb.jpg.db25397ceee777ec9e60a394611adfa6.jpg

1669839342_dewallenhen-party-amsterdam-2014-daniel-d-teoli-jr.thumb.jpg.9cdce734947d17491cad9bdffba7b1d9.jpg

de-wallen-artists-book-daniel-d-teoli-jr-mr.thumb.jpg.c923aa8e97ab4ee0a7f7bb3cb6bfb24b.jpg

 

Do you know how hard it is to shoot candid 'in your face' work where photography is banned and in super dim light? And shoot enuf in 5 days to make a landmark book on it?

 

That is where technique comes in. Different photog, same cam as me, same 5 days, no technique...produces nothing usable. But it also depends on gear. If I had the wrong gear I'd get nothing useable too.

 

Now, if you can't shoot in your face candid work, then sure get a zoom and shoot far away and crop like hell. Sometimes I have to crop like hell myself cause I am 8 feet away and can't get 2 feet away.

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Personally I like 'in your face' candid work with a wide angle and small body. Almost all my serious street work is superwide.

 

Totally different perspective. A 21mm is like a normal lens to me.

 

All photos candid...

 

[ATTACH=full]1328195[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=full]1328196[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=full]1328197[/ATTACH]

 

Do you know how hard it is to shoot candid 'in your face' work where photography is banned and in super dim light? And shoot enuf in 5 days to make a landmark book on it?

 

That is where technique comes in. Different photog, same cam as me, same 5 days, no technique...produces nothing usable. But it also depends on gear. If I had the wrong gear I'd get nothing useable too.

 

Now, if you can't shoot in your face candid work, then sure get a zoom and shoot far away and crop like hell. Sometimes I have to crop like hell myself cause I am 8 feet away and can't get 2 feet away.

Personally I like 'in your face' candid work with a wide angle and small body. Almost all my serious street work is superwide.

 

Totally different perspective. A 21mm is like a normal lens to me.

 

All photos candid...

 

[ATTACH=full]1328195[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=full]1328196[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=full]1328197[/ATTACH]

 

Do you know how hard it is to shoot candid 'in your face' work where photography is banned and in super dim light? And shoot enuf in 5 days to make a landmark book on it?

 

That is where technique comes in. Different photog, same cam as me, same 5 days, no technique...produces nothing usable. But it also depends on gear. If I had the wrong gear I'd get nothing useable too.

 

Now, if you can't shoot in your face candid work, then sure get a zoom and shoot far away and crop like hell. Sometimes I have to crop like hell myself cause I am 8 feet away and can't get 2 feet away.

First colorized black and white street photo I have ever seen. I have to get out more!

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See it. Capture it. It doesn't matter the size or form of the gear. There is always the moment that a subject does not see you--or that magical moment when they do, and are still inside of themselves.

 

Often times the more obvious the gear the less of an untoward response from a subject or surrounding group. Across time, I have found that folks at events--such as fairs, concerts, parades, and even raw sidewalk encounters--think 'media' when seeing an overly geared photographer. Sometimes I wear a nametag or hangtag to further the impression. This leads to almost ZERO negative reactions. Pervy people don't want to be noticed snapping children or teens. It's all in the routine.

 

When cruising urban landscapes, there are lots of things that draw my eye beside people. Architecture, bits and pieces of the streetscape, storefronts, whatever--often require a fuller set of capabilities than a fixed lens and small body. Sadly, there are those who claim themselves doing 'street photography' that are engaged in little more than 'dysfunction porn.'

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Speaking of trolls, how are you doing Phil?:confused:

 

What you do has little bearing on the bulk of the photographic world, as you long ago established yourself as an abrasive elitist that disdains the work or opinion of others. Off to the ignore list with you...:eek:

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many of us who embrace iphone stuff

I’m in the category of just one of us,... who embraces my iPhone stuff and not to the exclusion of other stuff.

many of us who embrace iphone stuff don’t give a sh1t aboot gr8 photos.

What I look for in/from my own photos and those of others is just that they give a sh1t about something!

"You talkin' to me?"

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Using those listed requirements for it to be "compelling street photography", the definition of street photography is nothing more then the old debate of is a photograph good because it has proper exposure, or because it has proper exposure and composition.

That argument puts the cart before the horse. Proper exposure and composition don't of themselves make a "great" photo, but they don't hurt. If you hope to capture a decisive moment, you must know and trust your equipment. There's no time to think of the technical aspects.

 

You could say much the same for any art, whether photography, playing the piano or recording the next great hit. They are all based on tradecraft.

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Proper exposure and composition don't of themselves make a "great" photo, but they don't hurt.

Well said. I also find this to be the case. As long as it’s understood that what’s proper will vary according to desired result.

If you hope to capture a decisive moment, you must know and trust your equipment. There's no time to think of the technical aspects.

This also makes sense to me, with some caveats. There’s more to street photography than decisive moments, though I’m not by any means minimizing them. Street can be storytelling and can even be deliberate and deliberative, in which case there may be plenty of time to think about technical aspects. Even when it comes to decisive moments, one of the things I love doing (and can sometimes be pretty good at) is anticipating them which sometimes gives me a quick second or two to make technical decisions on the fly.

playing the piano

I once went to a party where the conductor of the Oakland Symphony, a young and rising talent whose life was cut short at a young age in a boating accent, was present. He was also a consummate pianist. All that was in this old Victorian apartment was an upright piano the likes of which you might find in Aunt Mabel’s farmhouse, out of tune, a couple of keys broken, you get the picture. He sat down with a smile and played some Mozart. His ability to adapt to the piano and to make Mozart into something relevant to the occasion, surroundings, and instrument available was something I’ll never forget. Would I expect him to play such a piano in concert with the symphony? No. But I will be forever grateful that I got to experience something very different and possibly even more wonderful on this occasion.

"You talkin' to me?"

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Isn’t it ironic that the only photos forum here explicitly related to equipment is the mobile and phone photography forum? Photos that could be made with just about anything and don't have any specific aesthetic characteristic, so I don’t know why this continued need for the “made with a phone” addendum.

 

You seem to be the only one trying to make it into an addendum. To me, it's just a handy camera. As I expressed earlier.

 

It still seems that as long as a photographer uses a phone camera, they're in that magical zone where they can claim not to care about "the equipment," nevermind them choosing a phone camera as their equipment. The days that phone cameras were lo-fi and used for that specific aesthetic, like a digital lomo, are long gone. So unless you're using an old Nokia or the first iPhone, let's drop the argument that the use of a phone camera - if that's what you specifically choose -makes it somehow less about the technicality and experience of the equipment. And all of this is entirely unrelated to what makes or doesn't make a great picture.

 

I have no idea why you let someone who simply chooses to shoot with a phone have so much power over yourself, to the point where you become so agitated. That doesn't seem very healthy.

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Using those listed requirements for it to be "compelling street photography", the definition of street photography is nothing more then the old debate of is a photograph good because it has proper exposure, or because it has proper exposure and composition.

 

Requirements? Seriously? It's simply my opinion regarding aspects that a photographer draws upon when making a good photograph.

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LOL. I’m amused. Nothing in what I said suggests I’m “agitated.” That’s you projecting.

 

 

 

And to me it's just a goddamn phone and is only a camera if the phone is the only thing I have on me. And I choose to care very much about both the design and feel of the tools that I’m using. The irony seems lost on you that the only ones first in line to mention their camera’s (being phones) are the ones claiming that it’s not and never about the camera. Right.

 

How nice for you. Thanks for sharing! And please, try and relax a bit.

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I choose for the taking of photographs to be a sensorial tactile experience nothing to do with technical image quality and that goes beyond merely using my eyes and mind, and my freaking iPhone does not invite such a tactile experience when I pick it up. It does not make me want to take photographs with it. It feels wholly and utterly lifeless. I don't need to hear things I already know and the whole, but "it's about the life in the photograph" spiel and trope just because the tools I use matter to me as a photographer.

 

Again, how nice for you. And thanks for sharing, again!

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