[wildman]

Another food for thought...

... it strikes me that any combination of DSLR+Lens is unsuited for street work. Big, clumsy, heavy, awkward, obtrusive, noisy etc.

For such a use wouldn't you, overall, be better off with a good quality PS of some sort?

[crewl1]

it strikes me that any combination of DSLR+Lens is unsuited for street work. Big, clumsy, heavy, awkward, obtrusive, noisy etc.

I guess so...

[zswjy]

i usually hold my camera about at waist，face look at the other way and camera point at the subject. but it can hardly take the picture horizontal.


Flickr 上 zswjy1 的 IMGP7109

[Allison]

I like to mix it up. Lately it has been the fa43. I have used the da35 ltd macro and even the 10-17 fisheye. If I was looking to buy just for this purpose I would probably get the new 40xs.

[pinholecam]

All the focal lengths are usable.
It depends on personal comfort in using them.
They will have slightly different strategies in using them too.


IMO, start off with the DA35, DA40XS or the DA50.
These are pretty versatile and gives a good working distance of about 2-3m for half body shots.


If you are the shy type of like street portraits type shots with more isolation, then try the DA70, FA77 or a 90/100,105mm macro

[m8o]

I just got a Vivitar 7mm f/3.5 -- aka the same as the Samyang made 8mm f/3.5 and near a 1/2 dozen other brandings -- and I gotta say I immediately recognized this lens has one of the best qualities I can think of for street photography ... it may be manual focus but focus is "set it and forget it". Just dial the focus to the 0.7m point or whatever is needed depending on your subject's distance, point, and shoot. You'll get a lot extra in the fame you may not want, but you can crop.

[mickey]

The 40mm xs is very unassuming and does give a bit of distance between you and the subject.

[TomTextura]

I guess you need to figure out what end result you are after (wide or tight shots) and what method you are comfortable with (conspicuous or inconspicuous, close or distant shooting, AF or MF hyperfocal, etc.).

Some resources and inspiration for street style:

• A long thread here on the forum: https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/mini-challenges-games-photo-stories/43981...eet-style.html
• An active street photographer in NY, who I believe mostly shoots a Canon 7D with 50mm: Humans of New York
• A Swiss street photographer who's generously written several free ebooks on the style: 85mm Street Photography (It tends to be that the shots of his I like the most were taken with a Nikon D7000 and 50mm. He's also a micro 4/3 user and I think he said he's now exclusively using the the Olympus OM-D.)
• A talented street photographer out of Singapore: Danny Santos II - Street Photographer in Singapore (Nikon APS-C shooter)
• An Athens photographer that uses a Canon 5D Mark II with 35mm a lot for street: Lukas Vasilikos Photography (Check out his gallery)
• A Leica page that features plenty of street photogs who don't only use Leica: Leica Liker (They interview photogs and ask about gear and method plenty so you can get an idea of what people are using and how they go about it.)

Enjoy and good luck!

[roentarre]

Again this is about personal preference. I have met a variety of photographers who adapt to various focal lengths varying from wide angle 15mm to medium telephoto 85mm.

Street photography is about being there with the rick click and luck. Be truthful to what you see with your perspective was all I learnt from a few fellow true hobbyists (professional photogs are about being professional in reproduction of same quality work consistently gratifying the needs of customers while serious amateurs can devote their own time for dedicated stylish photography)

15mm




24mm



50mm



55mm




77mm

[hoanpham]

Any lens can be used as street shotting.

For wide lenses, you need to get really close to bring out the bokeh, ie from pentax M 20mm f4.
Some has mentioned, dslr might be to big for some use, but SR is very useful for longer focals.

[rbefly]

Another lens I like for street shooting is the F 35-70mm f/3.5-4.5. Set at f/8.0 @ 35mm, you get blazingly-fast AF and I've shot "from the hip" many times with good (if somewhat crooked) results. The additional 40-70mm zoom is handy also, as is the macro function. For $50.00 USD you can't beat it!
JMO,
Ron

[timo]

i usually hold my camera about at waist，face look at the other way and camera point at the subject. but it can hardly take the picture horizontal.

Practical suggestion: one of those cheap little plastic spirit levels, shaped like a cube, slid onto the hot shoe lets you shoot any camera at waist level and keep it more or less horizontal. You can see the position of the bubble from above. All you have to worry about then is pointing the camera in roughly the right direction. Helpful for any camera that doesn't have a flip-up lcd.

[Kerrowdown]

I've noticed over the years my preferred focal length for street work has gone down. It used to be around the 85mm or 135mm, now I'm at 15mm most of the time and certainly no more than 50mm on occasion.

I believe it was Robert Capa who was attributed as saying "If Your Pictures Aren’t Good Enough, You’re Not Close Enough"

I'm of that school of thought now, my comfort zone with people is now much closer. I put this down to a few factors; age, experience, confidence and probably for me the most important; the ability to communicate with the folk around me and to become more involved and intimate with my subjects. There are some real characters out there, if you just take a moment or two of time after you've captured your image.

[hoanpham]

I've noticed over the years my preferred focal length for street work has gone down. It used to be around the 85mm or 135mm, now I'm at 15mm most of the time and certainly no more than 50mm on occasion.

I believe it was Robert Capa who was attributed as saying "If Your Pictures Aren’t Good Enough, You’re Not Close Enough"

I'm of that school of thought now, my comfort zone with people is now much closer. I put this down to a few factors; age, experience, confidence and probably for me the most important; the ability to communicate with the folk around me and to become more involved and intimate with my subjects. There are some real characters out there, if you just take a moment or two of time after you've captured your image.

Wise words here!
It's also fun to speak with people from time to time, not just rush through.
I bring one lens only - any lens - and adapt shooting style after that - longest is tamron 500/8 with tc 2x.

Also think of what I want to get from a such session, what photos I really want to keep as a show case, from that lens.

[eddie1960]

For me it is wide that works best. some of my best street shots come from my 14. the 21 is also a very good length. anything longer than 35/40 and i think you will find it harder.
the grandaddys of street shooting Weege and Cartier Bresson shot with a 50mm equivalent - so a 35 on apsc. a cheap cheerful start would be the da 35 2.4 which focuses quite fast in my experience and is wide enough to really capture the scene
Javier who started the street thread here is shooting a 12-24 zoom right now mostly at 12 but he is very comfortable being right in peoples face.
One advantage to ultrawide is the ability to have the main subject to the side and not even realise they are in frame