[oh_9000]

Hi all

There is something that I have been interested in exploring recently. That is to walk city streets and take portrait-kind-of-shots of strangers doing their normal day to day stuff, some sort of street portrait, showing their standard attitude and expressions when arguing or talking to someone over a phone etc, obviously without knowing that I am shooting them so only the scene - background, foreground and time of the day - is my choice but subject is completely random and unpredictable. Hope it does not sound too creepy.

I am thinking of which lens would be the one that can do this. I believe there is a fine line between a need to be far away (limited room in cities) and being too close (getting unwanted attention). I shoot with K3ii & the longest lens I have at the moment is 70mm ltd, but definitely need longer to do what I am after. I am also thinking it should not be very big and heavy. What focal lens? It is an experiment and as such I would not invest in a zoom telephoto for $1k. Maybe an old small sized manual 150mm? Maybe the pentax 100mm macro, which would be 150mm on k3 and is quite versatile? Do I actually need (want) auto focus?

Happy to hear experiences, ideas and suggestions!

Cheers guys

[ZombieArmy]

I think in terms of getting in the moment and being stealthy nothing beats the 40mm XS. If you want to go longer I think any 135mm would be great for what you're doing.

[tvdtvdtvd]

FA77. Very compact but with a bit of reach.

edit: Whoops, just noticed you want more reach than that. M series 135mm or 150mm are compact-ish,
especially by modern big lens standards, but they're nonetheless not subtle. All depends exactly how
inconspicuous you want to be. The cold hard truth is that you're going to be conspicuous with DSLR no
matter the lens in this current age of smartphone photography.

[clackers]

It's a bit of a minefield, Oh.

The best traditional street photography is shot very close with a wide angle lens, like 28mm or 35mm on FF. There is that alarming documentary feeling in the shots of really being in other people's personal spaces. On APS-C, the Ricoh GR II is outstanding with its 18mm lens, and can be configured in the menus to be absolutely silent, nobody can hear anything, and you can preset electronically the focus distance to one metre or two metres or whatever, so you actually don't do anything but point from all angles and click, even while looking away.

The DA21 and DA40SX are pancake style lenses that make your DSLR-lens combo as small as possible.

If you're method is to shoot from a distance paparazzi style, it doesn't matter what you're packing. Hiding behind a mail box on the other side of the street you could be using a 70-200 f2.8 or longer.

So, creepy distant sniper vs confrontational snapper (Eric Kim, Martin Parr) are the two most common styles.

I have done both, but think there is so much gutless and dud street photography around - backs of guy's heads, girl looking down at her phone, etc. Done all that, and I reckon the better pics I've taken catch engaged people doing interesting things who simply don't care they're being photographed, or even cooperate for a shot.

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Last edited by clackers; 09-07-2018 at 06:42 PM.

[DeadJohn]

Telephoto 150mm will give you a person but IMO cuts out too much of the surroundings. Get closer and wider. DA 21 is a good focal length for street photos on the K-3. It's wide enough to allow quick shots, pre-focused with manual focus. Even an 18-55 kit lens can suffice.

Try using TAv mode. F8 for depth of field. Shutter speed around 1/320 to freeze action. Let ISO float as needed. Get a feel for the wide focal length and you can compose without using viewfinder or LCD; fine tune composition by cropping later.

In busy cities most people won't even notice you. And, if they do see you, no big deal.

[UncleVanya]

I find a small prime like DA 40 or DA 70 works but DA 21 would be better - for traditional shots. However for what you are asking about I have shot m43 a few times with the 35-100 and a right angle EVF. This allows me to use what looks like a small prime but is effectively a 200mm field of view and also look like I am not looking that way.

In Pentax I would expect a right angle viewfinder might work, and maybe the 50-200 which is pretty tiny.

[ramseybuckeye]

Do I actually need (want) auto focus?

Yes, faster the better or you will miss shots, that 100 macro would be too slow.

I would suggest going onto Flickr and finding some of the street groups, look at what was used on the photos that look like what you want to make. And have fun.

[Just1MoreDave]

If you want to try it anyway, I think autofocus would be useful, but that limits your choices. I think you still want a small lens. People will notice a 70-200/2.8. My suggestions are the M135/3.5 for manual focus and the DA 50-200 for AF. Both are cheap. The WR versions of the DA 50-200 even have a 49mm filter size. The Pentax F70-210 also has a 49mm filter size but kind of noisy AF.

[photoptimist]

If you don't need AF, then take a look at some of the older 135mm manual lenses (e.g., SMC Pentax-M 135mm F3.5 Reviews - M Prime Lenses - Pentax Lens Reviews & Lens Database ). They are very small and unobtrusive but have almost double the reach of the 70.

[hcc]

The smallest lens physically: DA40mm xs

DA15mm for a small nifty wide lens for street shooting.

My 5 cents..

[stevebrot]

Stealth is highly overrated, as in "good luck".

Get close and shoot with a lens having decent DOF at f/8. Traditionally this means 28mm or 35mm on 24x36mm FF. With APS-C, 24mm is a good bet. Use kit that looks more like a toy and less like a weapon.

My favorite street photographer is an occasionally active member here at PF. Here is a link to his Flickr stream. He uses a variety of gear and is anything but stealthy.

Street Vision L.A. | Flickr


Steve

[bavd]

You could try one of those 90 deg. "Spy" lens adapters which fit onto existing lenses and use a mirror.
No idea about the image quality or even if it is legal? For sale at amazon.

[Alex645]

Hope it does not sound too creepy.
I am thinking of which lens would be the one that can do this. Do I actually need (want) auto focus?

The best traditional street photography is shot very close with a wide angle lens, like 28mm or 35mm on FF. There is that alarming documentary feeling in the shots of really being in other people's personal spaces.

The DA21 and DA40SX are pancake style lenses that make your DSLR-lens combo as small as possible.

I reckon the better pics I've taken catch interested people doing interesting things who simply don't care they're being photographed, or even cooperate for a shot.

I think in terms of getting in the moment and being stealthy nothing beats the 40mm XS.

To my thinking, sniping on strangers with a long lens IS creepy because it is implied that you are trying to do something without their knowledge or permission. Lots of photographers do this and any number of zooms like the 16-85mm, 18-135mm, or 55-300mm will work.

However, I am more with @clackers and @zombieArmy for the reasons they stated. People who don't want to be shot, will give you a look or body language that a street photographer should respect. People who don't care, either are egoless or have egos strong enough to let you capture the moment. The 40mm pancake is nice because it is small and not intimidating. But last month, I was shooting with a wide angle on the T in Boston and got this shot of strangers sitting across from me. As far as I know, they were shooting me with their phones too.

One thought about auto focus. If you feel the need to use it, it helps to be in a noisy environment so the sound of the AF isn't distracting and turn off the AF assist light! With wide angle, AF is really not needed.

[Sandy Hancock]

I agree that stealth and long lenses are not really in the spirit of street photography. That's the paparazzi zone.

It takes some hutzpah, but a wide-ish angle lens and getting close will get the most memorable results. The KP with DA21 is right in the pocket.

[D1N0]

DFA 150-450. You will be so far away, you don't need stealth.