Street photography

I have been playing around with street photography for awhile...just for fun. I use my 7D and 28-135 since that is what I have available. I want a bit more in terms of everything. I enjoy black and white photography and consider street photography to be a combination of a wide street view but also that of close up of faces ...so I need more than just a wide angle as I do like closeups and prefer doing it from a bit of a distance other than being in someone's nose.

Anyhow,....I have thought about purchasing a 85mm or a 15-85 but lately I have grown interested in a nice point and shoot or a mirrorless. I like the idea of 'LESS WEIGHT"....for a 7D and any lens is at times more than prefer to carry.

I want to have a eye viewer and not just a LCD to view from. I need reading glasses and get tired of taking pics and either having to put on my reading glasses when using LCD's or just taking the shot and hoping for the best.

So...my choices are the Fuji x20...the Fuji X-E2 or the Canon G15/16 since those are the only ones that I can tell that really have a designated view finder to look thru.

I like the idea of something small....so I am pulling away form my 7D and lens for street photo's.... Anyone have any ideas beyond the few I mentioned. I am leaning towards either of the Fujis for the images are sharp and that is what I am looking for too. (too each their own)....

Thanks, jim

It is common mistake for street beginners to think what to get close they need it at the long end. All they are getting is flattened photos.
My flickr buddy does the street almost everyday for few years now. All kind of film cameras and sometimes with digital P&S, one of the latest Nikon Coolpix. He does it from close distance. With so small camera it isn't big deal to get close and wide.
I would check x20. Very fancy OVF. Black and sexy body.

Shooting long for beginners is a way to get some kind of shot until they are comfortable with getting closer to strangers. Sometimes it can be scary. I am still learning to shoot more street stuff and end up shotting slightly long sometimes. The other night I forced myself to take the 35/2 only so I couldnt go too long. The X20 is a great camera for sure though.

I shoot a lot of street. Had a show of some of my street work last year.

The only lens I use is a 35mm of FF body. I shoot with a Leica but any small rangefinder with a wide lens would be a great choice.

airfrogusmc wrote in post #16752015
I shoot a lot of street. Had a show of some of my street work last year.

The only lens I use is a 35mm of FF body. I shoot with a Leica but any small rangefinder with a wide lens would be a great choice.

Listen to the man, he does good work. What makes good street is getting intimate. I don't do much on the street, but when I do its wide angle and as close as I can get.

35mm or 50mm full frame equivalent, even 28mm. Me personally, I feel street/photojournalism​/documentary photography are best when done with a wide to standard lens. You don't have to be 3 feet from someone's face, but do yourself a favor and skip the shooting from half a block away with a tele, you need to cut your teeth with a "normal" focal length. I know your not comfortable now, but you want to do this right? So your going to have to step out of your comfort zone. Unless your going for a vast environmental shot, your going to have to get into the action.

Hmm, I have a somewhat different perspective on the lens question!

My "walk-around" kit for street photography is the Canon 24-105 (f/4) lens on the Canon 5D body. I like the zoom lens because it enables me to choose my focal length and I appreciate that capability. Sure, I could get out with a single focal length and have in fact done so and have been satisfied with the outcome, but still, I have shots taken wide at 24mm and others where I chose to go long, and I wouldn't want to change that ability to do so!

Some of my best street photography was with a 24mm, but there are tons of great shots in the street thread taken with a 135. Lately I'm using my 85 a lot. These are with the 85.

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …as-pixgalore/13028226023/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …as-pixgalore/13028459344/

I've shot a lot of street wit hall kinds of equipment. You can do it with anything . I've shoot it with 500 C/Ms, SLRs, DSLRs, rangefinders and point and shoots and I have found the best tool for the job is a small rangefinder and a normal or a wide manual focus lens with good DoF scales. No auto focus in the world is faster than being pre focused. Get up close and personal.

I'm not a big fan of tele lenses and street work. The lack of context and compacting of space are two big reasons I am not a big fan. I like street work that uses space and other visual elements like repeating shapes, leading lines and other visual elements. A lot of the work I see with long lenses are just random shots of strangers not knowing their photos are being taken. There is a lot more to great street work than that.

Thanks advaitan and nice pair up there yourself.

A great documentary featuring some of the really great street photographers alive today and $13.00 well spent dollars.
If ya don't want to buy rent it for $5.00.
http://everybodystreet​.com/

And a nice little piece by Meyerowitz on framing but he explains why he prefers a rangefinder for the street.
http://www.youtube.com​/watch?v=Xumo7_JUeMo

For point of reference a few of my street shots.
I look for things like repeating shapes. The guy sitting, just as i walked past the open bar window, shifted his position and mimicked the painting behind him. I had my exposure preset and my focus pre-set. If I hadn't had that all set, I probably wouldn't have gotten the photograph.

From my Irish adventures.

I look for contrasts. I like that this guy was strolling but the fella behind him is in a hurry. (still just learning street style as I am usually a very long lens wildlife and sports photog)

T2i+35/2

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/peeaanuut/13046​964405/

Thanks...I am going to get close...While up to now I have been comfy doing it from afar...I need to take that step and just go for it with a wider lens. I will...

Has anyone played around with the Fuji X-e1..... It would be just several hundred dollars more than the x20 and give me a choice of lens to draw from (eventually)....but comes with a great kit lens 18-55 2.8 --- 4 sounds good.... I am not interested in WiFi

But narrowed it to either the x-e1 or the x20...both will give me wide open shots, although the x20 discreet. thanks, jim

airfrogusmc wrote in post #16752606
A great documentary featuring some of the really great street photographers alive today and $13.00 well spent dollars.
If ya don't want to buy rent it for $5.00.
http://everybodystreet​.com/

And a nice little piece by Meyerowitz on framing but he explains why he prefers a rangefinder for the street.
http://www.youtube.com​/watch?v=Xumo7_JUeMo

+1 for everybody street and really nice follow up examples and thoughts! There are a lot of things on u2be as well, start with Gary Winograd and let the related links take you away.

OP: I love my x20 for the streets of NYC. The leaf shutter is essentially silent outside. I like to set it to 28mm equivalent and manual focus. When MFing, the DOF is actually highlighted on the distance scale on the bottom of the screen, so if I know what focus range I want, i.e 3-5 ft, 5-10 ft, 30 ft to infinity, a few button clicks, a quick look at the screen and I'm ready to go and extremely discrete. AF face recognition also works reasonably well for the street when I want to go for thinner DOF and cannot prefocus.