Deciding on a street photog lense(considering 40mm 2.8)

ternaround wrote in post #16774284
And MY post was sarcastic Sandpiper?

It sounded that way to me as well..which is why i never answered , seemed like the spelling police was out..

perhaps it was misunderstood and it was a sincere question , in any case to answer your question.. a "photog lense" is a photography lens... "photog" was me being lazy and "lense" was me being too loose with my e's

i agree with whoever said it depends on how close you want to get to your subjects.

Personally, the widest I would go is 35mm. I actually like to use a telephoto up close and pull the subject towards me from a far if I'm not feeling particularly chatty. With a wide angle lens, you always have to "sort of" walk up to the person and make a quick introduction..or at least, after you snap their picture because usually they're like..."dude wtf, did you just take my picture??"

I don't introduce myself, since that undercuts the candid element, but moreover, when I take a photo of a person, it's usually because the person is situated in a visually appealing way, and often in a way that lasts for only a few seconds. That is, the photo is often of a fleeting situation as much as it is a photo of a person in particular.

As for negative reactions, I've only encountered about two or three in the past eight or so years. It's a matter of learning to be quick and discreet. A disarming smile if noticed also helps.

Plus, if someone appears as though they would be particularly agitated, then I avoid the situation. Other photographers set their own limit. I have a number of self-imposed restrictions as well as just plain old inhibition...for every one photo of a person I take, I probably skip another five to eight just out of nerves.

I have to recommend the old 35 f/2 non-IS. Refurbed or used, they're inexpensive. They're not silent, but because they have short focus throws, they focus quickly. Every example I've used is sharp wide open, it's well built and it's quite small. Don't get caught up by the new 35 f/2 IS - it's a great lens, but I find IS to be unimportant at 35mm while taking stills.

It's not as compact as the 40, mind you, but I'd rather have a wider aperture and slightly wider FOV. I started using the 35 since 50 was a bit long on a crop body, but I've found it to be an ideal focal length for both crop and ff.

I also have to agree with sjones - if someone seems like they might be a less than willing subject, I avoid them altogether. When you're shooting up close with wide angle lenses, you can't really "hide" behind your focal length.

Get a 24-105.

Virto wrote in post #16775289
I have to recommend the old 35 f/2 non-IS. Refurbed or used, they're inexpensive. They're not silent, but because they have short focus throws, they focus quickly. Every example I've used is sharp wide open, it's well built and it's quite small. Don't get caught up by the new 35 f/2 IS - it's a great lens, but I find IS to be unimportant at 35mm while taking stills.

It's not as compact as the 40, mind you, but I'd rather have a wider aperture and slightly wider FOV. I started using the 35 since 50 was a bit long on a crop body, but I've found it to be an ideal focal length for both crop and ff.

I also have to agree with sjones - if someone seems like they might be a less than willing subject, I avoid them altogether. When you're shooting up close with wide angle lenses, you can't really "hide" behind your focal length.

+1 on the 35F2. Kind of regret selling that old lens, quite good, loved the size. If only the pancake were F2......that would be a GREAT lens..... hell make it 1.2!

hrblaine wrote in post #16775762
Get a 24-105.

Why do you recommend that lens?

@ almost 1.5lbs it's almost as heavy as the sigma which was 1.83lbs if I remember correctly..

The 24-105 is an f4? Right?

if so Don't think I want anything more than 2.8

40mm on a 6D is excellent for street photography.
For crop consider the sigma 30mm. 40mm is much too long.