50mm focal length for street?

pollux · Jun 19, 2010

is a 100mm lens on 6x9 ie 44mm, or a 50mm on a 35mm an ideal street lens? Longer than 50mm and the shoots look bland, not showing enough of the environment, and any wider than 50mm and you will have to get near in their face, then people tend to pose or object to the camera.

Don Parsons · Jun 19, 2010

Winogrand used a 28mm and got close. I like a 35mm on 35mm. 50 is too much of a telephoto.

ymmv

Erik Petersson · Jun 19, 2010

50mm is perfect. But so is 35, 28 and 24, to my mind.

benjiboy · Jun 19, 2010

A 50mm lens is fine for street most of them are f2 and faster I use mine as a telephoto to get a bit closer than my favourite street lens a 35mm F2

trent_ · Aug 28, 2010

I started shooting street with a 50mm f1.8, but some rolls later I bought a 28mm because I find it easier to include 100% of the subject in my photos with it.

lxdude · Aug 28, 2010

When did a 50 become a telephoto?

hoffy · Aug 28, 2010

lxdude said:
When did a 50 become a telephoto?

Ditto. I personally like the 50 and the field of view

michaelbsc · Aug 28, 2010

lxdude said:
When did a 50 become a telephoto?

For me it happened when I got my first 35mm lens. I soon decided that the ideal focal length (for my mind anyway) is same as the horizontal image frame.

For example I prefer a 35mm lens on my 35mm bodies, and I prefer a 127mm lens on 4x5.

Can\'t always get what you want however. Kinda hard to change the lens on old folders.

benjiboy · Aug 28, 2010

lxdude said:
When did a 50 become a telephoto?

I meant as a telephoto as compared to my 35mm lens to get a little closer and give a narrower angle of view, I'm perfectly aware that a 50mm lens Isn't a telephoto.

Christopher Walrath · Aug 28, 2010

But 50 would give the viewer that perspective of seeing it as it is. Can be limiting for field of view in some instances. How small is you average 28? Carry one anyway.

Jeff Kubach · Aug 28, 2010

You might consider a 35 - 70 zoom.

Jeff

chrismoret · Aug 28, 2010

Go with a 35mm. It's the perfect all-rounder in my opinion. But keep a 28mm nearby, sometimes that gives more compelling perspective in images, of witch I think can work great.

5stringdeath · Aug 28, 2010

17mm. You'll not only get the street, but the alleys too

Seriously though ... wait that was serious.

No I mean ... I started doing street photos with a 50mm cause its all I had. Now I use my 28mm most days. But I also own a 35mm. When I can afford it, I'm going to get a 21mm.

From the OP about "having to get too close to the person" with a wider angle lens, well then you are just limiting your view of what street photography is. Its not always about a single person or a couple ... whatever. Oftentimes it encompasses the energy of "the street" as the subject, not people. Many of Friedlanders photos are nearly devoid of people, or they are small objects relative to the frame.

Now if you're interested in a kind of street portratiture, then sure a 50mm might be ideal .. but then I would argue engagement with the subject isn't always a bad thing.

Pre-focusing with a wider angle lens is easier too, and with the right camera you can stand right in front of someone and snap some shots and they'll never know, unless you are limiting yourself to looking through the viewfinder.

Have fun ... experiment!

Mark Fisher · Aug 28, 2010

Depends on the area.....50 and 35 are the two I turn to. Mostly I prefer 50 just because it can isolate a subject better. Cartier-Bresson preferred a 50 so it can't be all that bad.

mablo · Aug 28, 2010

50mm is the one for me at the moment. Previously I preferred 35mm to the extent that I had to force myself to use 50mm for 3 months (one camera, one lens, one film project). Since then I haven't looked back.

CGW · Aug 28, 2010

The little Nikon 45/2.8 Ai-P is really nice on the FM/FE variants or an N90s for street shooting--just wider than a 50 to be interesting.

5stringdeath · Aug 28, 2010

I will say though that in my Intro to B&W classes I make all my students use a 50mm for the first 1/3 of the semester. I'm still a believer its the best lens on which to learn composition with a 35mm camera.

ic-racer · Aug 28, 2010

For 6x9 try a 65mm or 75mm lens.
Perspective, of course, has nothing to do with the lens one uses. It is only related to subject distance. The different focal length lenses only change the field of view.

hugopoon · Aug 28, 2010

Started off with a 50, loved it. Henri Cartier-Bresson was the person who "assured" me that it was possible (before that, I'd been using mid-teles).
Got a 35, loved it more. Put the 50 aside for a month or so.
35mm VF broke in Europe (cheap plastic one). Went back to 50mm.
Still on 50mm until I get a new finder.

Both focal lengths work for me. Not sure I'd go much wider or longer than that, but I'd rather go wider (25?) than longer.

I'll have far more choice with my lenses when my Zorkis come in the mail — right now I'm using a Kiev.
A few more weeks…

onepuff · Aug 29, 2010

I love using a 24mm for both field of view and distortion. When you don't want distortion, a 35mm or 50mm is good in my opinion. I never use anything longer.

6x9 · Aug 29, 2010

pollux said:
is a 100mm lens on 6x9 ie 44mm, or a 50mm on a 35mm an ideal street lens?

Sure.

pollux said:
Longer than 50mm and the shoots look bland, not showing enough of the environment, and any wider than 50mm and you will have to get near in their face, then people tend to pose or object to the camera.

Incorrect.

spencewine · Oct 28, 2010

Alot of it is personal preference. 50mm allows you to isolate your subject a little more, but you don't have a wide-berth on the scale focus. A 35mm and 28mm allow you to show your subject in their environment and allow for a greater DOF when scale focusing. Anything Wider than a 28mm forces you to get really close which can make for some really interesting shots,. I like a 21mm in crowds where I'm close by default. So currently, I use a 21mm, 28mm, and 35mm, and a 50mm. I use them for different applications in the street.

bblhed · Oct 28, 2010

It's like buying a pair of shoes, it has to fit you and what you want to do with it.

brucemuir · Oct 28, 2010

ic-racer said:
For 6x9 try a 65mm or 75mm lens.
Perspective, of course, has nothing to do with the lens one uses. It is only related to subject distance. The different focal length lenses only change the field of view.

yes but wider glass usually has a closer MFD so you can get closer to objects/subjects to use perspective to your advantage...

or
disadvantage depending

2F/2F · Oct 28, 2010

You should use the lens you think works best for whatever situation you happen to be in. There is no reason to decide what lens to use based on predetermined absolutes. All focal lengths from 17mm to 300mm have provided me with what I would call successful street photos. The lenses I use most for street photography are the same lenses I use most for any photography: 28, 35, 50, 135, and 24 and 200 every now and then. Occasionally 17 or 300 in the past, though I have now sold or traded both of these lenses. I would say that I use the 28, 35, and 50 equally most. I usually use the 35 instead of the 28 and 50. I use the 135 about half as much as either of these shorter lengths. I will use the 200 mostly only if I also have a 28 or 50 on another camera ready to shoot. I generally will have 35/135 or 28/50 on two cameras.

100mm on 6x9 has a wider angle of view than a 50mm lens on 24x36mm format. It is almost identical to the AOV of a 40mm lens on the smaller format, so is actually closer to a 35mm-focal-length-like AOV than to a 50mm-focal-length-like AOV. A 127mm lens on 6x9 will be closest to a 50mm lens on small format. A 65 on 6x9 is a little wider than a 28 on small format.

50mm focal length for street?

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