Lens for documentary photography

Iodosan · Feb 21, 2022

Good morning. I would like to start a long-term documentary photography project. My intention would be to use only one camera, one lens and one film. The camera will be either a canon 7 or a pentax me super, although it is slr is very portable. Since I will photograph urban suburbs, people, landscapes and maybe some interiors I am undecided between which lens to use between 28mm.35mm and 40mm. Regardless of whether the choice is personal, I would like to ask those who have more experience than me for some advice. 28mm is great for urban landscapes or for up-to-close photos, but maybe it's a problem with unknown people? I read that many use the 35mm that I do not have. I use the 40mm. in the end it is practically very similar to the 35mm?

ic-racer · Feb 21, 2022

I'm an introvert and stay away from people. So I use 28mm; and any people in my images are little things. Many other (more successful ) photographers use 35mm or 50mm lens. If you already own the lenses, why not use all 3?

I also think imitation is part of learning. So, early in my career, I researched the equipment and lenses used by my favorite photographers. I can't tell the lens used from a photo, especially without seeing the contact print to know if it is cropped significantly

Nitroplait · Feb 21, 2022

The 40mm is a fine and very compact and portable lens. I would work with that and only consider something else if you don't get what you want with the perspective it offers.

Iodosan · Feb 21, 2022

ic-racer said:
I'm an introvert and stay away from people. So I use 28mm; and any people in my images are little things. Many other (more successful ) photographers use 35mm or 50mm lens. If you already own the lenses, why not use all 3?

I only have 28 and 40mm. (and 50mm but Too narrow). I wanted to use aolo a lens because for the project I will have to walk in winding areas and I would not like to carry other lenses with me. And I thought that if I show up with simple equipment maybe not wary people

Iodosan · Feb 21, 2022

Nitroplait said:
The 40mm is a fine and very compact and portable lens. I would work with that and only consider something else if you don't get what you want with the perspective it offers.

To be compact it is the thinnest lens I have ever seen and the 40mm pancake on the pentax me super is a pocket combo. My only doubt is that I can't photograph the context. I've seen incredible work with the 35mm And having never tried it I don't know how much difference there is with the 40mm and the FOV

Nitroplait · Feb 21, 2022

Iodosan said:
My only doubt is that I can't photograph the context. I've seen incredible work with the 35mm And having never tried it I don't know how much difference there is with the 40mm and the FOV

The difference between 35 and 40 is too insignificant to matter. You can make equally incredible work with a 40mm. As I said, work with it and learn. No lens will give you incredible images by itself.

Paul Howell · Feb 21, 2022

Henri Cartier-Bresson primarily shot with a Leica and 50mm lens, as did Robert Capa, and Eugene Smith, the 40mm will work. Henri Cartier Bresson sometimes would tape over the chrome of his Leica so that the camera would not stand out. Going with just a normal lens, remember Robert Capa is often quoted as saying. "If you pictures aren't good enough it's because you are not close enough."

In terms of personal experience, when in the Air Force we shot with Leica and Nikon, 50mm primes, as a working PJ for the wires, started with the 50 as my primary, then moved to a 105 as we kept at further further way from a story, last a 80 to 210 zoom. Today when doing street photography I shoot with a 50mm, manual or AF, or a short zoom 35 AF.

Laurent · Feb 21, 2022

If I was to settle down to one lens for street/documentary, it would no doubt be a 35mm, preferably f/1.4 or f/2.

Nice field of view (for me obviously), light and doesn't need too much light.

Iodosan · Feb 21, 2022

Laurent said:
If I was to settle down to one lens for street/documentary, it would no doubt be a 35mm, preferably f/1.4 or f/2.

Nice field of view (for me obviously), light and doesn't need too much light.

Just the only lens I don't have . I have 28/40/50mm. Have you ever tried the 40mm?to know if you really notice the difference in use (even if my 40mm is f2.8, like the 28mm.) for f1. 7 i must use the 50mm

Paul Howell · Feb 21, 2022

When I use a 35 to 70, Minolta A mount F4, I find myself at the in the 50mm range, more often at the 70mm than the 35mm. Which cameras do the 35 and 40mm mount and how fast are they? If shooting in a city environment, lots of shadows from tallish building, working at dusk or at night lens speed might be a factor. Assuming you have a Canon 7, if I guess right the 35mm and 50 fit the Canon and the 50mm the Pentax. I would use both bodies, one with the 35mm the other with the 50mm. Maybe Tmax 400 in one body, Tmax or Delta 3200 in the other.

Laurent · Feb 21, 2022

Iodosan said:
Just the only lens I don't have . I have 28/40/50mm. Have you ever tried the 40mm?to know if you really notice the difference in use (even if my 40mm is f2.8, like the 28mm.) for f1. 7 i must use the 50mm

I missed the fact that you do not have a 35. In this case I think I'd go for the 40 (which I do not have, nor have owned) because it is closer to the 35. But f/2.8 might annoy me a bit (OTOH, in such a case, I'd "push" my HP5 @800 and that would make it)

Paul Howell · Feb 21, 2022

I missed the don't have as well, in that case I would get a 35 to 70 or 35 to 80 zoom, for less than the price of a 35mm prime you can get a Pentax zoom, even a AF zoom which will work in manual mode, one lens lots of range. A MF Pentax KA 35 to 70 F4 runs about $30.00 U.S while a 35mm 2.8 runs around $125 on average while a Canon L39 is over $300.

snusmumriken · Feb 21, 2022

Restricting yourself to one lens obliges you to work within its constraints. That's the point: it's a discipline which some photographers find inspiring. So it doesn't really matter which focal length you choose, each brings a different challenge. In fact, it absolves you of worrying about the lens you don't have.

jeffreyg · Feb 21, 2022

I see that you are in Italy. I've been there a number of times but use medium format. I take two cameras both with the same film and one with either a 50mm or 80mm and one with a 150mm. (however they might translate to your slrs). I've done a lot of street photography with never a problem. Many in public area especially where tourists normally are so no one actually pays attention to you. Some times with the camera on a tripod. If you are concerned, take a friend and pretend they are the subject while you are focusing on someone else. On a couple of "testy" situations I faced one way and because of a waist level viewer the camera faced another.

http://www.jeffreyglasser.com/

http://www.sculptureandphotography.com//

Alex Benjamin · Feb 21, 2022

It's almost impossible advice to give without knowing the details, such as what do you intend to shoot, what's the look you're after, how close do you want to get, how varied the subjects will be, how much context you want to give them, will it be all outside or sometimes inside sometimes outside, etc. "Urban landscape" can mean anything from the a crowded street to the skyline to a close up of a graffitied wall.

My advice would be to do trial runs. Go out one day with one lens, shoot as many examples of the subjects you want to put in your story as you can. Do the same another day with another lens.

One will feel right, meaning versatile enough to handle all that you want to put in your project, the others less so. That's how you'll know. But you might also find out that the subject dictates a choice you don't have. For example, when Koudelka shot Gypsies, he used a 25mm lens because his shots were all indoors and he wanted as much context as possible in the shot. So it's not a matter of taste. It's a matter of what you want to photograph and how.

250swb · Feb 22, 2022

snusmumriken said:
Restricting yourself to one lens obliges you to work within its constraints. That's the point: it's a discipline which some photographers find inspiring. So it doesn't really matter which focal length you choose, each brings a different challenge. In fact, it absolves you of worrying about the lens you don't have.

But wouldn't it be better to take responsibility for the equipment you use rather than absolving yourself of responsibility? Artists choose their paints and brushes based on the type of work they want to create, and they can intellectualise the choice, so are photographers just dumber?

Using one lens can be a fine idea, but before embarking on a project I think the OP should at least do a test project to see if alternative lenses better cover subjects similar to the main project. Can X lens cover interiors if there are going to be interiors, will it be suitable for portraits, will it be suitable for low light, etc. It saves the angst of 'I wish I'd chosen a different lens for this project'. On the other hand using one lens is a high ideal that not many photographers can pull off despite peer pontification about purity of vision and simplicity of execution. So unless your name is Winogrand, Bresson, Frank, or Koudelka maybe consider two lenses for the project? It's not like you turn into a wuss using two (or more) lenses for documentary work, there are many photojournalists who's lives have been saved by NOT having only one lens.

Top Tip - look at the work of other documentary photographers and see what you like the look of, research what they use, and follow that path. It may also give you inspiration to look back on others work if the project starts to flag. And before anybody says 'but that's just copying' I'll retort with a quote attributed to Picasso 'Good artists copy, great artists steal!', and I'm sure he also stole the quote.

Disconnekt · Feb 22, 2022

A good bulk of street photogs use prime lenses between 28mm to 50mm.

For my Pentax gear, I had a 35mm & 50mm but got tired switching between the two, and there were times I needed something a bit wider than the 35mm & something a bit longer than the 50mm, and I ended getting a Tamron 28-75mm f2.8 and sold off the other lenses.

awty · Feb 22, 2022

Wide lens is intimate, normal for observing in close proximity, telephoto for observing from afar.
So how do you want to portray your subjects?
Personally I like all three, but if I only had one then it would be wide....15-20mm close enough they can smell your breath.

snusmumriken · Feb 22, 2022

250swb said:
But wouldn't it be better to take responsibility for the equipment you use rather than absolving yourself of responsibility? Artists choose their paints and brushes based on the type of work they want to create, and they can intellectualise the choice, so are photographers just dumber?

The OP appears already to sense the liberating aspects of less equipment. Sure, the initial choice can be made very thoughtfully, but worrying about what you don’t have can be crippling. That’s all I meant. If I recall correctly, when Koudelka photographed the Russian invasion of Prague (a poignant topic this day), he borrowed a camera and worked with it.

Alex Benjamin · Feb 22, 2022

snusmumriken said:
If I recall correctly, when Koudelka photographed the Russian invasion of Prague (a poignant topic this day), he borrowed a camera and worked with it.

There's a Koudelka quote I really love regarding using different lenses. In this interview, after explaining his use of the 25mm lens for the Gypsies project, he talks about switching to 35mm and 50mm lenses. Every photographers should meditated on the last sentence:

"When I understood that I don’t need any more wide-angle lens photos – that on the contrary there’s a repetition coming — I bought two Leicas and started to use a 35-millimeter lens and a 50-millimeter lens. I knew that the techniques will change the vision — if you change the technique."

Iodosan · Feb 22, 2022

snusmumriken said:
The OP appears already to sense the liberating aspects of less equipment. Sure, the initial choice can be made very thoughtfully, but worrying about what you don’t have can be crippling. That’s all I meant. If I recall correctly, when Koudelka photographed the Russian invasion of Prague (a poignant topic this day), he borrowed a camera and worked with it.

I have various reasons that lead me to choose one camera one lens one film. To have fewer choices and focus more on photographing, on traveling easier and try not to intimidate people because I will not go to the cities where there are tourists but in the suburbs of the province or in mountain villages quite isolated. But above all because I have a Great esteem for photographers who have used the same camera and lens throughout their career or for a specific project. As for example Bernard Plossu who used only a nikkormat and a 50mm managing to do street, portraits and landacapes. Or just koudelka and his gipsies that convinced me to start this project. O constantine manos or mary ellen mark and their 28mm that make me feel part of the scene. Hence my doubts. Probably The solution is to do a test project where I will choose a lens and see how it behaves. Thanks in the meantime to all those who are writing and are helping me with their knowledge and experience

snusmumriken · Feb 22, 2022

Alex Benjamin said:
There's a Koudelka quote I really love regarding using different lenses. In this interview, after explaining his use of the 25mm lens for the Gypsies project, he talks about switching to 35mm and 50mm lenses.

Is that interview available online? I'd love to hear/see it.

Alan Edward Klein · Feb 22, 2022

You didn't mention aperture. Since you'll be shooting inside, you want a bright lens so you can keep your shutter faster. People move. What apertures are your lenses?

weizenkeim · Feb 22, 2022

Iodosan said:
I wanted to use aolo a lens because for the project I will have to walk in winding areas and I would not like to carry other lenses with me. And I thought that if I show up with simple equipment maybe not wary people

You could just try both lenses but only one per occasion. And if you missed the other lens you may go there a second time.

So if it is for practical reason instead of a conceptual decision to limit yourself I would use any lens I think would be appropriate that day.

Iodosan · Feb 22, 2022

Alan Edward Klein said:
You didn't mention aperture. Since you'll be shooting inside, you want a bright lens so you can keep your shutter faster. People move. What apertures are your lenses?

I have 28 mm f2.8, 40mm f2.8 and 50mm f1.7. I will use hp5+ or tx400 pushed @ 800

Lens for documentary photography

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