What's Your Favorite Street Photography Camera?

abruzzi · Oct 18, 2019

For me, probably my Zorki 1. Prefocusing makes it so easy, and is one advantage of rangefinder over SLRs or TLRs. While you can prefocus an SLR, when you holt it to your eye, you have to compose with the subject potentially blurry, which is just distracting. Rangefinders, as long as the lens is designed to not accidentally get bumped out of focus or the aperture change, can essentially be a point and shoot.

Ko.Fe. · Oct 18, 2019

To me it is clear choice. Every street photography book I have (except two) is from negatives taken with Leica.
I have tried XA, Zorki, Bessa, Rolleicord, Canikoly SLRs - not my thing.
I do regular street photography since 2007, started by using of flipping mobile phone and then DSLR. By now I take street pictures at least five days a week. I don't expose much, nor I show many. But it is the process I like. Some of of the pictures I took are in possession in USA, Russia and Australia. Some people recognizing me by my main street camera.
In Toronto I get asked which camera I'm wearing.
Just recently I discovered how easy is Olympus E-LP with VF1 and 15 f8. Except I run out of batteries just as I run out of film and today I forgot memory card.
So, my Ontarian M4-2 which I returned from Japan after paying 540USD for it in 2014 is still best street camera I have used so far.
With Summarit 35 2.5 which is best 35mm lens I have seen so far on the darkroom prints.

Once I'll run out of my 40+ years old darkroom paper I would have to quit from film due to greedy prices of the modern darkroom paper, then I'll see what I could afford. Probably, just this Oly 4/3 kit I have now. Or use my Leica M-E more, which is OK if it is used exactly same way as M4-2. My S16 skills are better than any digital M TTL metering.
My street projects are on this forum:
https://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=164811
https://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=158157
https://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=152495/

jwd722 · Oct 18, 2019

Spectacular images

Pieter12 said:
For street photography, I want a camera that is easy and fast to use. I most often use a wide lens, prefocus and set exposure, then point and shoot--many times barely lifting the camera to my eye (and sometimes just from chest level) as I pass the subject.
https://pdekoninck.cargo.site/Street

Spectacular images!

benjiboy · Oct 19, 2019

Canon EF with Canon FD 35mm f
2 lens.

Pieter12 · Oct 19, 2019

jwd722 said:
Spectacular images

Spectacular images!

Thanks.

Black Dog · Nov 2, 2019

Ko. Fe-that's stunning; thanks for posting it. My XA2 is tiny and punches way above its weight, but does have its limitations compared to a Leica M series...maybe I'll even go all the way to a 'Texas Leica' (Fuji GSW 690).

It's very pocketable when you're walking around town all day though (Edinburgh in this case).

benjiboy · Nov 2, 2019

I actually find that any of my Canon SLRs are OK. for street shooting because nobody takes much notice of me, because once you are old have grey hair, and wear an olive drab M65 you also tend to become invisible.

Pieter12 · Nov 2, 2019

I will often intentionally try to look like a tourist to do street photography. Nobody pays much attention when a tourist points a camera at something, usually thinking it's the scene and not them being photographed.

juan · Nov 3, 2019

I used to find a TLR was almost invisible to the public, I could photograph at 90 degrees to the direction I was facing, etc.

One day I was out photographing and a potential subject pointed at me and yelled, “That’s one of those cameras that woman in the movie had.”
She had seen the Vivian Maier documentary.

Russ - SVP · Jan 3, 2020

JADoss23 said:
Was curious what everyone favorite cameras are for street photography? Don't get to shoot street photos too often where I live but love my Olympus XA2.

Any of my SLR’s or Rangefinders. I’m not picky.

Russ - SVP · Jan 3, 2020

For the last year or so, I’ve been street shooting with the F3 and 35 f/2 glass exclusively.

anthonym3 · Jan 4, 2020

My 1955 LEICA M-3 I have owned it since 1967,wouldn't part with it for anything.

removed account4 · Jan 4, 2020

graflex series D 4x5slr, penft +me super

flavio81 · Jan 4, 2020

Kiron Kid said:
View attachment 237457

Any of my SLR’s or Rangefinders. I’m not picky.

That's a great imsge!!

On topic, i agree that anything with a waist level finder is a plus.

I've used a lot of different cameras for street photography including TLRs and the Rb67.

I'd say my top pick would be the Kodak Retina IIIc, just fold it away after you took the pic. Also the Olympus Pen S; it is very stealth; i have many good pics done with it! Superior in almost everything to the Rollei 35 (which I owned).

Russ - SVP · Jan 4, 2020

Really, it’s whatever you are comfortable with and shoot quickly with. I Have found that for me, it’s a fixed lens rangefinder or SLR with a wide prime. However, I’ve never understood the reason behind a waist level finder. If it’s for stealth reasons, I don’t agree. There is no reason for stealth or sneakiness in street shooting. Just shoot with whichever rig you are quick and comfortable with.

rubbernglue · Jan 5, 2020

I ran around Paris using a Rolleicord and a Nikon FA and the year before it was around Hungary+Romania using Yashica-Mat along with a Fujica ST-801 (M42) and I can only say that I prefer the Rolleicord and the Fujica in the end. I think the M42-lenses are easier for zonefocusing than the Nikons, and also I dont get confused by the built-in lightmeter when using the mechanical Fujica since I use it without batteries I guess a M42 Pentax would do just as well.

Fujica with a 35/2.8 i had just found in a local shop:

Russ - SVP · Jan 5, 2020

rubbernglue said:
I ran around Paris using a Rolleicord and a Nikon FA and the year before it was around Hungary+Romania using Yashica-Mat along with a Fujica ST-801 (M42) and I can only say that I prefer the Rolleicord and the Fujica in the end. I think the M42-lenses are easier for zonefocusing than the Nikons, and also I dont get confused by the built-in lightmeter when using the mechanical Fujica since I use it without batteries I guess a M42 Pentax would do just as well.

Fujica with a 35/2.8 i had just found in a local shop:
View attachment 237536

Nice . What do you think of the Yashicamat?

k.hendrik · Jan 5, 2020

Contax G2 + 28mm; shhhsssilence.
Shot from my knee.
I would love to have a 'Nikon DW-30' with this camera; I wouldn't missed his hands then
That F5 is sooo loud.

cliveh · Jan 5, 2020

Leica M2

rubbernglue · Jan 7, 2020

Kiron Kid said:
View attachment 237563 View attachment 237562 View attachment 237561

Nice . What do you think of the Yashicamat?

I really like the Yashica-Mat, but the Rolleicord wins pretty much on the shutter-button, you see the Rollei is designed to be tentioned just when you should take the picture, but the Mat is tentioned as you advance the last frame - and it does not have a shutter-lock.
Optics wise I line them both.

David Reynolds · Feb 12, 2020

NB23 · Feb 12, 2020

No idea. I have so many to choose from.

Lately I’m enamored with my three ikoflexes and my original zeiss sonnar west Germany LTM on my Leica MP 0.58 number three.

But I’ve realized something. Whenever I’m on an important trip I bring a Rolleiflex, a Xpan and a Leica.

the Rolleiflex is the one I want to spend the most time with, followed by the xpan and the Leica, last.
Funny how, when surrounded by the xpan and the rolleiflex, my leicas become uninteresting.

So this says it all. The magic lies in a Rolleiflex. I’d go on a trip through India with 500 rolls of film and a rolleiflex without even thinking about my leicas. This always hits me as a surprise.

Smaug01 · Feb 12, 2020

My favorite is the Rollei 35. While I still have to bring it up to eye level to shoot, thus notifying the subject, I preset it at waist level. Then, the shot is so fast and quiet, I bring the camera back down again, pretending to be fiddling with it. Or, I try to look around the subject, as if they had just obstructed my shot. I like Delta 400. Shot at 200 on bright days, 1600 on dim days.

Lastly, an AF SLR with a nice zoom; 28-105 or 35-135. These are REALLY fast, compared to the Rollei 35. Much as I like the little Rollei, I miss fewer shots with a proper AF SLR rig.

Paul Howell said:
For night work I like a point and shot with fixed 38 to 45mm 2.8 with Tmax 3200, I develop as a +1 push. For daylight, zoom point and shoot with Tmax 400.

This is a great plan. Not sure about the zoom P&S, as they have crappy lenses compared to the early prime-lensed ones.

Magnus919 said:
Hear me out here. Try not to laugh.

Just about any TLR can work well for street photography.

The problem with rangefinders and SLR's and almost anything else (and I do use them all) is that your subjects respond differently when they feel that a camera is pointing at them. You may see them looking right into the lens, building tension. So then you end up with a lot of intense looking photos where the subject is looking into the camera. Do you then take photos of people from behind? From far away? Just to get that candid moment.

With the TLR, navel-gazing into the chimney viewfinder from above, it's not so threatening to subjects. You don't look like you're about to take a photograph, and most folks will tend to just go about their business.

I took this with a Mamiya C330. But really any TLR with a chimney viewfinder should work fine. I'd love to get into a Rolleiflex someday.

TLRs are a double-edged sword. On one hand, a lot of people tend not to pay much attention to you. On the other hand, some people want to chat about the old-fashioned camera a bit too much. As for Mamiya vs. Rollei (flex or cord) the Mamiyas are more versatile, but not at all compact, compared to a Rolleiflex. On the negative side is that they have very limited depth-of-field, compared to 35 mm, so snapshots aren't as easy.

Pieter12 said:
For street photography, I want a camera that is easy and fast to use. I most often use a wide lens, prefocus and set exposure, then point and shoot--many times barely lifting the camera to my eye (and sometimes just from chest level) as I pass the subject.
https://pdekoninck.cargo.site/Street

Great tactic.

Kiron Kid said:
View attachment 237531 Really, it’s whatever you are comfortable with and shoot quickly with. I Have found that for me, it’s a fixed lens rangefinder or SLR with a wide prime. However, I’ve never understood the reason behind a waist level finder. If it’s for stealth reasons, I don’t agree. There is no reason for stealth or sneakiness in street shooting. Just shoot with whichever rig you are quick and comfortable with.

Have you ever shot in a city in which subjects are more aggressive and hostile, feeling like they have a right to privacy, even while in public? There's also the capturing candid moments aspect, which is damned hard to do when we alert them to our intent by raising a camera to the eye.

Pieter12 · Feb 12, 2020

David Reynolds said:
Leica M3 is the only camera I would use for "Street Photography" Set on F16 it captures every nuance without looking thru the viewfinder. ' Anointed ' 1996 Photo copyright 1996 David Reynolds

View attachment 239905

I hate to be a smartass, but you're going to have a hard time setting an M3 to f16.

NB23 · Feb 12, 2020

Please guys, street photography doesn’t mean being stealthy or like a ghost. What’s the point? Shooting strangers that don’t know you are present is so uninteresting.
What’s the goal of shooting people walking across a store sign, exactly?

As a photographer, you must engage and be engaged. All the “from the hip” and “stealthy” stuff is a mark of amateurism.

IMO.

What's Your Favorite Street Photography Camera?

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