WHAT'S THE BEST LENS FOR STREET PHOTOGRAPHY?

by: Photo Start Sheet

A BUYING GUIDE: by John Lewell, author of "Street Photography Is Cool"

This was the lens recommended to me in a big London camera store:

Canon 70-200mm f4 lens
Here's what happened...

I walked into a well-known camera store in London and asked one of the sales staff: "What's the best lens for street photography?" The guy was very helpful and chatty, and immediately tried to sell me a Canon 70-200mm f/4 zoom for my Canon 5DIII.

Not long afterwards the store needed to be rescued from bankruptcy by Peter Jones, star of the British TV show "Dragon's Den." I hope he fired the salesman.

There are five reasons why the recommended Canon lens is completely unsuitable for taking candid pictures on the street.

1. It's long and parts of it are creamy white. If you point it at someone in the street everyone will notice it and shout "Perv!"

2. It's a zoom lens, which means you'll have the added complexity of deciding whether to zoom in or zoom out. That means you'll miss plenty of shots. Shame!

3. It's heavy: 760 g. A sports photographer can make terrific use of this lens by planting it on a monopod, but you'll have to lug it around the streets. Don't!

4. It's only f/4 and that's not fast enough for street photography. If you buy the faster version, f/2.8, that will be even bigger and heavier. Move on!

5. It won't give you sufficient depth-of-field for getting classic street photo captures. Avoid!

I admit I was being slightly mischievous in putting my question to the salesman as I already knew the answer. I just wanted to hear his opinion.

For my camera at the time -- a Canon 5DIII -- the best street photography lens was and (still is) the 40mm pancake lens (below). Once you've tried the others it's a no-brainer.

Needless to say, the 40mm was much less expensive, which may have explained the salesman's pitch.


Canon 40mm lens

Best Lens? But What About the Camera?

Fixed-lens cameras have a big advantage

Please note that in making my request for "the best street photography lens" I specified the camera I intended to use. That's really important because for each camera there's either a "best lens" or a choice of good lenses, any of which would allow you to take great photos.

As regards which is the best street photography camera: I've put together a comprehensive survey about that! Please see: "The Best Camera for Street Photography 2019."

It's worthwhile browsing the camera list because several of them have a fixed lens which is either not available for interchangeable lens cameras or else the camera on which it's attached has been specially engineered to accommodate it.

For example, the Fuji X100F (below) has a superb, lightweight lens; and to reduce the size even further the manufacturer has embedded it closer to the image plane than is possible with interchangeable lens cameras.


Fuji X100F camera

So What Are the Basic Criteria for a Great Street Photography Lens?

Lens criteria

1. Excellent image quality
2. Prime, not zoom
3. Appropriate focal length
4. Minimal weight
5. Not prone to flare
6. Reasonably wide aperture
7. Pleasing bokeh

1. Excellent image quality

I put this at the top of the list because image quality is something you can improve only slightly in processing, for example by increasing contrast or sharpening. Even then your adjustments may be noticeable -- and not in a good way.

2. Prime, not zoom

A prime lens gives you the best quality for the lowest weight, thereby fulfilling two of the other four criteria. It also removes a major source of anxiety in street photography, namely deciding which focal length to use on a zoom.

3. Appropriate focal length

On the street it's best to keep within the range of 24mm to 70mm, with the most popular choices being 28mm, 35mm and 50mm. That said, you can get intimate shots with 85mm on full frame, as shown below ("Slurp").
girl slurping dessert
Canon 5DIII, with EF 85mm f/1.8 USM lens. 25 percent crop. © johnlewellphotography.com

Lens Criteria, Continued

4. Minimal weight

The weight of the lens will be dictated by the format of your camera, whether it's DSLR or mirrorless, and by other factors such as speed, focal length, and plastic or metal construction. Fortunately, we don't need to worry about zooms or telephoto lenses, many of which can be heavier than the camera.

5. Not prone to flare

When you buy a lens, check the reviews for information about flare. It's an annoying characteristic when you shoot against the light, as is often necessary on the street. My 40mm (above) flared badly until I added a recessed, screw-in sunshield to it.

6. Reasonably wide aperture

Faster lenses give you an extra stop (or two or three) which can make all the difference to your image. They enable you to keep the ISO down, thus avoiding noise. However, really fast lenses are usually heavy, so anything faster than f/1.4 tends to be unsuitable.

7. Pleasing bokeh

Given that parts of the image are likely to be out of focus in either the foreground or the background, pleasing bokeh is a must. It's mainly a function of the number of aperture blades, the more the better. Pay extra for good bokeh -- you won't regret it.

...and you may also want to consider: physical dimensions, weather sealing, image stabilisation...and, er, price.

8. Physical dimensions

A bulky lens can unbalance a camera, making it less pleasing to handle. But it's not a major concern with most wide angle and standard lenses.

9. Weather sealing

Most street photography is done outside, so weather sealing is a useful addition, especially if you like to try your hand at wet weather shooting.

10. Image stabilisation

IS can provide valuable extra stops in street photography, but again, do you really need it with a fast, wide angle lens?

11. Price

Yes, it's a factor, and the "law of diminishing returns" applies when you buy expensive equipment. Spend enough to match camera quality.

More About Focal Lengths

Choosing a lens with a focal length that's right for you.

Essential info:

* standard lens terminology refers to full (35mm) frame
* to find equivalent focal length on APS-C multiply by 1.5
* e.g. 50mm on APS-C sensor = 75mm equivalence
* exceptions include: Canon APS-C (x 1.6)
* x 1.5 and x 1.6 are called "crop factors"
* for cameras with 4/3 sensors, crop factor = x 2

28mm:

Use 18mm with APS-C sensor.

This is as wide as you can go without running into some problems with distortion.

It's the choice of some of the best street photographers, including Daido Moriyama. Get close to your subject, otherwise you'll include too much background and too little action. But you'll get dramatic pictures.

35mm:

Use 24mm for APS-C to get the equivalent focal length of approx. 35mm.

Here you have the classic focal length, used at one time or another by nearly every experienced street photographer. That's a good thing, but the drawback is finding your photos look horribly similar to what's gone before, unless they're outstanding in other ways.

50mm:

Use 35mm with APS-C sensors for approx. 56mm equivalence.

Giving you a little bit more reach, 50mm is an excellent choice, not least because it's a focal length which is usually cost-effective to manufacture to a very high quality. Famously used by Henri Cartier-Bresson on his Leica, a full frame 35mm film camera.

three Sony full frame lenses

Some Recommended Lenses

For Sony full frame mirrorless cameras with interchangeable lenses.

Sony FE 28mm f/2:

* 200 g
* "The image quality is WOW!!!" (stevehuffphoto.com)

Sony Sonnar T* FE 35mm f/2.8 ZA:

* 120 g
* "Pretty impressive little lens" (DPReview.com)

Sony FE 50mm F1.8:

* 186 g
* "Stopped-down somewhat, this lens produces very sharp images." (the-digital-picture.com)

Sony Sonnar T* FE 55mm f/1.8 ZA:

* 281 g
* "Superbly sharp, but prone to chromatic aberration" (johnlewellphotography.com)

For full frame DSLR cameras.

Nikon AF Nikkor 24mm f/2.8 D:

* 270 g
* "Compact and light-weight" (photozone.de)

Sigma 30mm f/1.4 DC HSM ART:

* 435 g
* "High-quality sharpness throughout" (fstoppers.com)

Nikon AF Nikkor 35mm f/2 D:

* 205 g
* "Shooting directly into the light is not a problem" (photolisticlife.com)

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.8G:

* 185 g
* "Stopped down...it offers very sharp, contrasty images with little chromatic aberration" (imaging-resource.com)

For full frame or APS-C Canon DSLR cameras.

Canon EF 28mm f/2.8 IS USM:

* 260 g
* "Superb image quality and performance." (DPReview.com)

Canon EF 40mm f/2.8 STM:

* 130 g
* "Extremely sharp and lightweight." (johnlewellphotography.com)

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM:

* 159 g
* "Truly superb results at f/8." (DPReview.com)

Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM:

* 290 g
* "Superb sharpness right across the frame." (DPReview.com)

For Fuji X Cameras, all of which have APS-C Sensors.

Fujinon XF 23mm f1.4 R:

* 35mm equivalence
* 300 g
* "Excellent. Sharp from edge to edge at f/1.4;" but "not weather sealed, like Fujifilm's less expensive, smaller f2 version." (uk.pcmag.com)

Fujinon XF 23mm f/2 R WR:

* 35mm equivalence
* 180 g
* "Quicker, quieter and closer focusing" than the f/1.4 R lens." (cameralabs.com)

Fujinon XF 35mm f/1.4 R:

* 52.5mm equivalence
* 184g
* "A modern classic." (admiringlight.com)

Fujinon XF 35mm f/2 R WR:

* 52.5mm equivalence
* 164g
* Does "90% of what the XF 35mm f/1.4 can deliver optically " for "two-thirds the price." (fujivsfuji.com)

For Olympus cameras with Micro Four Thirds sensors.

M.Zuiko 12mm f/2 Digital ED:

* 130 g
* 24mm equivalence
* "A particularly high-quality micro 4/3 lens." (dxomark.com)

M.Zuiko 17mm f/1.8 Digital:

* 120 g
* 35mm equivalence
* "This...Olympus lens is a beauty." (stevehuffphoto.com)

M.Zuiko 25mm f/1.8 Digital ED:

* 136g
* 50mm equivalence
* "Good image quality on the edge of the frame" (lenstip.com)

M.Zuiko Digital ED 30mm f/3.5 Macro:

* 128 g
* 60mm equivalence
* "Edges are...impressively sharp wide open." (photographyblog.com)

street scene
Fuji X-T3, with Fujinon XF 35mm f/2. 50 percent crop. © johnlewellphotography.com

Great Lenses, on Specialist, Fixed-Lens Cameras

Sony RX1RII

This is a full-frame, 42MP compact camera with a fixed Zeiss Sonnar 35mm f/2 lens. It's a brilliant lens, despite the whole package lacking image stabilisation.

There is a touch of off-centre sharpness until stopped down. The whole package is quite expensive, but you get excellent image quality and extreme light weight.


Sony RX1RII camera

Leica Q2

Gaining mostly positive reviews (apart from comments about the price), the 47.3 megapixel full-frame Q2 boasts a 28mm f/1.7 Summilux stabilised lens. This is the same lens that was on the 24MP Q1.

Unlike the Sony RX1RII it has baked-in lens corrections in the RAW file (not to everyone's taste), including highly effective aberration correction. Expensive? Yes, but better value than many other Leicas.


Leica Q2

Ricoh GRIII

At 257 grams the Ricoh GRIII is one of the lightest possible high-quality cameras you can buy. It has a 24MP APS-C sensor, smaller than the full-frame sensors in the Sony RX1RII or Leica Q2 but still much bigger than those in most cameras of comparable compactness.

Its lens is a 18.3mm f/2.8 lens (28mm equivalent). Its image quality nearly matches that of the other two (above), and for those gritty, powerful images beloved of many street photographers it's a winner. Excellent value.


Ricoh GRIII camera

Fuji X100F

This is a 24.3MP camera with an X-Trans APS-C sensor, very highly regarded by street photographers (as was its immediate predecessor the X100T). The lens is a 23mm (35mm equivalent) f/2 lens, cleverly recessed into the body to minimise size.

I have never been a hundred percent convinced by the output of the non-Bayer sensor (waxy-looking skin? Van Gogh foliage?) but processing has improved since inception of the range. Undoubtedly, some great street photography has been achieved with it, so here it is again, this time in black.


Fuji X100F in black

SUMMARY

So which is the best lens?

24 lenses

In this article I've listed a couple of dozen lenses, four of them with rather nice cameras attached to them, but I haven't said -- as yet -- which is the best lens for street photography.

Alas, just as there is no "ideal" camera there's no ideal lens either. You must choose the best of the bunch, based on how you prioritise the criteria listed above and on the camera you intend to use.

The terrible trade-off

For street photography, two of the key criteria are image quality and weight. Unfortunately these are often at odds with each other, with better quality lenses tending to be heavier.

There's no easy answer to this trade-off between quality and weight. We just have to accept a compromise and be thankful that the really heavy glass is for other photographers who use long telephoto or zoom lenses.

Focal length is a personal choice

The choice of an appropriate focal length is entirely personal and usually determined by the style of street photography you wish to do. I would advise beginners to start with 50mm, then move to something wider as confidence grows.

Today's high-res cameras allow you to crop the image generously. Using the Leica Q2 with its 28mm f/1.7 Summilux lens you can crop to 35mm, 50mm, or even 75mm and still obtain a very detailed image.

Mobile phones

I've not mentioned mobile phones because they're unsuited to serious street photography, which is not to say you won't occasionally get a great street photo with one of them.

For serious street, you need more options: viewfinder, larger sensor, more pixels, buttons for making quick adjustments, and the option to use it one-handed if necessary. Learning how it all works really is worthwhile, if the lens is up to it.

Floating Market vendor
Nikon Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 D, on 12-year old Fuji FinePix S5Pro. © johnlewellphotography.com

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