How To Select A Prime Lens For Street Photography
Today I will be answering what prime lens you should be considering for street photography, why you should consider it, the types of images you might get and the shooting experience you might expect.
A little while ago I wrote a blog on what you should do if you have no idea what prime to get. Spoiler alert my suggestion was to get a zoom, shoot for ages and then see which focal length you gravitate to the most. However there is a large group of people who either can’t afford a zoom or just want to only use primes. Therefore in this blog I will re-visit this topic from a prime only perspective. Also I will only discuss the focal length and not any special characteristics of a particular lens. Finally the opinions and advice I will give in this video are solely based on my own style, approach, preference and experience. Lens choice is very personal and there is no such thing as the best lens for this type of photography. Everyone is different. My goal is to provide you with the framework in which to make up your own mind.
Let’s start with some key criteria to at least get you thinking in a particular direction
The Environment
What kind of environment is it? Is it a tightly packed back street in the Middle East that requires a wider lens to get the whole environment?
Or is it a more open environment where everything is spaced out more and will require a longer lens to reach?
The Subject
Are you shooting in a location where people are welcoming therefore a wider lens will allow you to get closer to the action?
Or are you shooting somewhere where people are not as approachable therefore a longer lens would be better?
The Story
How do you want the viewer to feel?
Do you want the viewer to feel like they are in the action themselves? If so then you need to go wide.
What about wanting your viewer to feel like they are an observer from a distance? Well that’s where a longer lens comes in.
Once you’ve answered these questions, you will have a better understanding of what might be worth looking into. This is not to say that you should only get one prime for the rest of your life, this is simply to answer the question…. Which one should you get first? If your budget only covers one? There is definitely merit to owning a few different primes.
28mm
Let’s start with the wide angle which is typically around 28mm. Some people go even wider to 24mm but at least within street photography, 28 seems to be more popular. This is the focal length that gets everything and everyone involved. It is also the most intimidating focal length because not only do you need to be right in the middle of the action, but you also need to work out where to put everything within the frame. However if you overcome the fear of using it and get better at the composition side, then this could be a very fun lens that literally puts the viewer in your shoes.
On the other hand, if you’re still nervous with getting close to people, then this lens can be used from further away and given how wide it is, you might not need to even directly point it at your subject. With this kind of focal length you really can experiment with foreground element, be it placing things between the lens and thens scene. Or taking a photo in portrait mode but tilting the camera slightly down in order to get any interesting foreground.
Where would you use this? Well any busy and tightly packed location such as narrow European streets or a busy market in the Middle East. If you like taking photos of gatherings or protests then this would be a fantastic lens as long as you’re happy to get in the middle of it all. Outside of the street environment, you can also use this lens for architecture and landscape.
Finally if you’re putting together a collection of your photos, be it a book, a zine or a simple album, then this is the lens you would probably use for your wide establishing shot of the whole scene. So who is this lens for? Well it is certainly not for everyone however if you really want to take your composition to the next level and get comfortable being in the middle of the action, this lens is the one to get. If you always find yourself in cramped environments, narrow streets, indoors or in crowds with a lot going on, then this lens is for you.
35mm
There are 2 focal lengths which are synonymous with street and travel photography. The 35mm is one of them and for many is the go to focal length for pretty much everything. So much so that you have dedicated cameras like the X100v that embrace it exclusively and amass a cult following. It is wide enough to get most of the scene yet tight enough to keep things in check and not let too much creep in. It is also fantastic for environmental portraits and documenting a particular series of events. It still keeps the viewer involved but rather than being shoulder to shoulder, its more like at an arms length…. Which can make for more comfortable viewing.
If I was going out for the day into the city, had to document my day and could only pick one lens…. I would probably grab this as I know it would cover just about everything. For example I spent all day in Jerusalem and documented everything just on the 35mm. When I was commuting in I was a little worries that I didn’t bring anything else but once I got going, I didn’t need anything else. Same for my day in Old Town Dubai. Depending on when this goes out you would have either already seen it or you will see it very soon. I spent the whole day with just the x100v which is a 35mm fixed lens camera and I loved it. So I would recommend the 35mm to everyone. Honestly this is one of the foundational focal lengths which I think everyone can benefit from and have a use case for.
50mm
The second focal length which is synonymous with street is the 50mm. Just like the 35mm, for many photographers this is the go to lens for street photography and really focusing on the details of the environment. For me, this is my go to focal length for when I want to find unique scenes and compositions within a larger and busier area. If the 28mm was the establishing shot lens, then this would be my subject lens.For example my entire New York trip last December was done on the 50mm with the 28 only coming in for the odd lookup architecture shot. Because everything was more spread out compared to somewhere like Jerusalem, the 50 felt right at home. Where’s the 35 might have been a little too wide at least for me. I would say though that I would only take this lens if I had specific photos in mind or I wasn’t documenting my day out. The reason for it is that I can be a little too tight if you just want to showcase where you are. However if you plan on doing portraits as part of your day out, this you can’t really go wrong with the 50. Furthermore the 50mm is the most natural for the human eye to look and if the 35mm was at arms length from your viewer, then the 50mm is them standing a little further back and observing from a small distance. A bit like you might in real life as you’re walking around a city. Most people try to decide between the 50 and the 35.
85mm
The final lens in the lineup is the 85mm and we are very much heading into telephoto territory now. When it comes to street photography there are still some people that use this lens but it is not as common as the 50 or the 35. Some don’t even like it because it can create this detached and cold feeling between the subject and the viewer. Some even say that I can have a certain creepy feeling like the photographer is almost stalking the subject. Even though some might not like it, I personally think it definitely has a place in your kit and it can create images which others simply can’t. I would use it if I am going for a cinematic feel with many layers and out of focus elements or if I want to only focus on small details within the scene such as hand gestures or textures. However the best use for this lens in my opinion is as a companion to the 35mm or the 28mm.
The wider lenses will capture the environment and the 85 will pick out a few key details within the environment that the viewer should see. Together the wide and the telephoto will build a better and more complete story around your subject or location. Saying that, I personally don’t have an 85mm lens anymore because I found it to be way too restrictive as a prime. On a zoom, it is great but in a prime I just didn’t use mine much.