This is for my son who is extremely interested in street and candid photography. He mainly uses my old D90 coupled with my AF-D 50mm lens or AF-S 55-200 Dx lens. Sometimes he uses my D7200 with the same lens. I am planning to gift him a lens for his photographic journey, and together we have short-listed the following.
AF-S Nikkor 24mm f/1.8 G ED
AF-S Nikkor 20mm f/1.8 G ED
AF-S Nikkor 28mm f/1.8 G
AF-S Nikkor 35mm f/1.8 G ED
AF Nikkor 20mm f/2.8 D
AF Nikkor 24mm f/2.8 D
AF Nikkor 28mm f/2.8 D
AF Nikkor 35mm f/2 D
20mm f/2.8 Nikkor
It would be a great help if the members here may comment on these lenses and point me to the best possible lens, keeping the price in mind.
sjms wrote:
Nikon 16-80/2.8-4 or a Sigma 17-70/2.8-4 on DX bodies.
having a zoom in that range gives one versatility
Thank you for your reply.
As cost is a factor, so we were not considering zoom lenses. This one we did not consider as variable aperture zooms generally tend to be softer at the extreme ends. Though, I agree with your point that a zoom lens surely gives much more flexibility.
if you say so. the body is more replaceable than the optic. the D7200 is/was an outstanding camera (my daughter has mine) out to iso 12k if one has the appropriate editing software. a single focal length optic is fine but then you need to move around more (good exercise but can be problematic for a street shooter). and of course, it's how you perceive street shooting. everything has some level of compromise. your choice.
Thank you so much for sharing the sample images. I shall surely look for it.
As you are using it, do you think that its critical sharpness is as good as the prime lenses that I mentioned?
RoyCh wrote:
Thank you so much for sharing the sample images. I shall surely look for it.
As you are using it, do you think that its critical sharpness is as good as the prime lenses that I mentioned?
also look at the 17-70/2.8-4 from Sigma. less money and works well too. but yes the nikon has the light.
the term critical sharpness varies by user. what defines critical sharpness to you?
you can have a one hit wonder optic and swap it out to change a view. is that optic as good? everything is in some way a level of compromise. nothing is perfect all of the time. its the moment that you are looking for and at. i like each image for its own reason.
RoyCh wrote:
Hello friends and fellow photographers
This is for my son who is extremely interested in street and candid photography. He mainly uses my old D90 coupled with my AF-D 50mm lens or AF-S 55-200 Dx lens. Sometimes he uses my D7200 with the same lens. I am planning to gift him a lens for his photographic journey, and together we have short-listed the following.
AF-S Nikkor 24mm f/1.8 G ED
AF-S Nikkor 20mm f/1.8 G ED
AF-S Nikkor 28mm f/1.8 G
AF-S Nikkor 35mm f/1.8 G ED
AF Nikkor 20mm f/2.8 D
AF Nikkor 24mm f/2.8 D
AF Nikkor 28mm f/2.8 D
AF Nikkor 35mm f/2 D
20mm f/2.8 Nikkor
It would be a great help if the members here may comment on these lenses and point me to the best possible lens, keeping the price in mind.
Why not give him the classic street photography experience of fully manual shooting. It does change how you see and how you shoot. Pick a lens like one of the the vintage Nikons or a Voigtlander or Zeiss lens that is optimized for this type of shooting.
sjms wrote:
i always look at content. that's what makes a picture what it is. these images have been stepped on and reduced in size to begin with.
The artistic part (the contents ) is the ultimate goal of the photographer, and I find lots of joy in browsing street photography. More than wild life and nature. Simply it is like a documentary.
I did not think that the contents are the topic of this thread.
Which lens is more suitable for street photography, Which lens worth its value? I thought this is the topic. If it is not, then I must misunderstood the OP.
I like a set of 3 small primes for street photography, wide, normal and short telephoto. It sounds like your son has the short telephoto covered. I would recommend either the 20 f/1.8G or the 35 f/1.8G, with the aim to have both in the long run.
sjms wrote:
why do you choose these lenses? what visual/technical properties do they have that make them your choices?
I am not sure if that was directed at me. If it was I like a small set up because when I shoot street I typically hold it in my hand for long periods of time. I also like a range of focal lengths and apertures. A set of small primes let's me have both a nice range of focal lengths and apertures. Not a lot more to it than that. I find for street I rarely want to use wider than 28mm on FF 35mm but I use that a lot. I tend to use a normal focal length the most, and use the short tele the least but some situations it is quite nice to have the longer reach. I also like being able to open the aperture wider for some shots especially when they are a little farther away and even at a wide aperture they have quite a bit of depth of field.
For me I also use zone focussing some of the time and having the scales on the lens is worth a lot to me, but that isn't relevant to the recommendations I made.
I shoot with a 17-55. The size makes me want to carry smaller lenses. I've found that I use 17, 24, and 35 a lot. I really wish there was a 16mm prime. I've almost purchased the 24 and 35 D,but mirror less has made me reconsider. I have been eyeing the z cameras so have just been shooting with what I have.
sjms wrote:
well, what makes a particular optic "suitable" shooting "street" type environments? isn't that a matter of taste?
Of course everything is a matter of personal preference and taste. I never said "suitable" because almost any lens can be used. I said "optimized" for the classic methods employed in the street photography genre. It is not so much about "optics", although there are traditionally favored focal lengths, it is more about ergonomics.
Generally these types of lenses are small, compact, and unobtrusive.
They have clickable aperture rings with good indents. This allows for adjusting aperture while the lens is still by your side by counting clicks from a known position.
They are manual focus lenses with a mechanical focus mechanism. The focus ring is smooth, and with a short, predictable throw. They often have some sort of focus tab. These attributes help make focus fast and predictable before bringing the lens up to the eye. Often shot using hyperfocal and zone focus methods. This is actually quicker than any autofocus system.
The aperture ring, focus ring, and depth of field scale are deeply engraved and easily read.
None of the modern focus by wire lenses fully meet all of these requirements for optimization.
In street shooting it is important to keep your eyes on the World, not in the view finder. The characters, the environment, and the moments, are what are most important. When an opportunity presents itself using these methods you must recognize it, pre-visualize the composition, set the camera to make the shot, then quickly bring it to your eye so you can unobtrusively make the shot.
There are lines of lenses that have been optimized for this. They have the proper size, ergonomic, build quality, and superb optics that optimize the method. They help change the way you think, visualize, and operate when taking these types of photographs. Again, not saying you can't do it with other methods, just that the above mentioned methods provide the classic experience.
