Better street lens?

princecody

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Olympus 12mm or Panasonic Leica 15mm?
 
Olympus 12mm or Panasonic Leica 15mm?
For the price of one of these lenses you can get a Ricoh GR which is better for street photography than m43 cameras because of its completely silent leaf shutter and advanced manual focus options and tiny inconspicuous size, and the lens is ultra ultra sharp.
Except that the Ricoh GR has a fixed LCD and a clip-on optical viewfinder. No thanks.

I'll stick with the GX7 and whatever lens I feel like using at the moment. Silent mode, tilting touch screen LCD and the tilting EVF make for a pretty amazing street shooter.
 
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@46.2...!3m5!1e1!3m3!1sAtFIvNtxaOkmibPxAXNJfA!2e0!3e5

This is in the town of Poffabro in Northern Italy. The last time I was there I made a lot of use of my 11-22, mostly at 11mm. Towns like this are not uncommon in the older parts of Europe.

Mark
And this is the tiny city of Vittoriosa, Malta. It has narrow, winding streets. Taken with the Panasonic L1 and Olympus 25mm f2.8.



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Regards
J
Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/jasonhindleuk
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Gear in profile. Oh, and caveat moron.
 
In the narrow streets common in much of Europe, the 12mm may be a reasonable option.
12mm is nice to have in some situations, but I wouldn't use it all the time.
My company is giving me a long service award (after 25 years), so I think I will be getting both the 12mm and 17mm f/1.8. ;-) The problem of m4/3 is there are so many options. The 12-40 is also tempting, but doesn't really suit the smaller bodies and possibly reintroduces the big lens reaction amongst some subjects. My GX1+45mm (or the pz pancake) is ignored in a way my old e-500 wasn't. Some think the cause is more use of the OVF instead of a rear screen rather than physical size.

Mark
 
Olympus 12mm or Panasonic Leica 15mm?
For the price of one of these lenses you can get a Ricoh GR which is better for street photography than m43 cameras because of its completely silent leaf shutter and advanced manual focus options and tiny inconspicuous size, and the lens is ultra ultra sharp.
Except that the Ricoh GR has a fixed LCD and a clip-on optical viewfinder. No thanks.

I'll stick with the GX7 and whatever lens I feel like using at the moment. Silent mode, tilting touch screen LCD and the tilting EVF make for a pretty amazing street shooter.
The rolling shutter will cause weird distortion for capturing moving subjects.

Using an EVF is not inconspicuous.
 
my idea of the best candid street lens
my idea of the best candid street lens
 
While it's true that HCB used that field-of-view, it is outdated. Subsequent street photographers like Garry Winogrand used 28mm.
 
It depends on what you aim to do in street photography.
As with most artistic questions, the real answer is subjective. Personally, going back to the original pair of lenses mentioned, I would be much more likely to start off with the 15mm over the 12mm for candid environmental portraiture. For streetscapes on the other hand, I'm more likely to start wider. YMMV.
 
That's my argument for the 12-32. Small and versatile.
 
The 15mm Panaleica will give you the best result among M43 primes...

It matches the 12mm Zuiko for center sharpness from F2 onwards, and exceeds all wide primes in corner sharpness. It has a wonderful, highly contrasting character, which IMO makes up for the technical superiority of the Coolpix A or Sony FE35 over M43 wide-angle primes.
 
Olympus 12mm or Panasonic Leica 15mm?
For the price of one of these lenses you can get a Ricoh GR which is better for street photography than m43 cameras because of its completely silent leaf shutter and advanced manual focus options and tiny inconspicuous size, and the lens is ultra ultra sharp.
Except that the Ricoh GR has a fixed LCD and a clip-on optical viewfinder. No thanks.

I'll stick with the GX7 and whatever lens I feel like using at the moment. Silent mode, tilting touch screen LCD and the tilting EVF make for a pretty amazing street shooter.
The rolling shutter will cause weird distortion for capturing moving subjects.
I've rarely seen it and only when I'm walking and shooting. It's an interesting effect, too.
Using an EVF is not inconspicuous.
It's all about technique and how you do it. One way is to focus on something at about the same distance, then turn and shoot.

You've GOT to admit that a tilting LCD beats the bejeezus out of a fixed LCD!
 
Get the Lumix 12-32mm f/3.5-5.6. It is quite good, very light and small. And if you get the black version, it is very stealthy.


It has the focal lengths you typically need for street photography.
 
While it's true that HCB used that field-of-view, it is outdated. Subsequent street photographers like Garry Winogrand used 28mm
While true that 50mm is probably not the currently most popular FL for street photography, it isn't 'Outdated'. It's all to do with what style of street photography you want. Just because it's not as popular as some other FL doesn't make it outdated. Do only old geezers use 50mm FL lenses while younger guys use other FL's? Hardly.

Besides, the 'current' favorite FL these days is probably 35mm, not 28mm (regardless of what some famous street photographers are using).
 
Olympus 12mm or Panasonic Leica 15mm?
Generally speaking, when most think street photography, I think most gravitate towards 35mm followed by 28mm and 50mm. Course there are others that use 60mm, 100mm, 24mm, etc. etc.

All to do with what focal length you/they prefer.

Personally I think 12mm (24mm equivalent) is just too wide...for ME. I would personally get the 15mm. Even the Panny 20mm, Panny/Oly 25mm, Oly 17mm are all great street photography lenses (regardless of those that think the 20mm focuses too slowly or is too loud).

But forget what I said about what others think, it's all to do with which focal length YOU prefer. If you prefer the 12mm focal length, then you should get the 12mm. If you prefer the 15mm lens, then you should get the 15mm. Don't worry about what others think. There is no wrong answer here.

Get the focal length you prefer. Period. End of story ;)
 
Get the Lumix 12-32mm f/3.5-5.6. It is quite good, very light and small. And if you get the black version, it is very stealthy.
My black 12-32 is an onyx gem mounted in a silver setting (E-PL5).

Fortunately, I'm OK with just "moderately stealthy." :-)
http://m43photo.blogspot.no/2014/04/lumix-g-12-32mm-f35-56-review-small-and.html

It has the focal lengths you typically need for street photography.
And the size is just the ginchiest.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Ginchy

--

"Kookie"
 
Last edited:
Olympus 12mm or Panasonic Leica 15mm?
For the price of one of these lenses you can get a Ricoh GR which is better for street photography than m43 cameras because of its completely silent leaf shutter and advanced manual focus options and tiny inconspicuous size, and the lens is ultra ultra sharp.
Except that the Ricoh GR has a fixed LCD and a clip-on optical viewfinder. No thanks.

I'll stick with the GX7 and whatever lens I feel like using at the moment. Silent mode, tilting touch screen LCD and the tilting EVF make for a pretty amazing street shooter.
The rolling shutter will cause weird distortion for capturing moving subjects.
I've rarely seen it and only when I'm walking and shooting. It's an interesting effect, too.
Using an EVF is not inconspicuous.
It's all about technique and how you do it. One way is to focus on something at about the same distance, then turn and shoot.

You've GOT to admit that a tilting LCD beats the bejeezus out of a fixed LCD!
The GR 'IS' a great street photography camera. Although I rather wish it came with a 35mm lens...

Still, the ability to use snap focus is an incredible feature to have for street photography. And with the 28mm lens, it's fairly wide enough that you don't 'HAVE' to actually see to compose. Just point at the scene and snap the shutter. Course, you do need to practice this endlessly to properly understand what you are taking a photo of to get the composition and focus range correctly but once you do...I doubt you would use the LCD too much (or a viewfinder).

Of course, I'm not at the level but for those that are or inspired to become, the GR is an incredible weapon for street photographers.

That said, I would get a GX7 before I would get a GR...but only because I have other use cases besides street photography (but I would LOVE to get a GR)!
 
  • No AF issues ;)
  • Razor sharp
  • Wide enough to use for shooting from hip
  • Fish-eye






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Cheers,
Alex
 
  • No AF issues ;)
  • Razor sharp
  • Wide enough to use for shooting from hip
  • Fish-eyeCheers,
10011724_647341165331297_6930335497035505418_o.jpg


Cheers,
Alex
http://1x.com/member/alexk
This is a fantastic image. On my screen I see a barely yellow taxi, the girl's blue jeans, and her reddish hair. Everything else is B&W. If you don't mind sharing, how did you do that?

--
Bill S.
Digital film is cheap; shoot fast and shoot often!!!
 

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