Best lens for street photography

[slayerq]

Hi!

Recently I am really into street photography.

I have a Panansonic 42.5mm which works for me only as portrait lens, and I have a Olympus 17mm which is too wide, Im not feeling confident being so close people.

Just wondering which lens would be good for me in my situation:

- Panasonic Lumix G Vario 12-60mm f/3.5-5.6

- Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-50mm F3.5-6.3

I guess zoom would be perfect for me, but I am thinking about Panasonic 25mm f/1.7 as well.

Dont really like Olympus M.ZUIKO Digital ED 14-42mm and Panasonic 14-42mm because they both have electronic zoom.

I have Lumix GX80.

I will be grateful for any advice.

Thanks!

 

[Joseph K Boston]

Lumix 12-60 G-Vario is a great lens, I love it.

If you're going for true stealth the Lumix 20 1.7 is an excellent option. VERY sharp, tiny, bright...perfect focal length for environmental portraits.

 

[danmitch]

Hi!

Recently I am really into street photography.

I have a Panansonic 42.5mm which works for me only as portrait lens, and I have a Olympus 17mm which is too wide, Im not feeling confident being so close people.

Just wondering which lens would be good for me in my situation:

- Panasonic Lumix G Vario 12-60mm f/3.5-5.6

- Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-50mm F3.5-6.3

I guess zoom would be perfect for me, but I am thinking about Panasonic 25mm f/1.7 as well.

Dont really like Olympus M.ZUIKO Digital ED 14-42mm and Panasonic 14-42mm because they both have electronic zoom.

I have Lumix GX80.

I will be grateful for any advice.

Thanks!

Of course you can use any lens for street photography, however I think you will be better served by a faster prime lens. With street photography you often have to be quick, so maybe won't have time to zoom (and will get used to working with a given focal length and how it frames). Also the faster aperture will allow you to use a faster shutter speed for a given ISO - so it becomes easier to freeze action or work in lower light.

With M43, as you are aware, there are so many choices in small fast primes - I am not sure you will notice significant difference between 17mm and 20mm, but a step further to the 25mm will definitely make a difference - from memory there are a couple of Panasonics, the Olympus 25 1.8 (which I have and is superb) and other 3rd party lenses too.

Hope this helps!

 

[slayerq]

Lumix 12-60 G-Vario is a great lens, I love it.
If you're going for true stealth the Lumix 20 1.7 is an excellent option. VERY sharp, tiny, bright...perfect focal length for environmental portraits.

 

[SkiHound]

Focal length is really individualistic. I tend to like small for street but the Lumix 12-60 is surprisingly good. It focuses fast and it's also capable of focusing pretty close. The classic street photography focal lengths are 35 and 50mm FF equivalent. I've never used either but I feel like reviews for the Olympus 25 f/1.8 are consistently better than for the Panasonic 15 f/1.7. If you want something longer than 17 I don't think the 20 really gets you there. So I'd either go zoom or for one of the 25mm lenses. Also, you might consider a Panasonic 12-32. Very small and light. IQ is surprisingly good. Manual zoom. It looks and feels kind of cheap, and there's no focusing ring. But would give you a smaller zoom option.

 

[thelightwriter]

Hi!

Recently I am really into street photography.

I have a Panansonic 42.5mm which works for me only as portrait lens, and I have a Olympus 17mm which is too wide, Im not feeling confident being so close people.

Just wondering which lens would be good for me in my situation:

- Panasonic Lumix G Vario 12-60mm f/3.5-5.6

- Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-50mm F3.5-6.3

I guess zoom would be perfect for me, but I am thinking about Panasonic 25mm f/1.7 as well.

Dont really like Olympus M.ZUIKO Digital ED 14-42mm and Panasonic 14-42mm because they both have electronic zoom.

I have Lumix GX80.

I will be grateful for any advice.

Thanks!

I'd go with the Panasonic 12-60mm f3.5-5.6. Mostly because on the GX80 you can benefit from dual stabilization and personally I think it would be a little better for your intended use than the Oly 12-50mm.

I haven't used the Panasonic 25mm f1.7 but I have used the Oly 25mm f1.8 and it was nice.

A suggestion maybe try the Sigma 30mm f2.8. Might be a little too close towards your 42.5mm but if 17mm is too close and you want to maintain some distance the 30mm could be a happy medium. Its one of the smaller M4/3 primes and priced very well.

 

[mentos77]

17mm is great for street photography and eventually you will probably come around to preferring it. I was like you at first and a 25mm lens was a good middle ground, but too tight now. I think I may actually prefer 14mm now from using it so often, whereas I was sure 17.5mm was the best before.

But the lens I recommend you buy is the amazing 12-32mm which I love for street photography. It is stabilized and focuses instantly, which is a nice bonus for those quick shots of people moving fast. A zoom is very liberating and fun, but I generally stick it somewhere between the 14mm and 18mm markers. When there is someone across the street or intimidating then its nice to have that zoom to 32mm. And the same when you want extra wide 12mm for buildings and busy markets.

The 12-32 is ultra lightweight, a pancake when closed and still small when opened up, so it is quite stealthy. If you have a black Gx85 it is definitely worth paying the little extra for the black version. As mentioned above it has a manual zoom which is very smooth. The 2 lenses you mentioned are massive in comparison.

It is a cheap lens new on eBay split from kits and it will help you decide on the best length for you. Perhaps then getting a 25mm, or even the Sigma 30mm f1.4 will be good for you. But my guess is you will be happy with the zoom and grow into the 17mm, which will also be good for lowlight.

If you can find it on sale or cheap on eBay might be worth just buying the 25mm f1.7 as well as it can be great value and also has instant focusing. You need something with a fast aperture for night times. F1.8 barely does the job, I much prefer f1.4 if I am happy to use a bigger lens.

 

[Chrisd999]

I am not very big into street photography, but I do follow the well known LA street photographer based Eric Kim, who recently replaced his trusted Ricoh GR2 with a Panasonic G9 with a PL 12mm f1.4. Here is a link to his new setup:

Personally, my street style is limited to “fishing”, finding an interesting backdrop and waiting for an interesting subject to walk through, and for that a 12-40mm or 12-100mm zoom works best as it is important to me to get the composition framed just right, whereas a real street photographer like Eric wants to get in tight with his wide prime and “capture the decisive moment”.

Anyway, couple of ideas for you.

 

[bofo777]

If you try the Oly 12-100 4.0 you may not use any other of your Lenses.....Superior in range, sharpness and stability...and added bonus Focus Stacking if you get bored with people......

 

[alsuser]

There's always the Panasonic Leica 25mm 1.4 as well if you need a wider aperture

 

[larsbc]

I have a Panansonic 42.5mm which works for me only as portrait lens, and I have a Olympus 17mm which is too wide, Im not feeling confident being so close people.

Just wondering which lens would be good for me in my situation:

- Panasonic Lumix G Vario 12-60mm f/3.5-5.6

- Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-50mm F3.5-6.3

I guess zoom would be perfect for me, but I am thinking about Panasonic 25mm f/1.7 as well.

The obvious choice, then, is a 20 or 25. But since you've already got the 17, then a 25 makes more sense. I started with a 20 but now also have a 15 and 25 and the 20, while a great lens, doesn't get used as much, anymore, simply because of its focal length. I keep it for those times when I need a really small lens.

I use the 15 for low light photos of friends and family. I've used the 15 and 20 for street photography but, like you, I don't have the confidence to comfortably work close to people. 25mm is a good focal length for me. I shoot with the PL 25/1.4 but I suspect any of the 1.8 or 1.7 25mm lenses will be fine (they'll also be a bit more compact). After all, successful street photography is all about the content and fine technical detail isn't a concern, nor does it invite people to peer closely at the image.

Having said that, I should also mention that I've taken great street photos with wide-to-normal zooms, too. I just find that a short prime is better because it forces me to get in closer plus when speed is important, the fixed focal length is one less thing to worry about.