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28mm Elmarit for street photography


salim

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I keep on hearing 35mm is best for street. But what about the 28mm. I would think being a wider lens, you can put more into frame. You can also include people without them feeling their taken photo. Dont you agree?.

 

I am thinking of getting it, would you advice for street photography?

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If you compare say a 28mm with a 50mm you will need to be a lot closer to the action/person with the 28mm for the image to appear as big as with the 50mm.

 

The 50mm will give you more working distance but the shorter focal length will give the viewer a sense of inclusion.

 

I have never really tried street photography until I got the M9. I have a 28mm 'cron and I am making a big effort to use it to get those intimate street pics. I find it quite nerve wracking having to get close enough to people to get a shot. The best piece of technique advice I have read that has helped is to smile at people a lot and say thanks.

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When they say 35mm is best for street, I think what they mean is that it is a versatile focal length, close to both the wider 28mm and 50mm. If you take this out as your only lens you can cover a lot.

 

What is the best for your style is very personal. I do see great street photos with 28mm and wider. And the 28mm Elmarit ASPH is fantastic in terms of performance, size and value. But so is your 35mm Summicron. Why not use the frame selector to get an idea.

 

P.S. Nice gallery! Really none of it taken with 28mm?

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I have quite a few Leica lenses ranging from 18mm - 90mm in focal lengths.

 

The 28 Elmarit is my absolute favorite lens for street photography. Very compact, very sharp (and forgiving) and fast enough. Relatively inexpensive as well. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

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28mm images shot correctly always look more dynamic than those taken with a 35mm. it does take more work and its not easy to use with the M9 viewfinder as the perspective is misleading. objects appear closer than what they actually are and resulting pictures seem like you werent as close as you thought you were. An external finder can help with that. Trent Parke of Magnum shoots a 28mm for most of his work and he's one if the best to ever shoot the Leica rangefinder.

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I keep on hearing 35mm is best for street. But what about the 28mm. I would think being a wider lens, you can put more into frame.

 

Goal of street photo is not to put more into frame.

Plus all that Leicashote wrote.

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I keep on hearing 35mm is best for street
Depends on what you want to shoot. For scenery you will get similar pictures with 28mm as you would get with 35mm (though the 28mm requires more careful framing, as metioned above). For portraits 28/35mm is to wide - at least if you prefer candid portraits. Try 70-90mm for the beginning or at least 50mm. People tend to get agressive, if you shove a camera directly up their nose.

 

I use 20mm Panasonic Pancake (f1.7) lens on a mFT System (equiv. 40mm) or a M4 with Summicron 50mm lens. If you prefer 28/35mm - do so. But you will need a second lens for portraits. As i never carry more than one lens on street, i would have to decide upfront what to shoot this day.

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