Street photography with 50mm lens

[otto.f]

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17 hours ago, Danner said:

For zone focusing, a 35mm lens is more forgiving than a 50mm lens.

In fact the 28/5.6 Summaron was made for it. 

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[trickness]

3 hours ago, otto.f said:

In fact the 28/5.6 Summaron was made for it. 

This is the lens I use on my SL2 for street and it is a PERFECT tool for the job

[pippy]

On 12/12/2021 at 4:35 PM, George Stoichev said:

Yes, this is also a good approach, but what I usually do is walk down the street and when something/somebody interesting appears I shoot and there is no time

No time for what? To Focus? To understand hyperfocal distance?

Either you change your way of shooting and learn how to use a Leica rangefinder - as has been inferred many times previously - or you need to go back to using an autofocus/autoexposure camera. You have been offered a lot of very useful advice in this thread. Please take your time to understand all which has been suggested.

This is just basic stuff which every one of us posting here has had to learn for ourselves. And if we can do it then so can you.

Good luck.

Edited December 13, 2021 by pippy

[Ray Vonn]

1 hour ago, pippy said:

No time for what? To Focus? To understand hyperfocal distance?

Either you change your way of shooting and learn how to use a Leica rangefinder - as has been inferred many times previously - or you need to go back to using an autofocus/autoexposure camera. You have been offered a lot of very useful advice in this thread. Please take your time to understand all which has been suggested.

This is just basic stuff which every one of us posting here has had to learn for ourselves. And if we can do it then so can you.

Good luck.

I think he meant no time to wait for someone/ something to walk into a scene as opposed to no time to focus or understand hyperfocal distance.  What I think he wants, which is the ability to shoot straight away as soon as someone comes into a scene is, as you obviously know, still possible of course with hyper focal pre focusing. I must admit though, doing that with a 35mm as opposed to a 50mm lens IMHO provides a lot more scope and whilst it is a quite straightforward matter for a lot of us, many people do find it difficult at first as a significant mental adjustment is required. The initial process of on the one hand understanding the method and on the other hand practically facing people to capture and shoot is at first way way different to using an AF camera and requires patience. I only mention this as I remember people getting impatient with me about this years ago but I got there in the end and so will the OP.

Edited December 14, 2021 by Ray Vonn

[pippy]

9 hours ago, Ray Vonn said:

......I think he meant no time to wait for someone/ something to walk into a scene as opposed to no time to focus or understand hyperfocal distance......I must admit though, doing that with a 35mm as opposed to a 50mm lens IMHO provides a lot more scope......

OK. Thanks Ray.

I agree completely about the benefits of the OP using a 35mm rather than a 50mm at least to begin with until they master the essentials - if that option is possible - because, as you say, shooting using only hyperfocal with a 50 requires far closer 'tolerances' (if you will) in terms of focus-accuracy than does a 35 for a couple of reasons. DoF and the neccessity of using a higher shutter-speed to arrest motion - which in turn, of course, leads to a wider aperture hence even less Dof - spring immediately to mind.

If a 35 is not an option then the skill can still be learned. There might be a longer 'trial and error' period initially but, as mentioned earlier, this is something we have all had to try to work out for ourselves as an approach which works for one person might not work for anyone else.

Philip.

[cboy]

To OP as I mentioned Matt Stuart  gives possibly the most succinct advice to zone focusing that is having at least two preset distances that covers both near and far  distance range for a given aperture (f8 or higher). It's as simple as that 🙂. I assure you it's faster than any AF, that is if one can anticipate the scene however. Lol

Edited December 15, 2021 by cboy

[pippy]

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1 hour ago, cboy said:

To OP as I mentioned Matt Stuart  gives possibly the most succinct advice to zone focusing that is having at least two preset distances that covers both near and far  distance range for a given aperture (f8 or higher). It's as simple as that 🙂. I assure you it's faster than any AF, that is if one can anticipate the scene however. Lol

Yes; good advice.

Also the OP might want to have a look at posts #1 and #43 in this thread started - and these ones posted by - forum member Dennis who manages to grab some superb shots using the methods he describes in the latter post;

https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/327363-how-do-you-custom-your-m-cameralenses/#comments

Philip.