It’s amazing how quickly the whole ‘own your settings’ thing becomes the norm . Since our 1to1 session I’ve not touched an auto setting and my kit lens although I carry it every time I go out is purely there in case it rains as my prime isn’t weather sealed. My biggest piece of advise and the best money I’ve spent in photography is a 1to1/workshop I take better images after my 1to1 than if I’d spent £10,000+ on a leica camera.
The best explanation and argument for using a prime lens I've seen on TH-cam. Well done Gareth. I've passed the link onto my son who is a keen street photographer and keeps harping onto to me about getting myself a prime lens. It'll be "I told you so" I'm sure
In my film only days, my favorite lens for street shooting was the 35mm f/1.4 on a Leica M6 rangefinder. My favorite lens for street shooting with a digital is a 23mm f/2 on a Fuji X-Pro2 in silent electronic shutter mode. Sometimes, I added a second body with a 56mm f/1.2 lens.
Thanks Gareth good video. I run hot &cold with street photography .Your usual format of shooting then critiquing is awesome and a nice change from POV vlogs where guys run around shoving cameras in people’s faces taking bad photos . Knowing your gear is the hot tip from this one 👍 whether prime or not . I usually use primes either 24mm or 50 mm on crop sensor but shoot “street” less & less as I struggle with the ethics of walking around photographing people just going about their lives . It can be quite invasive . Keep up the good work enjoy your landscape ones as well .
As much as I want to like primes, and have them. My Olympus 9-18mm on my Lumix GX8 is my most used combination. To me. For street photography. I am not looking for blurry backgrounds.
Just got a Z6 2 and 40mm 2.0. Auto focus and exposure and SILENT shutter which also has advantage of no vibration.. I can fool around with focus and exposure and lose half the opportunities, or use as described as above.
Hi Gareth. I've got a bit of a dilemma... My current line-up is: Sony G 20mm, Zeiss 55, Viltrox 85 f/1.8 (which I actually use for street) and the new 70-200 f/4. I'm wondering whether I should add a 35mm prime (the GM from Sony is such a sweet lens) or... a zoom from Tamron (28-75 g2, which is great, too) Any thoughts? I shoot mainly landscapes, street, and candid portraits.
Great tutorial! With my Nikon D750, I have the 50mm 1.8 and a 24-70mm zoom and I find BOTH to be very useful as a photojournalist. Keep up th great work ;)
There's something liberating about limiting yourself to one lens when you do your daily walk about around town. I personally don't think there is a "street photography" focal length, it really depends on how you like to shoot and what you're after. With Covid on the go, I stopped using my Fuji 23mm's to shoot people and have switched to their 50mmf2....and now I'm in love with that lens and field of view. Shooting 50mm allows me to crop in a little closer on people and isolate my subjects a bit more, less environmental I'd say. Having said that, when I go for walks around Paris or Rome etc I like that pancake 27mm on my XT1 cause in those cases I'm looking for a more environmental shot.
I really enjoyed your video. I’m going to watch more now. As someone who’s staring with a Nikon d850 amd a 50mm lens, what would you recommend as far as the settings? Still f8 and 500?
Hi Gareth, Found your channel yesterday. I've watched 5 or 6 videos of your videos and learnt more about street photography techniques than I have in the last month of research and practice. Off to read more about zone focusing now. Fantastic content. Please keep it up!
Gareth if you miss a 50mm ff equivalent when using the x100V you can always get the tele conversion lens for the X100 series converts into a 35mm (50mm ff) f2 lens. Not to big and will easy fit into your pocket.
does anyone know where you can get prints made like the ones he has up on the wall? with that white border? or do you just edit them that way and add borders? surely not
Hi Gareth, did you have the XT-30? I’m thinking of getting one, would prefer the XT-3/4 but budget doesn’t allow so was wondering if it’s worth getting the XT-30
Hi Brian. No mate. I had an xt10 and didn’t like the smaller body and no weather sealing. I’d get a used xt3 mate. Especially for street. Much nicer to use.
@@GarethDanks Cheers mate, appreciate it. I’ll see what I can do, may have to wait but I still keep going back to looking at the 90d and RP too, probably as I have 5 ef/ef-S lenses. In an ideal world I’d go for the XT-4 or Sony A711/111
@@GarethDanks No video at all mate, may do some in the future for our Facebook Group but I can use my mates spare or my G7X for that. Thanks for the tips, really feel like moving from Canon for Street but may keep my 1300d for Landscape until I can change that
15:51 for me the line in street photography doesn't lie between focal lengths, it lies between candid and posed photography. So many people nowadays call themselves "street photographers", but what they actually do is take posed portraits of strangers they randomly meet.
The only rule I have for photography, is there are no rules! You’re defining your street photography for everybody and not just for yourself. I will try any lens that makes my images look good, I’ve used the 16 to 55 2.8 and my 90 F2. Even tried my 56 F1.2. Trying to learn my latest addition the 50 F2. I’ve even used the X100V and found it too slow for auto focus for street! Hoping for an update to the autofocusing speed. Right now the XT4 it’s very impressive!
This video is greatly appreciated as I have been learning everything on a Fujifilm X-T3 Zoom 18-55. Originally, I got interested in landscape and learning all the basics to use manual. It has been confusing learning Zone and Hyperfocal, since I found an interest in Street Photography. Using a Prime lens clears up confusion, and now starting to see the picture. LOL - That will be my next camera! Thanks!!!
Lovely discussion. I feel the same dilemma using a standard zoom lens - I get confused what focal length would be best for the scene. I am so comfortable with primes - as I can know the composition in my head. 28 and 35 work for me. Haven't tried 50 much on the street. Maybe worth a shot. But the sizes of best optics SLR primes are so ridiculous nowadays.
i shoot street primarily with primes now, but before i knew that's how you're 'supposed' to do it i shot exclusively on my xf 18-55 and it worked pretty damn great. i even developed a skill to pre-zoom without looking and shoot from the hip when it wasn't possible to go closer. what i'm saying is - using zoom lenses for street works just fine if you treat it like a zoom and not a set of primes and it can be fun too.
Fantastic content as always Gareth... would you be able to explain further on how the focusing on the floor works before composing your shot? Im fairly new to this Cheers
I've found that a zoom lens can make one of two bad things happen to my photography. I either speed up and snap at anything without looking around for a better angle or moving myself or I get decision paralysis where I can't decide quick enough if I want wider or longer, before the moment is gone. Zooms and I don't get along very well lol. Nowadays I shoot mostly primes but have a long zoom lens for wildlife. I don't shoot a lot of wildlife though so a zoom works out lighter, longer reach and cheaper for me. I'm seriously thinking of selling it right now. I don't keep ornaments and it needs to earn it's spot in my bag. I keep putting off selling it though, this year has not been at all normal and I don't want to make a quick regrettable decision based on a year of little travel.
@@GarethDanks Thank you for replying! It's so nice to actually come across printed content these days. I was considering subscribing to Tomash's Frames book I recently heard about, but it isn't as street photography focused as this one. Take care!
Great video as always, Gareth, thank you very much. Very informative. I’m more a GRii man (mainly because I actually have one and can’t afford the X100V) and I love it, much more than my XT20 and the 18-55 kit lens, because the prime lens keeps things so simple, as you so rightly said.
Awesome Video Garth I am loving street photography been shooting a lot in Chester recently. Actually am good Freinds with Jason from Wrexham I think you guys know each other. Thank guy for inspiring me and helping my love for street photography grow and all the tips and tricks I’ve learnt. Yourself and Sean Tucker are my street photography heroes
Another informative video, thanks Gareth. I agree with the zoom situation and what length should the image be taken at, I’ve fallen foul of it a few times. You briefly mentioned setting your camera up before taking any images. Any chance of a tutorial with a bit more detail please, I want to have a go at manual shooting so an insight into the advantages and disadvantages would be helpful.
I’m also now only shoot with primes (single focal length). It’s just better to focus on the capturing the moment rather than the technicalities of it. If you the 35mm focal length, you’ve got to try the 28mm FL (18mm on apsc). Sadly the xf18f2 is a bit tricky to use
Alright mate hope you're well. I have just watched this youtube video by "The trail hunter" and thought it might be something you'd fancy getting behind and maybe mentioning in a video. Hope you don't mind me posting this on here.
I thought it was interesting in your video that Mark Fearnley only uses the 18-55. Given that a lot of street shots use a deep depth of field and are quite heavily edited, the sharpest biggest aperture lens is probably not necessary. Like yourself, I'm absolutely loving my X100V, it removes a lot of the decision making.
To corroborate even more what you said about a prime set at f/8 being THE lens that enabes you to see in your mind the picture before you even raise the camera to your eye - unlike all the dithering inherent to using a zoom lens - that I can vouch for your other claim of your being so intimate with the 35mm FL, that such authoritative argument of simplicity seems to come from a veteran street photographer, not someone who, as you said about yourself, has been on Street Photography for 3 years or so only! My only question regarding the f/8 recommendation for sufficiently deep DOF, is that whether I should go for f/11 instead when using FF bodies, to compensate for the latter's shallower DOF?
I like that we got to the end of the video, with no real recommendation. The truth of the matter is, you can learn about aperture, shutter speed and ISO..after that, you're on your own. If I had to add advice..don't do candids. Shooting from the hip and run and gun only shows you weren't prepared to engage deeper to get the actual story. Start with something static. if you struggle to get a landscape or food image, you're really going to struggle with something moving and fleeting. The last thing, and be honest here..if you have a huge archive of images that you haven't personally returned to in over 6 months to view..then you missed the story entirely.
8:07 APS-C doesn't have greater depth of field than 35mm format. Crop factor applies not only to focal length, but also to aperture as well. For ISO it's crop factor squared to get equivalent values.
To be more precise: the sensor does not change depth of field, there is no crop factor applied to depth of field. it's only the geometry of the lens/body that does that. If someone wants the same depth of field with APS-C than with full frame, he has just to open one stop wider the aperture, and he is done ;)
To get the same field of view with a crop sensor camera you need to move further away than using full frame. This is where the increased depth of field comes from - the further away you are from something, the more depth of field you get.
It's same to say manual transmission car is better than auto transmission for street driving, things like that. Yes I like MT cars, it's fun and joy to drive, but I won't say it's 'the best' car for street driving.
I’m really sorry I don’t mean to be rude but that makes no sense at all what do you mean by driving street? I know it’s meant as a metaphor but I really don’t understand
I went out yesterday and tried out my new 27mm prime on my X-T4 and enjoyed it so much better than using the zoom the week before. I also have a 23mm prime yet to try. @street_life_77a (IG)
Lots do mate. I’m only giving my opinion as to what I like. I’m not telling people they’re wrong if they disagree lol. Most of my mates use zooms. One a 200mm lol.
I´m not saying I disagree, the 35 is perfect, but I see too often photographers that will stick to only that lens, just because Bresson did. That´s why I mentioned Saul, who liked to use the 80mm.
Very Valuable! - Thank You!
Great video, good advice, I'll be checking out your F8 magazine also, thanks!
It’s amazing how quickly the whole ‘own your settings’ thing becomes the norm . Since our 1to1 session I’ve not touched an auto setting and my kit lens although I carry it every time I go out is purely there in case it rains as my prime isn’t weather sealed.
My biggest piece of advise and the best money I’ve spent in photography is a 1to1/workshop I take better images after my 1to1 than if I’d spent £10,000+ on a leica camera.
The best explanation and argument for using a prime lens I've seen on TH-cam. Well done Gareth. I've passed the link onto my son who is a keen street photographer and keeps harping onto to me about getting myself a prime lens. It'll be "I told you so" I'm sure
haha Thanks mate! really hope it helps! simple is the way to go! :-)
In my film only days, my favorite lens for street shooting was the 35mm f/1.4 on a Leica M6 rangefinder.
My favorite lens for street shooting with a digital is a 23mm f/2 on a Fuji X-Pro2 in silent electronic shutter mode.
Sometimes, I added a second body with a 56mm f/1.2 lens.
I’m seriously considering the second body. I love that lens. My 56 hasn’t seen the street yet. 😳
Thanks Gareth good video. I run hot &cold with street photography .Your usual format of shooting then critiquing is awesome and a nice change from POV vlogs where guys run around shoving cameras in people’s faces taking bad photos . Knowing your gear is the hot tip from this one 👍 whether prime or not . I usually use primes either 24mm or 50 mm on crop sensor but shoot “street” less & less as I struggle with the ethics of walking around photographing people just going about their lives . It can be quite invasive . Keep up the good work enjoy your landscape ones as well .
As much as I want to like primes, and have them. My Olympus 9-18mm on my Lumix GX8 is my most used combination. To me. For street photography. I am not looking for blurry backgrounds.
I love the little Olympus f1.8 lenses. Not because they're f1.8 but because of their tiny size and weight. They could be f4 and I'd still love them.
Just got a Z6 2 and 40mm 2.0. Auto focus and exposure and SILENT shutter which also has advantage of no vibration.. I can fool around with focus and exposure and lose half the opportunities, or use as described as above.
Hi Gareth. I've got a bit of a dilemma... My current line-up is: Sony G 20mm, Zeiss 55, Viltrox 85 f/1.8 (which I actually use for street) and the new 70-200 f/4. I'm wondering whether I should add a 35mm prime (the GM from Sony is such a sweet lens) or... a zoom from Tamron (28-75 g2, which is great, too) Any thoughts? I shoot mainly landscapes, street, and candid portraits.
could you do a vid on the zone focusing ??
Haha. Done it literally yesterday mate. Hope to have it out soon 👍🏻😊
@@GarethDanks thank you 💪💪💪
People are way too obsessed with faster f stop lenses. I rarely drop under f4 max. I use my fujicron 23 f2 at f2 only when things get dark.
Great video!! Thank You
Great tutorial! With my Nikon D750, I have the 50mm 1.8 and a 24-70mm zoom and I find BOTH to be very useful as a photojournalist. Keep up th great work ;)
thanks so much mate!!
Thanks Garth! Great points. Very helpful. I’ve outfitted my T2 with the 23mm for walk around street photography!
Wonderful combination you will love it
There's something liberating about limiting yourself to one lens when you do your daily walk about around town. I personally don't think there is a "street photography" focal length, it really depends on how you like to shoot and what you're after. With Covid on the go, I stopped using my Fuji 23mm's to shoot people and have switched to their 50mmf2....and now I'm in love with that lens and field of view. Shooting 50mm allows me to crop in a little closer on people and isolate my subjects a bit more, less environmental I'd say. Having said that, when I go for walks around Paris or Rome etc I like that pancake 27mm on my XT1 cause in those cases I'm looking for a more environmental shot.
the 50 f2 is amazing!! i need to use it more! i love it for weddings and events :-)
Old fashioned, manual lenses with a depth of field scale are what I learnt my photography with. I still think they make life so much easier.
I really enjoyed your video. I’m going to watch more now. As someone who’s staring with a Nikon d850 amd a 50mm lens, what would you recommend as far as the settings? Still f8 and 500?
Hi Gareth, Found your channel yesterday. I've watched 5 or 6 videos of your videos and learnt more about street photography techniques than I have in the last month of research and practice. Off to read more about zone focusing now. Fantastic content. Please keep it up!
Thank you so much!! i really do appreciate that!! very nice of you to say
Gareth if you miss a 50mm ff equivalent when using the x100V you can always get the tele conversion lens for the X100 series converts into a 35mm (50mm ff) f2 lens. Not to big and will easy fit into your pocket.
does anyone know where you can get prints made like the ones he has up on the wall? with that white border? or do you just edit them that way and add borders? surely not
ive done a vid on adding borders mate :-)
Hi Gareth, did you have the XT-30? I’m thinking of getting one, would prefer the XT-3/4 but budget doesn’t allow so was wondering if it’s worth getting the XT-30
Hi Brian. No mate. I had an xt10 and didn’t like the smaller body and no weather sealing. I’d get a used xt3 mate. Especially for street. Much nicer to use.
@@GarethDanks Cheers mate, appreciate it. I’ll see what I can do, may have to wait but I still keep going back to looking at the 90d and RP too, probably as I have 5 ef/ef-S lenses. In an ideal world I’d go for the XT-4 or Sony A711/111
Xt3 over the 4 mate. Unless you do video.
@@GarethDanks No video at all mate, may do some in the future for our Facebook Group but I can use my mates spare or my G7X for that.
Thanks for the tips, really feel like moving from Canon for Street but may keep my 1300d for Landscape until I can change that
XT2 isn’t to be written off. Mate bought one mint for £450 last month. Loves it.
What a perfect video.
15:51 for me the line in street photography doesn't lie between focal lengths, it lies between candid and posed photography. So many people nowadays call themselves "street photographers", but what they actually do is take posed portraits of strangers they randomly meet.
The only rule I have for photography, is there are no rules! You’re defining your street photography for everybody and not just for yourself.
I will try any lens that makes my images look good, I’ve used the 16 to 55 2.8 and my 90 F2. Even tried my 56 F1.2. Trying to learn my latest addition the 50 F2.
I’ve even used the X100V and found it too slow for auto focus for street! Hoping for an update to the autofocusing speed. Right now the XT4 it’s very impressive!
Brilliant! I’m new to street photography, so thank you so much for this! I’ll definitely be watching lots of your content!! Yay )
hey thanks you so much for the kind comment!! glad to hear it!! :-)
This video is greatly appreciated as I have been learning everything on a Fujifilm X-T3 Zoom 18-55. Originally, I got interested in landscape and learning all the basics to use manual. It has been confusing learning Zone and Hyperfocal, since I found an interest in Street Photography. Using a Prime lens clears up confusion, and now starting to see the picture. LOL - That will be my next camera! Thanks!!!
Lovely discussion.
I feel the same dilemma using a standard zoom lens - I get confused what focal length would be best for the scene. I am so comfortable with primes - as I can know the composition in my head. 28 and 35 work for me. Haven't tried 50 much on the street. Maybe worth a shot.
But the sizes of best optics SLR primes are so ridiculous nowadays.
i shoot street primarily with primes now, but before i knew that's how you're 'supposed' to do it i shot exclusively on my xf 18-55 and it worked pretty damn great. i even developed a skill to pre-zoom without looking and shoot from the hip when it wasn't possible to go closer. what i'm saying is - using zoom lenses for street works just fine if you treat it like a zoom and not a set of primes and it can be fun too.
Fantastic content as always Gareth... would you be able to explain further on how the focusing on the floor works before composing your shot? Im fairly new to this Cheers
I've found that a zoom lens can make one of two bad things happen to my photography. I either speed up and snap at anything without looking around for a better angle or moving myself or I get decision paralysis where I can't decide quick enough if I want wider or longer, before the moment is gone.
Zooms and I don't get along very well lol. Nowadays I shoot mostly primes but have a long zoom lens for wildlife. I don't shoot a lot of wildlife though so a zoom works out lighter, longer reach and cheaper for me. I'm seriously thinking of selling it right now. I don't keep ornaments and it needs to earn it's spot in my bag. I keep putting off selling it though, this year has not been at all normal and I don't want to make a quick regrettable decision based on a year of little travel.
Does the magazine ship to the US?
it does mate yes :-)
@@GarethDanks Thank you for replying! It's so nice to actually come across printed content these days. I was considering subscribing to Tomash's Frames book I recently heard about, but it isn't as street photography focused as this one. Take care!
Thanks mate. Great to have you onboard. Yeah think this is unique 😊👍🏻
Great video as always, Gareth, thank you very much. Very informative. I’m more a GRii man (mainly because I actually have one and can’t afford the X100V) and I love it, much more than my XT20 and the 18-55 kit lens, because the prime lens keeps things so simple, as you so rightly said.
like the way you put bells & whistles as an option
whats that grey camera?
It’s the Fujifilm X100V
@@ianpartridge1155 thank you
Sorry yes Ian is right. I was wondering if you meant one in the background for a second.
Awesome Video Garth I am loving street photography been shooting a lot in Chester recently. Actually am good Freinds with Jason from Wrexham I think you guys know each other. Thank guy for inspiring me and helping my love for street photography grow and all the tips and tricks I’ve learnt. Yourself and Sean Tucker are my street photography heroes
Another informative video, thanks Gareth. I agree with the zoom situation and what length should the image be taken at, I’ve fallen foul of it a few times. You briefly mentioned setting your camera up before taking any images. Any chance of a tutorial with a bit more detail please, I want to have a go at manual shooting so an insight into the advantages and disadvantages would be helpful.
I’m also now only shoot with primes (single focal length). It’s just better to focus on the capturing the moment rather than the technicalities of it.
If you the 35mm focal length, you’ve got to try the 28mm FL (18mm on apsc). Sadly the xf18f2 is a bit tricky to use
Got mine 👍🏻 looking forward to many more excellent
Pointing at the floor to get focus is a great idea. Thanks! Great tip!
Thanks man, very helpful. Any particular reason why you like your histograms to the far right?
Alright mate hope you're well.
I have just watched this youtube video by "The trail hunter" and thought it might be something you'd fancy getting behind and maybe mentioning in a video.
Hope you don't mind me posting this on here.
THANKYOU
I thought it was interesting in your video that Mark Fearnley only uses the 18-55. Given that a lot of street shots use a deep depth of field and are quite heavily edited, the sharpest biggest aperture lens is probably not necessary. Like yourself, I'm absolutely loving my X100V, it removes a lot of the decision making.
To corroborate even more what you said about a prime set at f/8 being THE lens that enabes you to see in your mind the picture before you even raise the camera to your eye - unlike all the dithering inherent to using a zoom lens - that I can vouch for your other claim of your being so intimate with the 35mm FL, that such authoritative argument of simplicity seems to come from a veteran street photographer, not someone who, as you said about yourself, has been on Street Photography for 3 years or so only!
My only question regarding the f/8 recommendation for sufficiently deep DOF, is that whether I should go for f/11 instead when using FF bodies, to compensate for the latter's shallower DOF?
I like that we got to the end of the video, with no real recommendation.
The truth of the matter is, you can learn about aperture, shutter speed and ISO..after that, you're on your own.
If I had to add advice..don't do candids. Shooting from the hip and run and gun only shows you weren't prepared to engage deeper to get the actual story. Start with something static. if you struggle to get a landscape or food image, you're really going to struggle with something moving and fleeting. The last thing, and be honest here..if you have a huge archive of images that you haven't personally returned to in over 6 months to view..then you missed the story entirely.
8:07 APS-C doesn't have greater depth of field than 35mm format. Crop factor applies not only to focal length, but also to aperture as well. For ISO it's crop factor squared to get equivalent values.
To be more precise: the sensor does not change depth of field, there is no crop factor applied to depth of field. it's only the geometry of the lens/body that does that.
If someone wants the same depth of field with APS-C than with full frame, he has just to open one stop wider the aperture, and he is done ;)
To get the same field of view with a crop sensor camera you need to move further away than using full frame. This is where the increased depth of field comes from - the further away you are from something, the more depth of field you get.
It's same to say manual transmission car is better than auto transmission for street driving, things like that. Yes I like MT cars, it's fun and joy to drive, but I won't say it's 'the best' car for street driving.
I’m really sorry I don’t mean to be rude but that makes no sense at all what do you mean by driving street? I know it’s meant as a metaphor but I really don’t understand
@@GarethDanks My apology for this. It's probably an inappropriate metaphor and it's my bad for expressing it in an even worse description :((
Why don't you shoot FF? These crop cameras are so terrible when it comes to figure out the right focal length.
I rather carry my Fuji xt4 all day than my Nikon D850...that is why...
I went out yesterday and tried out my new 27mm prime on my X-T4 and enjoyed it so much better than using the zoom the week before. I also have a 23mm prime yet to try. @street_life_77a (IG)
Saul Leiter would disagree with the myth that the 35mm is the best street lens.
lots would.. why do you mention him? its my opinion
@@GarethDanks He liked using zoom lenses
Lots do mate. I’m only giving my opinion as to what I like. I’m not telling people they’re wrong if they disagree lol. Most of my mates use zooms. One a 200mm lol.
I´m not saying I disagree, the 35 is perfect, but I see too often photographers that will stick to only that lens, just because Bresson did. That´s why I mentioned Saul, who liked to use the 80mm.
You belabor the same point waaaay too long. You made your point 10 mins ago.
some need me to slow down and repeat it more.. thanks for your feedback tho
After you use your camera for an amount of time you will find what focal length works best for different subjects.