Lens Choice for Street and Candid Photography

[CIC]

Hello friends and fellow photographers

This is for my son who is extremely interested in street and candid photography. He mainly uses my old D90 coupled with my AF-D 50mm lens or AF-S 55-200 Dx lens. Sometimes he uses my D7200 with the same lens. I am planning to gift him a lens for his photographic journey, and together we have short-listed the following.

AF-S Nikkor 24mm f/1.8 G ED
AF-S Nikkor 20mm f/1.8 G ED
AF-S Nikkor 28mm f/1.8 G
AF-S Nikkor 35mm f/1.8 G ED
AF Nikkor 20mm f/2.8 D
AF Nikkor 24mm f/2.8 D
AF Nikkor 28mm f/2.8 D
AF Nikkor 35mm f/2 D
20mm f/2.8 Nikkor

It would be a great help if the members here may comment on these lenses and point me to the best possible lens, keeping the price in mind.

Thank you all in advance.

[billtils]

I don't do street photography but do have the AF-S 35mm f/1.8 G ED and it's a super lens (even if some commentators - not on this site - have an aversion to the Nikkor G range).

[tclune]

I don't do street photography but do have the AF-S 35mm f/1.8 G ED and it's a super lens (even if some commentators - not on this site - have an aversion to the Nikkor G range).

That's the only lens on the OP's list that I have owned. It was the first lens I got with my first DSLR (a D5000) and is the only one of the lenses I got at that time that I still own. It's a nice little lens and a very good value. The size could help make you a bit less noticeable during street photography -- although, realistically, with the cameras your son is using, he's never going to be invisible.
Let me also suggest my absolute favorite general-purpose Nikon lens -- the 18-140 kit lens. You can get it second hand for very little cash, it has terrific IQ and just about perfect range for general use. When I travel, I often only bring that lens. When I go out birding, I always bring it as my "other" lens, in case I want to take shots that a long lens isn't right for. It's truly a do-it-all marvel. FWIW

[Manfred M]

With the D90, you can use both the G and D lenses, but I would recommend going with the G, if at all possible. The D lenses use the in-camera motor and that tends to be noticeably noisier than the in lens focus motor found on the G lenses.

A lot of street photographers look at the 50mm focal length used on a full-frame body as the lens to shoot with as that is what Henri Cartier-Bresson did virtually all of his work with. The closest equivalent is a 35mm lens for the D90.

Cartier-Bresson shot a Leica M, so even for his day, a tiny body to make it look unobtrusive. The D90 is far larger and far less obtrusive, so I don't think your son will be able to work in stealth mode,

Shooting in India, if I had not have any experience shooting there, I would probably suggest that a 20mm lens (FF equivalent of 30mm) might be the way to go as that forces the photographer to get in close, which will result in fewer people walking in front of him and into the shot.

When traveling, I do a lot of street photography with a FF body and I tend to like using a longer focal length in my work to help isolate my subject better. There are a number of well known street photographers that do that and a number shoot longer zoom lenses. One of my best street shots was taken at 400mm on a D90 (600mm FF equivalent).

Until your son develops his own style, it is hard to make a specific recommendation. I tend to stay away from what everyone else does in my photography because that gives my work a more unique look. Right now my favourite street lens is the Nikkor 28-300mm. Prior to that the 24-70 and the 70-200.

This is one of my last street shots I took in India (2017), at Bangalore's Russell Market using the Nikkor f/2.8 70-200mm lens.

[selig1656]

Personally I have the lense as discussed by Manfred, this gives a greater range in capturing subjects from a large variety of distances and able to have greater flexability in focussing the subject. Out of your list I would go with the 35mm f/1.8.

[Polar01]

This is a suggestion, the Nikon 28-70mm f3.5-4.5, I own this lens and it is one very small sweet lens. If you can find it, the cost now is usually under $100.00 US. Just check it out it maybe what you are looking for.

Cheers: Al

[CIC]

Thank you all for your time and effort to help me out.

as it seems, 30~35mm is the most preferred focal length. So 20mm seems to be the best choice for us.

Thanks again.

[pnodrog]

My advice to any photographer is if you don't know what focal length to get then buy a zoom lens. A zoom set at the required focal length is going to be as sharp as a cropped photo from a wider than needed fixed focal length. With modern lenses the main advantage of fixed focal length lenses is they usually offer wider apertures. There are thousands of reasons for a disappointing result in street photography and very few if any of the reasons are due to lens quality.

However if you are going for a fixed focal length lens for street photography with a cropped sensor I suggest you do not go wider than 24mm.

[DanK]

My advice to any photographer is if you don't know what focal length to get then buy a zoom lens. A zoom set at the required focal length is going to be as sharp as a cropped photo from a wider than need fixed focal length. With modern lenses the main advantage of fixed focal length lenses is they usually offer wider apertures. There are thousands of reasons for a disappointing result in street photography and very few if any of the reasons are due to lens quality.

However if you are going for a fixed focal length lens for street photography with a cropped sensor I suggest you do not go wider than 24mm.

I agree with both suggestions.

I started out in an era when zooms were really inferior, and I shot only primes. Now, apart from macro, I almost never use primes.


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[Manfred M]

+1 to both Dan's and Paul's comments. At this point your son does not know how his street photography style will develop and restricting him to just the 20mm lens may not end up suiting how he wants to portray his subjects. I would suggest the inexpensive kit zoom, the 18-55mm might be a far stronger choice while he is learning. The 18mm would let him work at the wider side and the 55 mm will be a short telephoto if he ends up being more interesting is the portraiture / environmental portraiture side of the genre.

[xpatUSA]

... At this point your son does not know how his street photography style will develop and restricting him to just the 20mm lens may not end up suiting how he wants to portray his subjects. I would suggest the inexpensive kit zoom, the 18-55mm might be a far stronger choice while he is learning. ...

While agreeing with the sentiment, I had one of the many 18-55mm Nikon lenses on a D50 long ago and it did have significant veiling flare, even just from the sky with the sun nowhere near the frame. I've never done street photography, so I can't say whether that is a good or a bad thing ...

Might have been this model:

https://www.imaging-resource.com/len...nikkor/review/

Not so hot wide open either.

Just sayin'.

[Manfred M]

I had one of the many 18-55mm Nikon lenses on a D50 long ago and it did have significant veiling flare, even just from the sky with the sun nowhere near the frame. I've never done street photography so can't say whether that is a good or a bad thing ...

Might have been this model:

https://www.imaging-resource.com/len...nikkor/review/

Just sayin'.

That tends to be more of a problem with landscape work rather than street photography. I shot that lens for about 2 years and never had a significant issue with it, other when the camera fell a short distance and broke the plastic lens mount on the lens. I replaced it and still have it. If I recall correctly, there have been two more versions of the lens.

[xpatUSA]

Originally Posted by xpatUSA I had one of the many 18-55mm Nikon lenses on a D50 long ago and it did have significant veiling flare, even just from the sky with the sun nowhere near the frame. I've never done street photography so can't say whether that is a good or a bad thing ...

That tends to be more of a problem with landscape work rather than street photography.

Thanks, Understood.

I shot that lens for about 2 years and never had a significant issue with it, other when the camera fell a short distance and broke the plastic lens mount on the lens. I replaced it and still have it.

Good to hear. Mine was quite poor.

If I recall correctly, there have been two more versions of the lens.

Actually, there are a total of six (!) 18 to 55s listed here:

https://www.imaging-resource.com/len...ws/#zoomLenses
.

[CIC]

Thank you so much for your kind comments and help.

After going through all the suggestions, we have decided that he is going to use my 18-55mm for the time being till he finds his preferred focal length and/or develops his own style.

Today, he had a chance to try both 20mm and 24mm for some time at a photo fair. He instantly fell in love with the primes. Though he is going to wait for some time and try the zoom before finalizing. Moreover, he has decided to switch to full manual focus as he feels that this gives more creative control.

I shall surely share some of his works, and I hope that members here would be kind enough to guide him.

Thank you all.

[Manfred M]

Both the D90 and any of the 18-55mm lenses are notoriously difficult to manually focus. Other than the view screen on the back of the camera, there is no good way to see if you have focused well; newer cameras sometimes have a focus indicator, which helps. The short throw on the focusing ring on 18-55mm lenses that I have used is challenging to focus well. The lens was designed for users who primarily use autofocus.

[rpcrowe]

I shoot with Sony now (Canon previously). My favorite focal length lens for street and candid photography on an APSC format camera is the 28-75mm f/2.8 Tamron. The 28mm short end is equivalent to 42mm which is wide enough for my street and candid needs but, doesn't produce the distortion of wider focal lengths...





The 75mm longer end is equivalent to 112.5mm which is great length for people shooting.





BTW: I have not shot with Nikon but, I did not enjoy using my Canon DSLR cameras in manual focus. My Canon SLR cameras such as the Canon A-1 were better for me in manual focus than any of the Canon DSLR cameras I ever used. Additionally, I will ordinarily use auto focus with my Sony mirrorless cameras but, will sometimes choose a manual focus legacy lens. The Mirrorless cameras are much easier for me focus manually than my DSLR cameras. Focus peaking and focus assist really make manual focusing easier and fun to shoot. In fact, they are as easy to focus manually as were my dedicated manual focus Canon SLR cameras.



When I shot with my first rangefinder 35mm film camera (Leica M-2) I liked the combination of 35mm and 90mm lenses for street and candid photography.