75mm A hidden secret for street shooting?

[denizg7]

Lately I've been thinking a lot about some odd lenses. And got me thinking that the most memorable street shoots come when you are in the zone of the shooting but a millisecond or so before the subject notices you have taken the shot..

I have a feeling 75mm is just the ending point of when you are in zone for street shooting and because it's not really popular a focal length it isn't mastered as much for it.

I have never tried a 75mm on my M but I have a feeling a few people have mastered a 75mm for street shooting and have done a swell job..

anyway if anyone has some input on this , i would really appreciate it..

the summilux and the voigtlander 1.8 are really intresting to me..

 

[benmacphoto]

75 is great for portraiture.
So you could use it on the street for something where you have time to set up and compose your image.
Not like 21 or 35 with its "grab and go" shots usually associated with street images.

75mm Summilux on the street.

 

[Keith]

A 75mm is workable on the street but also very limiting IMO ... it's more suited to environmental portraiture. All the best work I've seen from the street seems to be with a 35mm and I believe there's a reason for that ... you need a wider field of view if your going to encompass what street photography is really about.

I'm a pretty average street photographer though so in reality I'm talking out of my ar*e here! LOL

 

[steveniphoto]

i find anything longer than 50 too long for street. most of the "street" photographers i look up to used anything from 28-50.

to be honest i would think that subjects are more likely to see you standing there trying to focus the 75 instead of just being able to zone focus a 35 and snapping a photo in less than a second.

dont be scared of getting close.

 

[seakayaker1]

I enjoy the 75mm focal length although I have not used it to often for street shooting.

If you are looking to use a Voigtlander you may want to check out the 75/2.5 if you can find a copy. The Voightlander 75/2.5 is a sweet lens and better suited then the 75/1.8 due to the size of the lens.. The 75/2.5 is compact and a better fit for use in the street. I have used both of the lens and overall I enjoyed the 75/2.5 much better.

Anyway a couple of samples take with a 75/2 cron.

 

[johannielscom]

Long lengths are nice to shoot the street's length with a compressed DOF but it only works with streets that don't have too much visual debris (signs, lamp posts, park benches, trash cans etc) and some interesting subject in it.

I'm not carrying it when shooting in the streets, the above is too much of a once in a blue moon situation to justify lugging the extra lens around permanently.

 

[Richard G]

I've been looking at Saul Leiter recently. He had wonderful flat collages with a telephoto, possibly a 90 or 100 by the look of some his images. It's a different sort of street, but I wouldn't mind trying my 90 in this way.

 

[peterm1]

I have been using the Voigtlander 75mm f 1.8 for this purpose from time to time and you are right its a fine lens and works well with this style of street shooting' Although with its fine DOF when shot quite open you have to be good at focussing quickly. I am not (crappy eyes), so I find it better to use on still / slow moving subjects if I can. Here are some color shots from an M8 with this lens taken 18 months back in Melbourne Australia. I like these shots a lot and will be using the lens / camera combo more in future. I especially like the sense of intimacy that the persepective compression of the longer lens gives to the crowded tea room setting of some of these shots. BTW Saul Leiter is my hero. An extraordinary body of work. I think it is he who brought me back to shooting in sumptuous color.


A few more here also...... http://www.flickr.com/photos/life_in_shadows/sets/72157624630391659/with/5660459950/


Through a glass darkly 4 by yoyomaoz, on Flickr


Through a glass darkly 6 by yoyomaoz, on Flickr


Through a glass darkly 3 by yoyomaoz, on Flickr


Through a glass darkly 5 by yoyomaoz, on Flickr


L1041845b1 by yoyomaoz, on Flickr


L1041819a by yoyomaoz, on Flickr

A few more here...... http://www.flickr.com/photos/life_in_shadows/sets/72157624630391659/with/5660459950/

 

[jsrockit]

Any lens can work in the street, as long as you have an open mind and are willing to put in time to learn them.

 

[rbelyell]

this is why god made digital cameras: specifically to try difficult shoots at no cost. while it is fun to try to nail 'closer' more intimate street shots, or more 'artistic' street shots, a 75mm is not amenable to 'classic' street shots simply because the DOF is much too narrow. at f8 you will only achieve 2feet in focus at 10 feet from subject; at 30 feet from subject you have only 5 feet in focus, and at infinity nothing closer than 30 feet will be in focus. thus its just not practical for 'typical' street work. that doesnt mean if you have a digi RF you shouldnt get a nice cv 75/2.5 (faster is not relevent to street work as you will working with literally inches in terms of in focus zones) and happily fire away!
tony

 

[Calzone]

For street I mostly use 28 and 35. I have no problem shooting close, but shooting 50 and 75 has a place if you have time to focus. With my 75 Lux this is particularly slow due to long focus throw due to the rather large diameter of the lens body, but the times when everything works it is worth the struggle. The shots that are good with a 75 are kind of amazing: detailed; intimate; yet with wonderful OOF and isolation.

Anyways to get good with a 75 Lux it takes practice, practice and more practice.

Cal

 

[mfogiel]

I find the 75/2.5 to be a fantastic lens, and I have given it a shot in the street as well. My opinion is, that it is not a great idea, not so much for the fl, as for ease of framing and focusing - in fact I liked the lens so much, that I bought it in a SLR Minolta mount, and even bought an XD7 body just for this lens. It works much better in my opinion. Max fl on a RF for fast operation is for me too limited to 50 mm. Summilux 75 is simply too heavy to lug it around in the street in any case.
Here are a few quick shots:

20124108 by mfogiel, on Flickr

20124227 by mfogiel, on Flickr

20124425 by mfogiel, on Flickr

20124409 by mfogiel, on Flickr

 

[Calzone]

I find the 75/2.5 to be a fantastic lens, and I have given it a shot in the street as well. My opinion is, that it is not a great idea, not so much for the fl, as for ease of framing and focusing - in fact I liked the lens so much, that I bought it in a SLR Minolta mount, and even bought an XD7 body just for this lens. It works much better in my opinion. Max fl on a RF for fast operation is for me too limited to 50 mm. Summilux 75 is simply too heavy to lug it around in the street in any case.

I have to agree with you that a 75 Lux is big and heavy, but it can be a magic lens at times.

Cal

 

[rbelyell]

again, part of the problem for 75mm street work is focusing difficulty, but by far the bigger problem is the tremendously narrow DOF even at f8, per above. as a matter of physics, one simply cannot get enough area in focus in a dynamic scene to make it a worthwhile endeavor with film.

 

[daveisbest]

Last summer I used a Jupiter 8 on my R-D1 a lot while street shooting, although it's a 50mm lens the equivalent FOV on an R-D1 is about 75mm. It took me a while to get comfortable shooting with a 75mm on the street, I found it very 'narrow' and found it was more suited to vertical shots rather than horizontals. It was nice to have that extra 'reach' though, and be able to photograph subjects I physically couldn't get closer to.

 

[DominikDUK]

rbelyell
Narrow depth of field f8 5m - inf. I wouldn't call that small DOF. Quiet a few street photographers use their superspeed lenses wide open that's small DOF.

I've been thinking for a long time that the 75mm focal lenght is underappreciated it's not too long so doesn't really give the full tele look.

Unfortunately not too many 75mm prime lenses aside from the Voigtländer and Leica offerings. The old Zeiss Biotar 75mm exists but costs nearly as much as a Leica.

Dominik

 

[ampguy]

Lately, I've been finding 90-ish to 150-ish (105 on aps-c) preferable to the 28/35/50 lengths. Gives me more distance, and better subject isolation, and less desire to crop later.

 

[rbelyell]

rbelyell
Narrow depth of field f8 5m - inf. I wouldn't call that small DOF. Quiet a few street photographers use their superspeed lenses wide open that's small DOF.

I've been thinking for a long time that the 75mm focal lenght is underappreciated it's not too long so doesn't really give the full tele look.

Unfortunately not too many 75mm prime lenses aside from the Voigtländer and Leica offerings. The old Zeiss Biotar 75mm exists but costs nearly as much as a Leica.

Dominik

no, at f8 the DOF at infinity for 75mm is less than 10m or 30 feet, not 5m. please see my previous post in this thread for DOF at other distances. suffice it to say focusing at 30feet or 10m yields a DOF of about 8feet/2.5m and it drops precipitously from there.

 

[porktaco]

75 is a great FL for street. you can stand juuuuuuuuust out of someone's perception bubble and snap away.

 

[cz23]

I've been looking at Saul Leiter recently. He had wonderful flat collages with a telephoto, possibly a 90 or 100 by the look of some his images. It's a different sort of street, but I wouldn't mind trying my 90 in this way.

I read an interview where he said he like his telephoto lenses as much as his 50. He said he really liked his 150.

I think it has a lot to do with where you choose to focus your attention -- in close or further out.

John