The best camera for street photography?

Not for the first time, I'm thinking back to the focussing arrangement on my first camera and how practical it was for everyday photography. The manual focus ring on the Olympus Trip 35 had steps for one person, two people, three people and mountain. That was your choice, and providing you hadn't chosen mountain when you were shooting someone four feet away, it seemed to work out fine. The 40mm f2.8 lens was very forgiving for focus too I think.

And it didn't need batteries.

-R
 
Not for the first time, I'm thinking back to the focussing arrangement on my first camera and how practical it was for everyday photography. The manual focus ring on the Olympus Trip 35 had steps for one person, two people, three people and mountain. That was your choice, and providing you hadn't chosen mountain when you were shooting someone four feet away, it seemed to work out fine. The 40mm f2.8 lens was very forgiving for focus too I think.

And it didn't need batteries.

-R
I love a good Trip. This is mine; I rescued it for £5 from a charity shop. I took it to bits, cleaned it of 30-odd years of accumulated gunk, treated it to a chrome thumb-rest and blue skins plus a leather wrist strap (all of which cost more than the camera...) and have used it ever since. This thread has reminded me to give it an outing this weekend.
Blue on Blue - Olympus and Ohyo-01.jpeg
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Not for the first time, I'm thinking back to the focussing arrangement on my first camera and how practical it was for everyday photography. The manual focus ring on the Olympus Trip 35 had steps for one person, two people, three people and mountain. That was your choice, and providing you hadn't chosen mountain when you were shooting someone four feet away, it seemed to work out fine. The 40mm f2.8 lens was very forgiving for focus too I think.

And it didn't need batteries.

-R
The Olympus XA2 on its default setting is in focus from 6ft to infinity. For street it’s great; small, discreet, and sharply-lensed.
 
Not for the first time, I'm thinking back to the focussing arrangement on my first camera and how practical it was for everyday photography. The manual focus ring on the Olympus Trip 35 had steps for one person, two people, three people and mountain. That was your choice, and providing you hadn't chosen mountain when you were shooting someone four feet away, it seemed to work out fine. The 40mm f2.8 lens was very forgiving for focus too I think.

And it didn't need batteries.

-R
I remember focusing schemes on other cameras as well.
 
I love a good Trip. This is mine; I rescued it for £5 from a charity shop. I took it to bits, cleaned it of 30-odd years of accumulated gunk, treated it to a chrome thumb-rest and blue skins plus a leather wrist strap (all of which cost more than the camera...) and have used it ever since. This thread has reminded me to give it an outing this weekend. View attachment 193539

Came here for the first mention of the Trip 35 :)
Was not disappointed. Super simple, simple zone focus scale, instant response, sharp lens, no battery required and the metering doesn't seem to have aged as badly as similar era cameras.
 
But anyway, also considering price, weight, WR, AF capabilities on top of the things, Fujifilm has things well in the bag. What am I personally going to do, it remains to be seen.

It certainly can be a journey. I've been on my own camera quest the past few years. I have been in and out of Fuji, Sony, and Leica M (including M240, twice) for travel and street. I've concluded that the X100F is my current preferred street camera, for many of the reasons outlined by mike3996.

I've always primarily used zone focus for street, as well. When I first acquired the X-Pro2 and X100F, I was prepared to be disappointed by face/eye detection based on the early reviews. But lately I've been using it in place of zone focus for much of my street, and I've been really pleased.
 
The brand or camera doesn't really matter. That may sound a bit glib after your comprehensive write up but the thing is, there are no rules to street photography. You just need a tool that you feel comfortable with getting that moment/ composition. Nothing else to it and imo we shouldn't let this street photography industry make us think otherwise.
I revisited this thread to see how badly it has gone obsolete since writing it. :D Yeah, the post not so much because I underlined the premises for my reasons.

But one thing sure has sunk in since: you're absolutely right, there are no rules to street photography and I wrote this going about the subject at one angle alone. This one premise I didn't articulate closely enough.

Then again, if we accept that there are no particular rules or ways to go about street shooting, then we can only conclude that the camera doesn't matter and this whole thread would be pointless.
 
It's funny; your post prompted me to go back and read what I posted before in this thread, and in the past year and a half or so, my street shooting has totally changed. No longer do I use a flip screen and try to shoot stealthy, in fact I don't really use a digital camera anymore. I mainly use my Voigtlander rangefinder, zone focus, meter off the pavement or sides of buildings or whatever, and use B&W film. Completely different mentality from what I used to do, but I feel better not being "sneaky" and just being upfront about taking photos, with the camera's accessory viewfinder up to my eye. I rely on the camera's unassuming and retro look to be non-threatening, and so far it has worked.

There really aren't any rules to the practice of street photography, despite the stifling amount of them that the currently popular movement tries to assert.
 
I revisited this thread to see how badly it has gone obsolete since writing it. :D Yeah, the post not so much because I underlined the premises for my reasons.

But one thing sure has sunk in since: you're absolutely right, there are no rules to street photography and I wrote this going about the subject at one angle alone. This one premise I didn't articulate closely enough.

Then again, if we accept that there are no particular rules or ways to go about street shooting, then we can only conclude that the camera doesn't matter and this whole thread would be pointless.
And what about the hit rate? One in 20 is pretty good going for me, if people are being honest, one in 50 is about right. In that regard, you have to admire people doing this with rolls of film, happy to proceed on the basis that a purchased roll of film might not result in anything. We are very fortunate in this digital age.


It's funny; your post prompted me to go back and read what I posted before in this thread, and in the past year and a half or so, my street shooting has totally changed. No longer do I use a flip screen and try to shoot stealthy, in fact I don't really use a digital camera anymore. I mainly use my Voigtlander rangefinder, zone focus, meter off the pavement or sides of buildings or whatever, and use B&W film. Completely different mentality from what I used to do, but I feel better not being "sneaky" and just being upfront about taking photos, with the camera's accessory viewfinder up to my eye. I rely on the camera's unassuming and retro look to be non-threatening, and so far it has worked.

There really aren't any rules to the practice of street photography, despite the stifling amount of them that the currently popular movement tries to assert.
Very true, any technique works I'd say, as long as your comfortable doing it although mixing it up as opposed to stying with one particular technique probably helps though.
 
Very true, any technique works I'd say, as long as your comfortable doing it although mixing it up as opposed to stying with one particular technique probably helps though.
I'd agree, as long as you're familiar with the technique you try - street is usually not very forgiving of first attempts, at least if you're trying to capture moving people and some sort of decisive moment.
 
I'd agree, as long as you're familiar with the technique you try - street is usually not very forgiving of first attempts, at least if you're trying to capture moving people and some sort of decisive moment.
True. Well, you have to make a start at some point. But the misses will continue. You accept that and enjoy the keepers.
 
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