Help me select a camera for street photography

Barryboy

Barryboy

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Rob
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Hi.. Back in the olden days when the Dead Sea was just sick I used to use a Mamiya C330 for street/urban work but those days are obviously long gone. My interest has been re-ignited by seeing some incredible street work lately but I'm finding my D610 and 24-120 a bit 'obvious' in certain situations. It's OK at events, where people expect to be photographed, but not so at places like markets, city centres etc. I would like to get something a bit more subtle that I could use without having to carry a bag, i.e. something pocketable, something with a screen that would flip up 90 degrees that I could just look down into, give good quality results and not cost me my left kidney. It would need to be able to generate decent quality files that could print up to A3 size, and have either interchangeable lenses or a decent wide angle zoom. I was thinking 4/3 format... can anyone suggest something to suit my needs?

Rob
 
For this I use my rx100m3 - it has good iq, fits in the pocket and has flip out screen. :thumbsup:
 
How about an Olympus Pen E-PL5 or E-PL7. Pair it with the 14-42mm EZ and auto lens cap and you have a portable solution that can slip into a bigger pocket and be brought out and be ready to use. If you need a wider lens, the 9-18mm is also available (but without the auto lens cap option)
 
I was going to suggest Ricoh GR but it has no flippy screen (and no zoom). :(

Apart from that it's a super camera, much loved by street photographers.
 
Barryboy said:
Hi.. Back in the olden days when the Dead Sea was just sick I used to use a Mamiya C330 for street/urban work but those days are obviously long gone. My interest has been re-ignited by seeing some incredible street work lately but I'm finding my D610 and 24-120 a bit 'obvious' in certain situations. It's OK at events, where people expect to be photographed, but not so at places like markets, city centres etc. I would like to get something a bit more subtle that I could use without having to carry a bag, i.e. something pocketable, something with a screen that would flip up 90 degrees that I could just look down into, give good quality results and not cost me my left kidney. It would need to be able to generate decent quality files that could print up to A3 size, and have either interchangeable lenses or a decent wide angle zoom. I was thinking 4/3 format... can anyone suggest something to suit my needs?

Rob
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I'm another Rob from Barry! :)

I'm into street too and will probably get a ricoh gr once I've sold some gear, or if I can stretch it to a fujifilm x-t10 and the 27mm pancake lens. The gr will fit in your pocket though which is a huge plus.
 
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Carl Hall said:
Are they? Film is still alive and has many regular users. There's nothing to stop you getting a second hand C330 or cheaper C220 and using it. Like these people still do: https://www.flickr.com/groups/mamiyatwinlens/pool/
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Ah... you're right of course, Carl, but whilst it's not the camera that's the issue for me it's the cost of medium format film, processing and getting the prints made. A house move 10 years ago means I no longer have a darkroom and farming it all out would prove many times more expensive than it is to use digital.

Rob
 
I've got a Fujifilm X-E1 and XF 27mm, small, discrete, APS-C and lovely jpegs sooc. Great physical controls 7 custom profiles and Fujifilms famous film simulations.

Would cost you about £320 used.

If you're after mft, check out the classifieds.
 
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Well here are some thoughts, I spend a few years with a 330f, and then gave up for some 30 years until now, and even now am not sure if I am switched on to photography or to kit collecting.

On my return I ended up with a Nikon 7200, the real tempter was the D500 solely because of its flip screen. I decided against it as I did not know at the time whether it was retail therapy or a return to photography, hence a possible waste of money. I miss the ability to look down on the camera but I have no clue if the flip screen would have done it for me. More of a problem is that I am tall, and all of a sudden photographing things that I would not think about, on seeing the photos I realise the camera is too high (too often). I can go down on one knee but then I must get up (fcuk that).

Whether a camera is pocket size or not, the moment it is up to head level it is quite visible. Size is for you to consider. But being too visible ... times have changed (given my age) so make sure you don't end up with a black and white eye. Really consider a flip screen but try testing it on a sunny day etc etc etc. and then consider how steady is the set up for you. I do miss the low down view but I do not miss the lcd screen thing ... on the camera I got I prefer the viewfinder as it adds to steadiness.

If it helps a little.
 
I use an olympus em5. I find the small camera, reasonably wide lenses for street and especially the 90 degree touch screen with touch focus and shutter release helpful to make taking images more unobtrusive.
 
Gyles said:
I've got a Fujifilm X-E1 and XF 27mm, small, discrete, APS-C and lovely jpegs sooc. Great physical controls 7 custom profiles and Fujifilms famous film simulations.

Would cost you about £320 used.

If you're after mft, check out the classifieds.
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Hi Gyles... i do like Fuji... I'll have a think about this one... Does it have a 90 degree flip screen?
 
Lots of good suggestions from you all - and many thanks for your thoughts. Budget is very important and at the moment the Olympus Pen E-PL5 is the slight favourite. Has anyone got any experience of Panasonic cameras?

Rob
 
@Barryboy

No fixed screen, but tbh that's the only downside.

I've been using MFT until I got my Fuji. Very nice lenses in there. Panasonic g3-g7 have fully articulated screens. Olympus appear to have the edge straight out of the camera. The Panasonic pancake 20mm is an excellent choice for street, but can hunt in low light and there maybe issues on Olympus bodies at high iso's. But its great value. There's a very active MFT forum Mu43.
 
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I've always used my Sony kit with manual lenses and the screen flipped up 90 degrees. I used to use my NEX5 with Olympus OM lenses and now use them on the A6000. If you prefer a more manual process, they're hard to beat with a larger sensor and focus peaking.

Edit - I also use the Sony E mount 50/1.8 in the same way if I want AF. That give excellent results and fast AF.
 
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2nd hand Fuji X100 / X100S, fabulous street camera, discrete and silent, my weapon of choice.
 
x100 series and xpro series seem popular for street as they have the hybrid finder so you can see a bit outside the frame (evf does not allow this) - a lot of street photographers still seem to use film, possibly as film rangefinders can be got for far less than digital rangefinders
 
Barryboy said:
Lots of good suggestions from you all - and many thanks for your thoughts. Budget is very important and at the moment the Olympus Pen E-PL5 is the slight favourite. Has anyone got any experience of Panasonic cameras?

Rob
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Yes, I've been with Panasonic since the introduction of the GF1 and now have a G1, GX7 and G7. It's a bit of a shame that people tend to think of Olympus as the choice for a stills shooter and Panasonic as the choice for video but hey-ho. I shoot only stills with my Panasonic cameras, I always shoot raw and I don't care about art filters or straight out of the camera jpegs.

Of the two newer cameras I have the GX7 is more to my ideal as I like small and unobtrusive kit and when fitted with a compact prime or one of the very compact variable aperture zooms makes a very small and capable package. There seem to be a lot of "kit" lens choices, I have the 14-42mm mega ois lens and it's the size of a prime lens and sharp wide open too. The only flies in the GX7 ointment are that IMO the EVF is poor to hateful but many people seem perfectly ok with it and there's no auto ISO in manual exposure mode. The compact nature of the kit and the swivelling EVF are wonderful though but I just with that the EVF was of a better quality.

The G7 is IMO an absolute star. It's like a little sports car and the EVF is in contrast to that of the GX7 very nice indeed. There are only a few negatives for me, although auto ISO works in manual exposure mode exposure compensation isn't available, I personally find the grip very uncomfortable and...

both the GX7 and G7 suffer shutter shock when used in combination with some lenses between affected shutter speeds. This can be negated with the use of the electronic shutter (which both of these cameras have and indeed the G7 has an auto mechanical/electronic shutter feature which works well) but using the electronic shutter may bring its own issues including rolling shutter which isn't an issue for me and banding under artificial light which is an issue for me. Unfortunately for me the shutter shock issue renders both of these cameras virtually useless when used with a shutter shock affected lens under artificial lighting in the 1/100-1/300 shutter speed range which is of course exactly where I would be if shooting under artificial lighting as the mechanical shutter may give shutter shock and the electronic shutter may give banding. The fix is to not use the affected camera and lens combinations but as this is supposed to be a system this annoys me no end.

On the positive side the cameras are fast and image quality is good. I use mine at all ISO settings up to and including 25,600.

The very latest GX80 and G80 have a different shutter mechanism to reduce shutter shock. Unfortunately the GX80 loses the swiveling EVF of the GX7 and retains the (IMO) woeful field sequential EVF.

Hope that helps.

PS.
Just a little oddity of note...
My GX7 and G7 produce what seems to me to be identical image quality but when reviewing shots on the camera the G7 shots look much nicer and display much less noise at high ISO's. I assume Panasonic does some in camera magic inside the G7 but as I said, once on the PC raw files from my two newer camera are identical.
 
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Thanks, woof woof. I have been in contact with a pro photographer who uses the GX7 for his personal street photography and swears by it. Unfortunately it's going to be outside of my budget.
 
G5 or g6 might suit you, they are very small and discrete all be it not rangefinder style. As said the P20mm is very sharp and look at the dinky 12-32mm pancake you can stuff this lot in a jacket pocket.
 
Barryboy said:
Ah... you're right of course, Carl, but whilst it's not the camera that's the issue for me it's the cost of medium format film, processing and getting the prints made. A house move 10 years ago means I no longer have a darkroom and farming it all out would prove many times more expensive than it is to use digital.

Rob
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Yes, sadly film is becoming more and more expensive to buy and develop :'( I hold out hope that the hipsters will drive up demand again and therefore lower prices, alas it may take a while!
 
Barryboy said:
Hi.. Back in the olden days when the Dead Sea was just sick I used to use a Mamiya C330 for street/urban work but those days are obviously long gone. My interest has been re-ignited by seeing some incredible street work lately but I'm finding my D610 and 24-120 a bit 'obvious' in certain situations. It's OK at events, where people expect to be photographed, but not so at places like markets, city centres etc. I would like to get something a bit more subtle that I could use without having to carry a bag, i.e. something pocketable, something with a screen that would flip up 90 degrees that I could just look down into, give good quality results and not cost me my left kidney. It would need to be able to generate decent quality files that could print up to A3 size, and have either interchangeable lenses or a decent wide angle zoom. I was thinking 4/3 format... can anyone suggest something to suit my needs?

Rob
Click to expand...

I see a couple of others have mentioned the Fuji X100 series, and I'll add a vote for that. I use an X100T for this; it's not obvious, it looks a bit like a vintage camera, you can set it to be completely silent. The controls are all on the outside, so you can quickly see and set the variables. And of course the lens and sensor are superb. Finally, since it has a 23mm lens, the FOV is wide enough to use at waist level for street photography.
 
Thanks for all the recommendations. However the flip up screen is vital so the Fujis are out of the running - if I have to raise my camera to my eye I might as well stay with the Nikon D610. How about the Canon G series? Does any of those have a flip up screen? .... They seem to be well specced for the money.

Rob
 
Barryboy said:
Thanks, woof woof. I have been in contact with a pro photographer who uses the GX7 for his personal street photography and swears by it. Unfortunately it's going to be outside of my budget.
Click to expand...

I'm another GX7 owner. Most of my pictures in the Capture a stranger street style thread have been taken with it and the Panasonic 20mm f/1.7 pancake lens. Not sure what your budget is, but I got mine new from Jessops for £299 with the 14-42mm kit lens a few months back. Since getting the 20mm it rarely comes off the camera.
 
FishyFish said:
I'm another GX7 owner. Most of my pictures in the Capture a stranger street style thread have been taken with it and the Panasonic 20mm f/1.7 pancake lens. Not sure what your budget is, but I got mine new from Jessops for £299 with the 14-42mm kit lens a few months back. Since getting the 20mm it rarely comes off the camera.
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I've a nice Panasonic 20mm for sale in the classifieds if you wish to go that route.
 
canon EOS 650D
 
For street I think a mirrorless is ideal. People generally react differently to a smaller more 'compact' looking camera rather than any DSLR.

I currently have a Panasonic GX80 and combined with the Olympus 17mm 1.8 (34mm equivalent on FF) it's a great camera for street photography.

If I had an unlimited budget I'd still be shooting Fuji but m43 has the advantage of having cheaper lenses that are still good.

Also I don't mind the EVF on the GX80, it's not the biggest but it's more than enough. To be fair I've not experienced any of the rainbow tearing that other people have though.
 
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Surely the Sony a6000 has got to be the best option right now, doesn't it? £499 with the kit lens seems like a bit of a bargain new, let alone what you'd find it at used.
 
Second hand Fuji X-T1 with a Fujinon XF 27mm f2.8 Pancake lens.

Pocketable,flip screen,excellent image quality,silent so ticks all the boxes.
 
Even with the 27mm pancake lens I'm not sure an XT1 is pocketable. An XT10 would be a better bet, almost identical spec, still has the flip screen, probably pocketable with a jacket, also cheaper. Not sure of the OP's budget but can be had new for about £449.00. Lens probably £200ish.
 
Gyles said:
I've a nice Panasonic 20mm for sale in the classifieds if you wish to go that route.
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Hi Gyles. You did well on that buy. It's currently on Jessops' website at £499 with a £50 cashback offer. Unfortunately out of budget.

Rob
 
Have a look at the Sony A600 and Fuji X70. The Fuji would be my choice. I like the handling and looks of it.
 
HI
Don't know whether I'm allowed to link to another photography site but there is a E-PL5 for sale at £140 (3000 shutter count)...nothing to do with me but looks a bit of a bargain. Also a 12-32 lens @ £110
JohnyT

If I can link....then please let me know and I'll pass on the info
 
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