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For street photography, you’ll need a lens that’s quick on the draw

How to choose a lens for street photos

For the most part, street photography is all about anticipation. You’ll typically be capturing people in the environment of a street scene, where timing is everything. You need to nail the definitive moment when everything falls perfectly into place. Most modern lenses have fast autofocus systems based on ring-type ultrasonic or stepping motor actuators, but they might not be fast enough. Many street photographers prefer to focus manually, using a variety of methods we’ll come to later.

Zooming to the required focal length is another time-waster, so prime lenses tend to be more appropriate. You’ll also often want to shoot without drawing attention to yourself, so size matters too. Here are six things to bear in mind when you choose the ideal street lens.

Focal length

For full-frame cameras, 35mm is the classic focal length for street photography. It gives a very natural perspective, while its modestly wide viewing angle enables you to frame people in the context of their surroundings. If you’re shooting with an APS-C format camera, a 24mm lens gives virtually the same perspective, whereas the diminutive Olympus M.Zuiko Digital 17mm f/2.8 pancake lens is a good choice for a Micro Four Thirds camera.

Aperture rating

Faster lenses with wider aperture ratings are often preferred for general shooting. They enable faster shutter speeds under dull lighting conditions and a tighter depth of field when you want to isolate the main subject against a blurred background.

For street photography, however, you’ll generally want a larger depth of field to avoid the need for pinpoint focusing. Lenses with narrower aperture ratings are generally smaller, which is another bonus when you’re trying to shoot without being noticed. Slower lenses also tend to be less expensive to buy.

Focus type

Autofocus lenses have long been the most popular option for almost every shooting scenario, but they can be less than ideal for street photography. Even if the autofocus speed is rapid, you might need to focus on the desired point in the scene and then swivel the camera to compose the image, perhaps missing the shot in the process. There’s a lot to be said for manualfocus lenses for street photography.

Zone focusing

Zone focusing enables you to set up the focus distance in advance, so you can react instantly as the action unfolds, maybe even shooting from the hip. It works with any autofocus or manual-focus prime lens that has a focus distance scale and depth-offield markings for various apertures. This enables you to set the ‘zone’ of focus that falls between the minimum and maximum distances covered by the depth of field.

Hyperfocal distance

Another focusing option is to set the lens to its ‘hyperfocal distance’. This alters with focal length and aperture but, in all cases, it results in the focus distance setting at which everything appears sharp from the closest possible point to infinity. Some prime lenses have hyperfocal distance markers for various apertures. If not, you can use a downloadable chart.

As an example, the hyperfocal distance of a 35mm lens at f/8 on a full-frame camera is about five metres. This would retain sharpness for everything in the scene from a distance of 2.5m to infinity.

Stabilisation

Optical image stabilisation is only available with autofocus lenses, but there are some good options on the market. Many mirrorless cameras have in-body image stabilisation but, for fully manualfocus lenses that lack any internal electronics, you might need to set up the focal length in the shooting menu to enable camera-based stabilisation.