Shooting street and travel, currently on the kit zoom which I find slow and honestly boring. 600 to spend, used market is fine. Torn between a fast 35mm prime, which everyone calls the classic street focal length, and a used constant aperture 24-70 which covers more but is heavy and I would be carrying it all day. What actually changes with each?
The metadata check is the real answer. I was convinced I was a 35 person and the histogram of my focal lengths had a giant spike at 50. Buy the lens you already use.
Counterpoint for travel specifically: a zoom saves the shots you cannot reposition for — across a canal, out of a moving train, a building you cannot back away from. For street alone, the prime. For travel where you get one pass at a place, the zoom earns its weight.
Middle ground is a small variable aperture zoom instead of the heavy constant one. Half the weight, and outdoors in daylight you rarely need f/2.8 anyway.
@dax_darian · 3mo ago · 3 replies
The prime, and the reason is not image quality. A fixed focal length makes you move, and moving is the entire skill in street photography. With a zoom you stand still and frame. With a 35 you step closer or find another angle, and the pictures get better because you end up in the scene rather than observing it from across the road. Weight matters more than people admit too — the camera you carry beats the one that is optically better and left at home.
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@dax_darian · 3mo ago
Tape your kit zoom at 35 for two weeks. Sounds silly, works perfectly, costs nothing. Then check the metadata on your last 500 frames and see where you actually shoot.
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@curious_wren · 3mo ago
Any way to work out which focal length I am before buying?
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