The Stigma against Zoom Lenses and Street Photography and why I prefer shooting Zoom for Street Inspite

There are a number of "Stigmas" when it comes to the Professional or even Hobby photography realm and I don't believe or follow any of them. 

People who adhere to these stigmas are pretty adamant about it and if you dare tell them that you do something differently they will get all huffy when you try to offer a different way of taking photos as valid compared to what they are "used to" or "comfortable" with.  

 A few notable Stigmas within the Photography world are:

• Gear Snobs aka Full Frame is the only valid Digital Camera Format (I touched on this one earlier)
• Pocket Cameras are useless- your Phone is Better
• Any camera more then 5 years old is trash
• Cheap kit and superzoom lenses are useless and can't take useable photos
  
• A 50mm prime on a APS-C crop is rubbish (but an 85mm lens on Full Frame is OK)
• Using a Zoom Lens for Street Photography is a Moral Sin - "Real Street Photographers" ONLY shoot Primes

Today I'm going to just focus on the last of these bullet points, and go into detail of why I "Enjoy being a Heretic and using Zoom Lenses for Street Photography" (and also feel I miss a lot less shots because of it).

A good parallel to these stigmas is how Americans view how Steak is cooked, or putting Ketchup on Hotdogs. Myself I like a well-done or medium well done steak, and a lot of people have gotten offended by this (including having someone block me on social media for stating I like my meat not-raw), and I still to this day don't understand why my preference should offend them.

It's my steak, my food.  Let me enjoy it how I like it and if you want yours straight from the package and being on the grill for only 3.5 seconds and no more then fine, you do you.  

Same goes for Ketchup on hotdogs; why should this be something you are going to go out of your way making a scene about and ruining your day just because I prefer a different condiment on my ground up meat tube then you do?

 

In the end Photography is about getting the shot and whether you use a Prime Lens, Zoom Lens, Pocket camera or yes even a Smartphone use what tools works for you.  

Don't let someone else give you a set of tools with your favorite ones taken out to craft your images simply because they prefer using different tools then you do.

 

I like Ketchup on my Hotdog.  I like my Steak cooked and I use a Zoom for Street Photography every single time.  What is so offensive about any of this?

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To start this off I have been doing Street Photography seriously for about 5 years now (2018) though I did some casual "vacation photography" which could qualify as Street Photography well before that.  

Street Photography is what kept me sane during the Pandemic because I could find all this weird stuff happening around me, take photos of it, and know that after I took those photos it would be in the past and things would slowly and eventually return to something "more normal" again.

My street photography kit is always centered around a zoom lens.  Because when I am on the street I am going to take photos of every possible thing that catches my eye including buildings, people (though its NOT my main/only focus or subject), signs, window displays, vehicles and urban critters such as cats, squirrels, rabbits, various birds etc interacting in an Urban Environment.  

Zoom lenses give you the flexibility to take candid shots without having to have a 20 in the Sneak skill or be "up in people's faces" when doing street photography which is a tactic I find both dangerous and disrespectful; it's defiantly not for me.

So since I covered why I feel that Zoom lenses are superior for Street Photography and NOT Primes (a view that is backwards from just about every angry "Kids These Days" Street Photographers on Youtube) lets dive into some examples of kits I regularly use on the street and list some examples of why I enjoy these particular combinations.

You will note that none of these kits include a prime lens, and if I do shoot a prime its going to be mostly for Indoor Street Photography (such as Malls) or Blue Hour street photography.  Anything taken outside during daylight which is 90% of my Street Photography is going to be done on a zoom lens:

Kit #1: Canon Rebel (Various Models- XTi pictured) and Tamron 18-270 lens

If there was any one combination that would get a purist Street Photographer's blood boiling the fastest it would be this one. A cheap entry-level APS-C DSLR with a super zoom lens. So I am going to start with this "kit like lens" with a long reach and enjoy the purist's screams of agony while I explain what I like about this kit and why it works for me.

This kit is going to be a great all-purpose street photography rig for shooting just about any subject during daylight hours, from Street Scenes to Squirrels this lens will cover it all.

The Tamron 18-270 PZD VR lens does have Image Stabilization so you can still do some lower light photography with it provided you have steady hands and a non moving subject (I take a lot of photos of signs, storefronts, old buildings and parked cars to name a few so I certainly can work with these restrictions).

In my experience image quality on these lenses are going to be very similar to a "kit" lens having more distortion at wider apertures then having it stopped down. That said, this is still more then good enough quality especially for social media or web posting.

When shooting either kit lenses or super zoom glass I follow the mantra of "F8 and be there" when I'm doing street photography with kit lenses or superzoom lenses like this Tamron 18-270 lens (which I own for both Canon EF and Sony A mount). Stopping down to a "sweet spot" on a variable aperture lens using this method I get nice crisp respectable images every time.

Of all of the kits I'll mention I find this one to be one of the most easy and flexible for me to use. Because with a long focal range you won't miss a shot of having to run across the street to get a photo of someone walking their dog one moment and the next not being able to get a shot of a wider street scene because your focal length is too narrow to take it all in.  

You can take photos of anything without having to be the fastest street runner or lens swapper in the west and will ultimately not miss very many opportunities out on a street photography walk with a kit like this.

Entry level DSLRs are also typically incredibly easy to adjust settings on and use.  Set everything you need up, set it in Auto ISO and Aperture priority mode and just go out, have fun and get some neat photos.

Kit #2 Panasonic G9 and Olympus 12-40 f2.8 Pro

This kit is going to rank up in the "higher end" kits for me.  It has a high end wickedly fast and responsive mirrorless body paired with one of the best optical quality zoom lenses of all time the Olympus 12-40 f2.8 PRO.

This kit would be something I would take out when I have an interest in doing mostly street scenes but still want some flexibility for cropping in on signs, window displays, etc.  This is also a kit I would bring with when shooting street photography in Twilight/blue hour to have good Low-Light performance while still having a small ability to change my focal length.

With this kit I would be skipping out on portraits of people or animals during this time unless they are hip shots at the waist.  This lens has more or less the same range of a "kit lens" but with a much higher image quality, so shooting an entry level camera with a kit lens would be a very similar experience on what shots you could get on the street.

The 12-40 (24-80 FF equivalent) still gives me a leg up over a prime as there is some range to play with to frame my subject in a pinch and also being slightly wider then most superzoom lenses which makes it a solid lens for street scenes.

The big advantage of this lens is that the optical quality will be the same whether I am at 12mm or 40mm, f8 or f2.8.  It's going to be sharp and distortion free all the way through its more limited zoom range.  

This kit is the closest I would ever get to being a "purist" for street photography and even then this lens is still going to be too "well done" for them.

Kit #3 Sony a290 and Minolta 70-300

The few people on YouTube that I've found who do defend shooting Zoom lenses for street photography almost always will use a compact Telephoto zoom lens like a 55-200 or a 70-300 (as pictured here).  As such there is some small amount of street cred for shooting a telephoto zoom vs a wide-portrait or superzoom zoom lens within the Street Photographer community.  

Many of these telephoto street photographers are going for Candid street shots from a safe distance so they can get the shot without risking being punched in the face or having someone shield themselves with their arms and threaten to call law enforcement, and it's a very solid tactic.  

Not all Telephoto lenses are huge, and many people in this camp will look for variable aperture compact telephoto lenses to have a compromise for reach in a lens that won't attract too much attention when seen from a distance.

Another motivation for those who will hold to Telephoto for Street Photography is that many Portrait Photographers prefer the "look" of photos of people when taken between 70mm and 300mm FF equivalent.  

Using a telephoto lens you will get a more blurred out and isolated background and less distortion/more "natural" looking faces then taking a photo of someone with a 24mm lens at 2 feet away which can give a much more distorted or "flat" look.

The biggest downside to this kit is you are going to be forced into focusing on individual aspects of Street Photography such as signs, people, displays, animals, etc and won't be able to take wider street scene shots without having a side arm camera with a wide angle lens attached or switching lenses.

Of all the zoom kits I'll mention here this is the one I use the least, as I enjoy having some flexibility to do wider shots of street scenes when I am out.  But it certainly could be a good solid kit for a challenge when someone who needs more practice in isolating a subject.

Kit #4 Nikon D7200/ Nikon 24-120 F4 VR Lens

 

This kit is my goto for higher end street photography kit in areas that are well adjusted to seeing photographers around.  Its not small nor discreet but the range and quality of the glass on this combo is supreme, along with having a high resolution and relatively modern DSLR sensor.  

Most of my street photography is done at 40mm FF equivalent to 200 FF equivalent and this lens on the D7200 is a 40-180mm equivalent lens; so it hits the sweet spot that I commonly use for street photography in one solid constant aperture Zoom lens.

I've found that the 24-120 on APS-C lens combo is the best compromise between having consistent image quality, and quickly being able to switch from a street scene focal length to one more suited for isolating a subject or getting a shot of something across a street without spending the time to get closer and therefore missing that moment.

The one downside of this kit is that it is anything but discreet.  It's useful in high-tourist areas where I can put on my "tourist" guise and take photos without any questions asked, but for some situations I need something far more discreet which brings us into the next section of this post.

Street Photography kits when I need to be more Discreet

 

On numerous occasions I have been in a situation where an interchangeable lens camera would draw too much attention, especially alone in areas I am unfamiliar with or are more inner-city, Urbex/Abandoned or bar centric regions. Going to these locations alone with a large camera can draw a lot of unwanted and potentially confrontational attention.  

This was also true of most locations during the Pandemic where tensions were extremely high just about anywhere I went as people silently judged me behind a mask with suspicious eyes.

In these situations the average person would be most comfortable just taking out their phone and snapping photos that way. While this is a very valid approach to street photography, it is not my way just as much as shooting a Lecia with a 35mm manual focus prime as a purist would do. 

Additionally in tense situations my phone is my lifeline to the outside world so if that were to get broken, stolen or misplaced while doing a venture to places unknown I would be up the creek without a paddle. 

The main reason I am going to go into the "unsung heroes of street photography: the Zoom Pocket camera" over a cellphone for discreet street shots goes back to whole point of this post: why I prefer having the flexibility of Optical Zoom instead of just running with two or three real focal lengths on a smartphone.

Another advantage of pocket cameras (and Digi-Cams) for street photography is that often times you will be running something a lot cheaper to replace then a DSLR or Phone if someone decides they want to smash or confiscate your camera for taking a photo of them (which has never happened to me, but putting it out there).

So here are a few of my more discreet and often more easily replaceable kits (except for Kit #1 which is still pricey but is still really easy to conceal.)

#1 Panasonic ZS100

 

This is the camera that took a large percentage of all my street shots in 2020 and 2021 during the pandemic. It's easy to conceal, versatile and has image quality that under the average outdoor street photography conditions easily rivals what I can get off my larger kits.  

Like the last combo of the previous section the ZS100's 25-250mm FF equivalent zoom hits a very similar sweet spot of focal ranges for my street photography useage all in one small quick to activate, shoot and conceal package.

The ZS100 is a modern high end camera that still costs upwards of $300-500 to replace.  So while this is a great jack of all compact street photography kit I would not take this camera to a higher risk situation 

That said I tend to overall play it pretty safe and avoid Protests, etc even if they make for very powerful Street and Photojournalism photography, so in most situations I am in having a smaller camera that attracts less attention is enough to keep me safe from conflict.

For those who do cover such sensitive and explosive situations for street and photojournalism I recommend seriously considering one of the options in my next recommendations as those are all fairly easy to replace at less then $100 a piece.

#2 Canon Powershot S90

 

 

 

In situations where I want something even smaller then the Panasonic ZS100, cameras like the Powershot S90 come into play.  

Like the kit #2 in the previous section this package trades a longer focal length zoom for one that is faster and better in low light.  This makes this camera ideal for taking photos inside stores and malls where Security may otherwise be wary of street photography using larger equipment that will attract undue attention.

This camera is still a fairly high end pocket camera in its day that can still do a lot such as record files in RAW, and the replacement cost of such a camera is often around $50-70.  

#3 Canon Powershot SX280

 

Sometimes I find myself in need of combination of Discreet, cheap and a wide "superzoom"  range of greater then what cameras like the S90 or even ZS100 can offer.

This is where cameras like the Powershot SX280 come into play.  Falling somewhere between the S90 and ZS100 in physical size they compromise both compact size and great optical zoom for a slightly worse Image Quality and poor Low-Light capabilities.  

Given that a lot of my street photography is done in full bright sunlight, not being good in low light is not a dealbreaker for me. 

While cameras like this will have a lot less consistent results then any of my larger sensor ICL cameras or more premium pocket cameras I've still managed to capture some of my best street photography moments on inexpensive compact super-zoom packages like this camera even if they often lack the ability to shoot RAW and may lack the ability of having full manual control over the camera settings.

#4 The Digi-Cam (Casio Exlim Z850)

Have a compact camera sitting in a drawer at your Grandparent's house that they haven't used in 15 years?  Seen an old digital camera at a Thrift Store for $15?  You'd be surprised that these little point and shoot cameras do surprisingly well for street photography and are a great way to get into Street Photography with very little investment.

As I hinted before, "Digi-cams" are perhaps the most powerful tool for situations where you are not sure what might happen to you or your gear.  Go to a protest and have your camera confiscated by the local Police?  Well it sucks to lose a day worth of emotional powerful images but it sucks more to lose a $2000 interchangeable lens camera kit when you could have carried a camera you could replace for $20 instead.

And just like a phone, most digi-cams are designed to be really easy to pick up, shoot, and shove back into a pocket without fiddling with settings, making them great little cameras for hip shots so long as you have the light to do so.

Street Photography is also a great place to take your time and really test out a camera, as well as focus more on composition rather then technical aspects such as "Can this camera shoot a photo of a performer on the stage of a dimly lit production at ISO 6400 and get something useable"?  

Taking photos with Digi-cams is becoming an up and coming trend for one simple reason; the realization that one does not need to have the best equipment to get the best photos out on the street.