What are your favourite cameras and lenses for street photography?
I have three favourite bodies for street.
- Nikon SP, essentially a Leica M3, but with an even better rangefinder and shutter. A true classic street camera.
- Nikon FE2, doesn’t need any presentation. I personally prefer match-needle meters over LEDs and have no problems carrying an extra battery or two.
- Nikon D700, yes, it is large and yes, the white logo gets attention. However, the UI makes it easy to carry over one shoulder and still keep it ready to shoot. The logo can be covered up with gaffer’s tape. For me, this camera is a fumble-free zone after using it for so long.
If Nikon made a compact 24 and a compact 35 in Z-mount, the Z fc would be a perfect street camera for me. As it is, the 28 falls between what I want. The 16-50 is a nice and sharp lens, but the apertures available wide open makes it impossible to get the subject isolation I usually want for street.
My favourite rangefinder lenses were the 3.5 cm f/2.5 and the 5 cm f/1.4.
Favourites on the FE2 are the O 35/2 Ai’d and the Ai 50/1.2.
On the D700, I usually use either the same lenses as on the FE2 or an AF-S 35/1.8 and an AF 50/1.8D
I don’t have the SP and S-mount lenses anymore as I had to sell them some years ago, but I still miss them.