500 of a Second Street Photography Tips. John Free

[TheVjay86]

wtf is this guy saying? that is retarded..

[Exupery1976]

What kind of camera is that, John? What about the lens? Looks like a 50mm 1.4 or .8. Nikon film camera from 20 years back?

[beanfreeze]

@beanfreeze Has a crop factor so it makes for longer focal length which is better for sports.

[beanfreeze]

@uhohoverflow Full frame has its ups and downs. The 1D IV

[whatstheverdict]

thanks so much for your videos, they really help! i have a question though, why do you use an slr? i know a lot of street photographers use rangefinders

[stephanmarsan1976]

Which iso do you suggest to shoot everytime at 500?

[ratslliw]

Nice videos. How can you always leave your shutter speed at 1/500?? I use Tri-x all the time, and i feel like i barely ever have enough light (to get the types of shots i want) to use 1/500. for quick reacting street photoraphy, I prefer to use 1/60 or 1/125 and stop the lens down a little so I can have some DOF forgiveness for a sharp subject. I don't know, I just would like a little more elaboration on why 1/500?

[StevenRHaz]

you're vids are great man!

[thecommercialedge]

1/125s works fine for me.

[eeskaatt]

"500th of a second is all you got" :)

[mplayer98]

my back yard is the streets of NYC. :) great practice.

[DylanOnleyPhoto]

@mplayer98 You are so lucky! I went there as a kid with a little Kodak "DSLR" point and shoot, but with manual too. I had a few good shots, but most of them were crap. Now all I can think about is going back there with my 60D and a 50mm f1.8 and just shooting everything I can =D It honestly keeps me up at night, I love that city so much. The people there are amazing, all the smells, if you really try, you can capture everything about the city, even the smells =)

[Cavalieredelnord]

thanks



[jjualvare]

Interesting that you mentioned the lens in your video. I have one of the new DSLR cameras. Should I use a 35mm or 50mm non-zoom lens when taking street shots?

[JohnFreePhtography]

@jjualvare The greatest street photographer who ever lived, told us to use the 50mm lens. I use the 50mm F-2 Nikkor and the 55mm F-2.8 Micro. A "Normal" lens is said to be 57mm. Normal meaning what the eye see's. When you frame a shot in your mind and then look through the viewfinder, the scene looks exactly the same. No change. Why would anyone want the scene to change? This is only possible with a SLR. I do not know much about digital cameras. In my opinion you should use the 50mm non-zoom.

[antigen4]

@JohnFreePhtography The 55 Micro is the best 'normal' all purpose lens they ever made in my opinion... absolute brilliant lens. Smokes the pants off any of the 50/1.8s, 1.4s or 1.2s...

[BloatedSensations]

Re: Digital vs. film focal lengths: When shooting with a "full-frame" D-SLR, the focal length would be the same. I.e. - 57mm on a full-frame D-SLR is equal to 57mm on a 35mm film body. If shooting with the much more common APS-C format D-SLR, a 38mm lens would be equivalent to a 57mm on a 35mm film body.

[mipmipmipmipmip]

@jjualvare For 'full frame' cameras (eg. D700), the sensor is 24x36mm (35mm film frame): get a 50mm prime. For 'APS-C' (cheaper models), the sensor is 1.5x smaller and a 35mm prime will be like 50mm on a film camera. Turn of all auto modes. Change speed/aperture and learn to read the meter. Katzeye sells split-screen focusing screens for manual focus, camera shops can change it for you.

Better: spend 50 bucks on a film SLR with 50mm lens. Start with C41 B/W film, can be developed anywhere.

[JulesZosia]

@jjualvare John Fee is wrong here... Yes everyone uses and loves 50mm prime for street photography. The fact is, DSLR's have a crop factor, so a 35 will be closer to a 50... a 50 is more like an 80 on a DSLR.... Do some research.

[drouleau]

@JulesZosia Do some research as well, my Nikon D3 has no crop factor as it uses a full frame (36x24) sensor. Not all DSLR's use crop frame sensors, just the non-professional ones.

[uhohoverflow]

@drouleau a crop sensor isn't a feature of "non-professional" cameras as you put it. The Canon 1D IV has a crop sensor.

[dodiheruphotography]

great information sir :)



[westphillyphotog]

Great information thanks.