35mm vs 50mm for Street Photography

A deep dive into the 35mm and 50mm focal lengths, their unique characteristics, and how they translate to street photography.

0:25 - APS-C to Full Frame Conversion
0:53 - Wider Angle = More Context
1:35 - Layering
2:07 - 35mm Cropping Potential
2:50 - 35mm vs. 50mm Cost
3:10 - Final Thoughts on 35mm
3:27 - Intro to 50mm
4:06 - Visual Differenfes
4:40 - Detail
5:00 - Joshua Jackson
5:40 - Final Thoughts on 50mm
6:10 - Final Comparison
6:35 - Closing Thoughts

Say hello!

Music Sourced from Epidemic Sound:

And Then I Met You - Matt Large
Not That Serious - Nocturnal Spirits

[DeeRosa]

I come back to this video just to get my Doriyan Coleman fix but I leave feeling like my street photography ain’t shit.

[albertsmith]

Cool trick with 35mm, learned from Leica school: With 35mm, the horizontal capture in landscape orientation is equal to the distance from the subject. If you are ten feet from a wall, the photo will have ten feet of the wall in the frame.

Once you get this, you can do great hip shots without bringing the camera to the eye, and have pretty accurate framing.

[DarrenLiverpool]

Explained better than any of the dozen or so explanations I've seen on youtube. Thank you!

[lxhk]

Your videos are spot on and a pleasure to watch. Thanks

[pedrotavares]

Excellent explanation and great shots man!

[echo_waves]

Great solid video, very informative, thanks man.

[tknson]

That’s an awesome shot in the thumbnail! 👍🏼✨

[ChrisBrogan]

Coming to this 3 years later, but really liked your explanations. A lot to absorb here. I really like how you put it. My prime of choice is a 35. I *did* just grab a 17-70 to see if it scratches my occasional "zoom in" need. But I *feel* like it'll be far less used compared to my 35. Before making that purchase, I hovered over the 50 for quite a while. I think I'm happy to stay at 35 OR use a zoom (depending on the project/plan). :)

[goldierush]

Saw you in the Dee Rosa chat loved seeing people who love their craft just talking about it.

[DSwizzy]

Great video, I learned a lot brother!

[ingridege]

Dee's channel sent me here and I'm so glad he did. I've been using 50mm lately as my go to and I love the look of it, especially with BW.

[owenduncan]

Thanks for the very thoughtful and interesting presentation. Enjoyed it and learned a lot.

[sampledude]

No BS + just good content = Rare. Keep it up. Subscribed.

[dunkkid]

My 23mm f/1.4 stays glued on my Fuji bodies. Easily my favorite focal length. I kinda use my 35 for portraiture. Thanks for the video!

[titusnixon]

Good observation, I don't shoot with a 35mm as of yet, but I understand the 50mm a little bit more doing street photography. Now I will rent a 35mm and keep in mind what you said and will be looking for these different

[tillist]

Hey! I got a 35mm for my XE4 and I will say that at times I feels a little too close for what I like to shoot but it is still great. I just have to get used to it.

[Roger-zxji]

I’ve been trying to love my 35mm (x100f) because of it being somewhat discreet,
but find myself mostly grabbing my xh1 or xt1 with the a 50mm (35 f2).
I thinks it’s the compression I get from a 50mm that’s keeping me from truly loving
the 35mm. But I really enjoy using the x100f. Actually more than any other camera.
Would love a fixed lens 50mm.
Anyway, great content! Subscribed.

[stevew]

35mm is only versatile in a different way to the 50mm. If I know I'm going to be working close up in a crowded environment, I use the 35mm for breadth of capture. But if I'm going to be in a sparser or quieter environment where I might want a close shot but may also see a scene on the other side of the road I can't reach in time, the extra reach of the 50 is priceless - especially with a lens as detailed as the Fuji 33mm (50mm equiv). Then I can take the shot, crop in and still have enough, where the 23mm/35mm would mean missing a usable shot. Love both, but the shooting environment and the mood I'm in will be decisive.

[Daniel_Ilyich]

One more question, does it make sense to have both lenses? A lot of people recommend 35/85 as a 2 lens combo if you don't want to collect two many lenses. 85mm kind of gives you the ability to isolate a single detail even more and a 35mm gives you an opportunity to capture more in the frame or gives you the opportunity to capture a scene in a tight space, where you wouldn't be able to with a 50mm.

[Daniel_Ilyich]

Doriyan, thank you so much for this wonderful tutorial. Can I ask, which 35mm lens do you use? And, more importantly, how close are you comfortable getting to your subjects?