Wide Angle Prime Lens for Easy Street Snapshot

Wide Angle Prime Lens for Easy Street Snapshot

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Wide Angle Prime Lens for Easy Street Snapshot

When it comes to street photography, prime lenses with 35mm or 50mm focal lengths are the traditional choices of lenses due to benefits of an easy-to-carry compact size and a perspective close to that of the human eye for more candid result. In this article we will introduce something different. EF 28mm f/2.8 IS USM wide angle prime lens that offers a wider focal length and unique perspective can maintain a good balance between the subject and its surrounding environment. Let’s check out and learn how to take full advantage of the various characteristics of the lens that can help take your street photos to the next level!

Stay Unobtrusive and Get Close to Your Subject

To capture a candid street shot, one of the important factors is to blend yourself and your camera into the environment. The compact EF 28mm f/2.8 IS USM measuring only 51.5mm in length and weighing only 260g is the handy equipment for various kinds of image creation on the streets. Its 0.23m minimum focusing distance enables you to get closer to your subject and capture more details (such as the interaction of pedestrians, a change in expression or a look in the eye) among the crowd, giving the photos a sense of presence.
EOS 6DEF 28mm f/2.8 IS USM • 1/60s • f/2.8 • ISO 3200
When shooting at night or in situations where light is insufficient, the f/2.8 large aperture can allow for a faster shutter speed to freeze the cat’s expression in clarity.

Use of Unique Perspective to Tell a Story

Street photography is a kind of photo documentary. The use of a wide angle prime lens can help include the subject and its surrounding environment into the composition even in busy city like Hong Kong where streets are narrow and crowded. In addition to its ability to reveal the relationship and interaction among the subjects, happenings and the environment, 28mm focal length can also maintain a good balance of sense of space between the subject and the background, which eventually adds depth to the photo.
EOS 5D Mark IIEF 28mm f/2.8 IS USM • 1/5s • f/4 • ISO 100
When shooting with a wide angle prime lens, we can make use of the lines, compositions and building structures to create leading lines in the photo to help make the subject stand out.
EOS 6DEF 28mm f/2.8 IS USM • 1/1250s • f/10 • ISO 250
High-rise buildings can be seen everywhere in Hong Kong. We can angle up the camera to take photo of the buildings and sky. With the characteristics of a wide angle lens, photo with an exaggerated sense of extension can be created.

Take Your Time and Enjoy the Joy of Blind Shooting on Streets

If you want to enjoy street photography to its fullest, enhance your blind shooting technique. Experiment more with different compositions and shooting angles and you will be surprised with the results. If you are a beginner in blind shooting, the following tips can help increase your success rate of getting a shot. In addition to using a small aperture such as f/11, use of a wide angle prime lens will also give you the advantage of a deeper depth of field to ensure sharp capture of both the subject and the background. In general, a shutter speed of 1/30s to 1/60s is enough to freeze your subject.
EOS 6DEF 28mm f/2.8 IS USM • 1/320s • f/2.8 • ISO 200
Benefited from the wide angle of view of 28mm, you can easily include the subject in the composition even without looking through the lens. This can capture the expressions and happenings in a natural way, and give the photographer ease of mind that the subject is well captured even when doing blind shooting.
EOS 5D Mark IIEF 28mm f/2.8 IS USM • 0.6s • f/5.6 • ISO 100
A small aperture and slow shutter speed can be used to capture trace of traffic lights. The contrast between the silent street and the dynamic after-images is a skilful way to depict the bustling scene of a city. EF 28mm f/2.8 IS USM incorporates an optical Image Stabilizer that offers up to 4-stop image stabilization performance to minimize the effect of hand-shake, helping you capture this type of image steadily even with a handheld camera.
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