My GF2 came with the Panasonic 14mm lens as part of the kit so I never realised how many street photographers haven’t tried this powerful little lens. Recently I’ve met more and more micro four thirds street shooters and I’m still shocked at how many of you haven’t tried the pocket rocket. Put simply, the 14mm is the best value lens for micro four thirds.

The 14mm handles bright lights fine. There's a bit of flare but it's part of the charm.

Three lens kit

The 14mm Panasonic is part of a holy trinity of fast and cheap primes: 14mm, 20mm and 45mm. You could argue that the 12mm Olympus or the 17mm Olympus have their place in a three lens kit. But the 14mm is equivalent to the common 28mm wide angle lens and it’s a stunner on the street. It balances cost and performance much better than the 12mm or 17mm. Continue reading →

The new Olympus E-M5 is an interesting camera for street photographers. It’s smaller than an normal DSLR but larger than a candy-bar style micro four thirds such as the GX1. So it might be the best of both worlds for you, or the worst of both worlds.

The E-M5 is splash resistant which is excellent news for London street photographers

The E-M5 is launching against tough competition from the GH2, GX1 and even the E-P3 because the sensor size is the same as these other cameras. This means that the fundamental physics behind shallow depth of field, low light performance and image quality are all the same across the competition. To address this Olympus have tweaked the sensor, but don’t expect images that are of a fundamentally different charachter than the other micro four thirds. Continue reading →

In my days as a ski instructor, I used to get asked alot by my friends which skis they should buy. My advice was always the same always: “Do a demo day and try them out. Or, if you can’t get to a demo day, then just bite the bullet and hire them.” People hate that advice because it involves effort. But if you want to put in zero effort into your gear selection then you’re not really putting serious effort into your endeavour, whatever field it is in. So my advice on which camera to buy is similar: “Try before you buy.”

It's worth spending time to get the right gear for street photography.

The time and money that you spend on renting camera gear will be repaid in better purchasing decisions and educating your taste in what you like and why. So, how can you get access to street photography gear to try out before you buy? Continue reading →

I tried out the Olympus EP3 specifically out as a street photography camera. The streets are a natural home for the EP3 because it’s smaller, lighter and less try-hard than a DSLR. But it’s not perfect. In fact it’s far from perfect…

For a premium camera there is a lot missing from the EP3.

Shooting blanks: On my second day out with the EP-3 I was swapping memory cards and didn’t put a card back in the EP-3. It shot away happily for the whole morning, with no indication that there was no memory card inserted. This seems minor, but wait until it happens to you. Especially for street shooting, you need a camera that works with you not against you. Continue reading →

I’ve had a few more questions from readers about the GX1 about elements specific to street photography. I think the GX1 is going to be an important camera for street photographers. It meets my main criteria of fast, light and discrete. It also takes great quality photos.

With the GX1 you are buying into a standard that is growing and developing with ever more lenses and a community of passionate street photographers. However, no camera is perfect and you need to pick a tool that suits your usage. A couple of common questions so far have been:

External Viewfinder
The external EVF is not really any better than the G3, so if you really want an EVF then just get a G3. The GX1 with viewfinder attached is taller than a G3. On the street this will mean bumping the EVF against your chest, pulling it off to fit in your coat pocket and generally flaffing around. Not conducive to the decisive moment.

The external EVF on the GX1 adds more bulk than I expected.

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The m.Zuiko 45mm f1.8 by Olympus is a stunning portrait lens. Put simply, if you only have a kit zoom and a wide prime (like the 14mm, 17mm or 20mm) then you’ve just found your next lens.

I’m a big believer in prime lenses. You get more glass for your money and it forces you to learn how to compose an image by zooming with your feet. But how does the 45mm preform as a street photographer’s lens?

The 45mm focal length lets you capture details on the street.

I’m not reviewing this as a travel lens or a macro lens. It’d be great for the former and terrible for the latter. I’m a street photographer, which means that what I’m looking for in a lens is speed, discretion and toughness. Continue reading →

The GX1 is a real contender for best street photographer’s camera of 2011/2012. One of the keys to good street shooting is to find a lens that works with your style. So when I got my hands on the GX1 at a launch event I ran it through a couple of lenses that you might be interested in for street photography.

14-42mm X Lens
I tried the GX1 first with the 14-42mm X lens (available at a kit in Dec/Jan). The X lens is nicer than you’d expect. It feels a bit like a point and shoot but it’s so easy and nice to use that after a moment you let go and just enjoy the toggle-to-zoom power steering. The GX1 and 14-42mm are well proportioned and the focus is fast.

Small, fast, discrete and well built

As for how the toggle zoom performs on the street, it is fast enough to let you frame the shot, even when things are moving fast. For a prime shooter like myself, it still feels a bit like cheating. I also don’t like the point and shoot aesthetic. Yet somehow it all seems to come together and using the GX1 with the 14-42mm on the street is effortlessly cool. Continue reading →

I had a chance to drop by the Panasonic launch event for the GX1 at Jacobs Digital today. The GX1 is a great little camera. If you liked the GF1 you are going to love the GX1. Panasonic are excited about the camera but have positioned it at the high end so it’s not going to be for everyone. They admitted that they’ve had lots of feedback about the lack of built in EVF (so they are listening). Even so, the GX1 is an important part of Panasonic’s future vision for semi-pro micro four thirds cameras. Of course, my main question was “What is it like as a camera for street photographers?”

Panasonic GX1 launch event at Jacobs Digital on Oxford Street London

The touch screen, thumb wheel and overall style owe a lot to the GF2. Which as you know, I think is heavily underrated. My prediction is that the GX1 will be underrated as well, until it gets into the hands of enough people. Then it will become a roaring success. It’s a try before you buy camera. You’ll know instantly if you love it or hate it. Continue reading →

Olympus 9-18mm on GF2

The Olympus 9-18mm lens is a versatile way to explore ultra-wide angle shooting. It does a great job of allowing you to capture an entire scene. This lens really puts you inside the action. Continue reading →

12mm f2 on GF2

The Olympus 12mm Micro Four Thirds lens is an amazing piece of glass. The f2.0 apeture gives creamy background blurs and it’s sharp when you need it to be. The autofocus is snappy and it’s pretty small. So why is it not for me? Continue reading →

As much as you love your DSLR, it makes you look like a tourist, or even worse a hipster. Continue reading →

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The Panasonic GF2 is a small, fast and light street shooter.

The GF2 gets consistently negative or indifferent reviews around the internet. But what I started to notice was that these negative reviews are never from anyone that actually owns a GF2. So this review takes the form of an extended rebuttal to the most common complaints. Continue reading →