The 50 is my go to too. 35 is great for documenting and 85 for details but the 50 just hits the spot at least for street stuff. great vid as always lads

I haven't taken any pictures for some time now, depression has had me beat for the last few years. After watching your video Shane, I feel reinvigorated, and want to get outdoors again with my camera. THANK YOU!👍

The part discussing 'being loud' vs 'listening' to a scene is what I needed to hear. Ive been feeling so un-creative these days (as many of us are) but that's the exact mindset I need to focus on right now. Subbed, can't wait for more content from you. Cheers!

RIP Elliott Erwitt -- passed away today :(

Another top video lads! Particularly enjoying the book segments.

When I was shooting film, I used 35mm as my street lens, usually on a Leica M6. For some reason now, I use a 35mm f/1.4 on my Fujifilm cameras, giving an equivalent of about 50mm. It just works for me now. I also have the new Erwitt book (plus most of his other books).

A decade ago I was still happily shooting with an 18-105 kit lens, when a stranger in a bookstore struck up a conversation and insisted that I needed to buy a 50mm. He said it would improve my photography and I wouldn't regret it. The next day I bought a $100 nifty fifty and was blown away. It was a look that I didn't even know I was looking for. Being able to use 1.8 to isolate a subject gave a whole new dimension to my shooting. I have shot at least 90% with just the 50mm ever since. I wish I could find that stranger and thank him!

people always look at you strangely when you say that you do streetphotograhy with 50mm. I LOVE 50MM! Glad somehow that you also like this focal length! Your pictures are really amazing. 😀

As an amateur street photographer who actually loves shooting in 50mm, I've been contemplating purchasing a 28mm or 35mm lens to achieve a different look to my photos. But like a sign from God, this video pops up and makes me reconsider the entire idea 🤔 I do agree that the 50mm is a more aesthetically pleasing focal length and it's nice to know that a few other photogs did not stray from the "nifty fifty."

From a technical standpoint the most "natural" focal length on a camera is the diagonal of the film plane, sensor. This is around 43mm fl. on a 24x36mm sensor. When Leitz introduced the Leica small format (FF) they took the nearest fl out of the drawer they had a 5cm f/3.5. This became the standard focal for the 24x36mm format. The current trend is using wider lenses. As most smart phones have a approx 26-28mm FF field of view most younger photographers are accustomed to this wider field of view. When I bought my first film camera it came included with a 50mm lens. I learned to view at the world through a 50mm frame-line, viewfinder (I am in the late 50ies). It is still my most used fl. to date as I can anticipate what will or not be in the picture before framing. The next lens I bought was a 90mm followed by a 35mm. On reportage, street I take my photographs as a spectator of the scene. Wider lenses are when you are photographing in the scene.

So glad I found this channel, big fan of Josh, look forward to your next video!

I recently switched to 50mm after noticing i was cropping a lot of my 40mm and 35mm shots. 50 and longer is just so nice to get a nice frame of the scene and not the surrounding environment. I liked your analysis!

Great video keep them coming. I bought the book today and can't wait until it shows up in the mail.

the sad, depressing, melancholic pictures are my favourite. they kick you where it hurts and make you feel so strongly it turns into poetry.

great video! intended to run this alongside some work that allows it, but stopped, rewinded and pushed play all the time, cause there is so much gold in it!

This was such a banger, thank yee for the wee bit of fun

Glad to see your selection from the homework all met the brief of demonstrating the use of the primary colours. Followed the hashtag daily, and too many didn't (although most were good images in their own right). Excellent channel. Keep up the good work.

Just found your channel, amazing video! Both of you are great photographers and it’s lovely hearing your process and thoughts on making great images! Cheers!

I received Found Not Lost as my birthday present this year.... Enjoyed so so much. 50mm is my everyday lens on the street... I am very glad that you have shared so much insightful experience about using 50mm lens. Thank you !!!

Loving this one!

Thanks for the heads up on Erwitt's book! And also thanks for the discussion about the 50mm. I've been more comfortable with such a lens than the wider say 35mm but could never quite put my finger on why. This helped a lot.

I just discovered your channel, a consequence of exploring KZfaq channels starting with a Reddit post about Dante Sisofo's channel. I used to use a 50mm about 90% of the time when I was using a SLR but when I switched to my M6 9 years ago I felt that it wasn't the right focal for me anymore. Probably due to the fact that on a SLR the whole viewfinder is filled with your image. In a rangefinder viewfinder, you get so much more of what's going on around your frame, and the 50mm frame is so small. I needed something wider. And nowadays, I still mostly use my 35mm on my M6 (with a little bit of 21mm) and when I (rarely) pick up my FM2, it's with a 50mm.

50mm is definitely my go-to. great video and thanks for introducing me to amazing work I wasn't aware of.

My new favorite KZfaq channel, no pretentious rambling.

Always great to see a new Framelines video pop up! Even if it is nearly 3am and I should be in bed! I absolutely adore the Fuji 35mm f/2 also, it's a great focal length. Though I do find myself using the X100V most often I really must go out some day with just the 35mm f/2 and give it a good go. Have got some good stuff in the rain as the WR gives you a little more confidence that it'll survive a bit of rain. Great video as always, gonna pick up Erwitt's book as soon as I'm back to work!

50mm is magical. i bought my lens without knowing much about it and their properties when i was just getting started. best decision i’ve made as far as camera gear. completely changed how i shoot. awesome video as always.

your work is stunning, i feel so inspired! hoping to get your book for my birthday :)

Great video Shane. I recently purchased a TT Artisans 50mm for my M2 and can’t wait to try it out.

I find it interesting how so many street photographers greatly prefer a particular focal length. Some even advocate absolutely sticking to single focal length permanently. Shane here is hooked on 50mm. Others can only really see what they want through 35mm. Then there are the 28mm users. I go through phases and find myself wanting to change things up. I've worked with all three that I mention, bringing only one lens on several forays in a row. And then I discovered 15mm - not a fisheye, but the Laowa 7.5mm for MFT. You can't get too close if you want to see that people have ears, so you stand back and take it all in. It's excellent for streetscapes, but still lets you make people the subject with a huge context surrounding them. It's like not being able to settle on a single pair of shoes you like best, or a hat, or choosing which familiar place you want to visit on a particular day or food you want. It's not that I'm conflicted; it's more like wanting to recall old feelings, of which there are a great many.

As someone who has been using exclusively the xf35 1.4 for the last couple of years, I would like to point out that with 50mm I have encountered plenty of situations where there's simply not enough room for me to just step back and re-frame the photo. Eg, a narrow street in a small town, interior a small train station, a church in the city center etc... However I do like the intimacy of the 50mm very much.

Nice look at Elliot’s book! I will look for a copy. I love using the 50 but more recently have gravitated to the 35 more and more, especially since going to my new mirrorless kit. All the best for 2022!

I've found a lot of images I passed by on my original edits after a shoot. I believe I grow as a photographer and as I do I find that my original intention when I took the photo was right now, but when I was editing I just didn't see it then. Now going back, I'm floored by images I missed. I have thousands of image, but nothing near what Erwitt has. Elliott Erwitt was one of the first photographers I bought from and I'm talking about the 1970's. I picked up a camera in 1974 and I went pro in the 80's and I still love shooting! Erwitt influenced me in a big way long ago and it's great to see more of his work on Framelines. Thank you for presenting his work here!!

Thanks, I needed this! Just ordered the M11 after wanting one for decades. Only getting one lens and tough decision between 35 and 50 and this helped me narrow it down. To help me see it in practice, I went out with a 24-120 the other day and shot at both focal lengths and the 50 won out most of the time. I know not exactly the same, but when I needed wider than the 50, I took about 7 steps back and got the same framing as the 35. In today's hyper paranoid world, not sure if walking 7 steps closer to a person is going to make them feel very good. And thanks for the suggestions on the photo books.

Thanks for sharing... Enjoyed your video & comments regarding the 50mm lens....cheers

Great video, I have only just discovered Framelines and I'm so glad I have. I haven't taken a real camera photo since August last year, and I only know that because I dug my camera out last night after watching your interview with Sage Sohier, which was another brilliant video. Thank you.😎

Loved the video. Just subscribed!!! Great job!

The first lens I ever used was a 50mm on a Miranda Autosensorex EE (highly underrated camera). Really love how creative you can be with that. Some of my favourite shots were taken on that before I got taken with the 35 mm focal length. Reminds me, I need to dig up my old film. Thanks for sharing!

Around 50mm is my preferred too and learning to use it in the months to come. I like to shoot what I see without much distortion.

I absolutely love the 50mm. I go back and forth between the 50 and the 35. It feels so good to come back to the 50mm.

I grew up with 55mm as the kit lens and now use a 30mm on a MFT camera as I need a bit more compression than 25mm on MFT , which gives 50 mm equivalent. I often wondered why I chose the length I did and discovered that since I wear specs that often slip down my nose , my perspective of normal was closer to something between 55 - 60. Sure, I have wide and telephoto lens choices to fall upon , but using what I describe as my standard lens gives me what others at 50 can achieve . The other often overlooked advantage of having a single prime lens glued to the camera will enable more to be captured , as well as an appreciation of what the image will look like as soon as the camera is raised . As you demonstrated , standing a little back or moving in a little closer , you can achieve the wider and telephoto take on the image . 50 mm or its equivalent in my case , gives maximum flexibility and a good trained eye without playing with a zoom or switching lenses when there is no need to do so. We often overthink what is needed and should learn to be more intuitive when on the lookout for images . For all other times the phone can double as your second body for a wider view when in a hurry to get the shot because you cannot more back to frame the shot . Thank for sharing your thoughts with us and encouraging us all to consider a truly versatile and often overlooked prime lens. Take a look at Jane Brown’s work . Here was another photographer who used the 50mm quite a bit for her pictures .

50mm has always been my natural go-to for all types of pics, sometimes even landscape when I need light and sharpness. It's so versatile in my view.

The niffy-fifty is a super lens, inexpensive,fast and small. Love it.

Brilliant review!

made some of my most favorite street photos with 50mm. Love the rendering of things in space on the 50mm focal length! Nice video!

Well thank you and thanks to KZfaq recommendations they brought me here. I was searching for some kind of street photography channel.

Thank you for your observations on the 50mm and the ability not to invade people's "personal space". You've changed my usual thoughts on my own street photography!

I am a first time viewer of your video and I'm glad I found you! I share a lot of your sentiments about 50 mm lenses. I use them along with 45 mm lenses on the fixed lens view- and rangefinder cameras that I love using. 50 (and 45) is very versatile - you get context if you want to, and you can frame a tight composition too if that's your choice.

This is fantastic, my wife picked up the Found Not Lost for me as a gift and I love it. Thank you.

Thank you!

That's a great point relating focus length of lens to the amount of intrusive potential of the subject.

Liked, subscribed, and here to tell you and Josh that you are great. Keep up the good work!

The 50mm is the perfect focal length for me. It gives a very natural compression that feels close to human eye. It's narrow enough to give focus on your subjects but wide enough to include sufficient amounts of background. It puts you close enough from the subjects to not feel like a creep/stalker but far enough to not disturb them or make them feel threatened. Edit: wrote the comment before I watched the vid, glad to see that people have the same appreciations on the focal length.

Love this channel! Thanks for the great content ❤️ Aloha

Nice video, keep em coming!

I used to like 50 mm a lot, but I preffer 40 mm now. It gives more volume to the picture and some round lines. 40 mm 2.8 pancake, I love it. Interesting to see Erwitt's new book, totally different photos, chosen from different time, different perspective and "senior" vision. By the way, I alway look photos in silence, at least the one I admire. Nice portfolio you have.

I used to shoot a lot with 35/85 until I tried a 50. Now all I shoot is 50 on both my sony and fuji. I love 50! I feel like I can do anything I want in the street with a 50. It feels comfortable yet experimental, and like you said it’s easier to make it look good. Anyway great video and thoughts yet again ☺️

It's a relief to find a video were someone speaks about photograph and not about latest gear. 1st time around. Greetings from Chile!

"If you find yourself too close... Just step back a little." Oof the wisdom behind that line in both photography and life. 👏🏻👏🏻

Great video, love my zeiss 55mm and my pile of other 50s on my old cameras 😊

Great video! Thank you! More pleazze

I love my Manual Nikon ais F2.8 55 mm macro lens, it`s been welded to my Nikon F3 HP for more than 3 years, simply brilliant, great vid.

The introduction made me chuckle. Who doesn’t like depressing, sad images!

Good video, I find if I stick to a focal length with any length I start to get comfortable with it and eventually start making images I enjoy. But I agree on the wide angles, I once was a festival in Key West with a 24mm (on a full frame) and had a few people say they felt uncomfortable about how close I got to them to make the photo. I always remembered that and pivoted to 35mm, with 50mm and 85mm in a small bag.

Like many photographers, 50mm is the only lens that I have with my full frame. I have rented the 70-200 and my best weapon, the 200-500mm, but I'm never disappointed to go back to my 50 once those rentals are up. I'm lost in this video, Elliot is so talented and I think you're really far up there as well.

so glad to see a photography youtube channel that brings real photographer, that we can learn so much from, not a content creator

Nice channel as always, very deep 50m chat as its a tough lens to get right over 28 and 35. btw i did check out Café Royal books.

Oh man, you speak my language. The Takumar 50/1.4(8E) is my favourite lens, period... all for the reasons you mention. So much so I am working on my first book with nothing but images taken with that lens.

It's really interesting! I subscribed your channel now. Thanks for sharing!

Ba bhreá liom níos mó "Irish Nonsense" a bheith agam, go pearsanta! First video I've seen from ya but had to subscribe as soon as I heard the greeting :P I personally prefer 50mm for my street stuff as well. Enjoyed the video man!

His work is fantastic.

My first time here😁😁😁nice video buddy🔥keep up that good work📸

Agree, agree, agree. The 50 (and the 80 in 2-1/4" format) still rock, as they did in 1959.

Loved your video.

I was just browsing and came across this. Nice one.

I share a lot of the same sentiment. I am a lot more experimental and creative with a 50mm than I am with my 28mm

I am a documentary photographer, so not the same field; but I use to scout with a Leica M9 with a 50mm summicron and a Q1 with the 28. I love the 28, but three quarters of what I end with are shot with the 50. On Erwitt’s book, I’ll look it up. I was fascinated by the beauty of some of the images.

Some of my best work is with a nifty 50mm 1.8 plastic lens from canon with a 450d ….by the way great videos …straight to the point ….well done gentlemen on creating a good series of videos …..

was considering using a 50mm recently, so happy this vid came out :)

That very Irish opening had me hit the subscribe button right away 😂 also, great videos!

This is a great video!

great video my guy

Love this

Very good video, thanks. I use an aps-c sensor and keep switching back from zooms to a 35mm prime. Increasingly I find that one lens will do. Really enjoying Frame LInes.

Great video, I have liked and subscribed as instructed.

Started with a 50m 44yrs ago.. Now have four 50's in various systems, Just so reliable in every way.

When I first started film photography I thought I'm about to use 35mm my whole life, then roll after roll , I started to love 50mm more.

I only have my 50mm lens on my Canon and it doesn't come off, the best street photos ever is the result - pure style and drama in a photograph.

50mm is my favorite too, also a big fan of Eliott, in fact, I have met him and had a nice long chat with him. And Hey, I just realized I follow you on IG (for a long time now).

I start with street and my to go is the nikkor 50mm f1.4, i love it at the moment. Mostly in black and white.

I like the 35mm but as it well suits my style which has more to do with shape and form that it does people. For people I tend to lean toward longer focal lengths in the 75-90mm range. I like your thought about not being a reactant in the scene. One of my favourite street photographers was Fred Herzog. He had the uncanny ability to capture scenes like a long lost memories. I can see the magic in Elliott Erwitt's prints. Thank you.

I thought Home Around The World (which I could read a million times and not get bored) would be his last, so happy to catch up, what a treasure trove he/it is!

I've always loved my nifty fifty. Great starter and pro lense!

I have a photo of Elliot Erwitt with a couple Rangefinders around his neck as well as a Blackbody Nikon F. On the Nikon was a 200mm f4 pre ai lens (one of my favorites). I've also seen photos of Erwitt using Canon F1 cameras with short telephoto lenses.

Modern street photographers are obsessed by front to back sharpness. This is easier to achieve on a wide lens, for a given aperture. The reasons are various, including the fashion for "layers" in street photography, the availability of wide focal lengths from starter kit zooms, and the way film grain introduces texture to out of focus areas in a way digital does not (without manipulation). Some of my favourite images going back decades were shot on 50mm. They have a serenity that is rarely achieved in punch-in-the-gut 28mm photos. Erwitt shows the importance of getting close whatever focal length people choose.

Really enjoyed this, Just got a Canon F1 with a 50mm lens.

I have been shooting 35 since I started using my fuji 4 years ago, but I have always loved 50mm on my film cameras.

Hi, Shane. I found myself revisiting this video after seeing it last year for the first time and I'm glad I did. I've been struggling to go back to the streets for personal reasons (mostly motivation) but also due to a sort of "decision paralysis" coming from questioning my preference for the 50mm look; however, your point about personal space absolutely resonates with me. In fact, I might even mix it up with some 75mm (50mm on APSC) for those days when I'm extra averse to making contact with people. I think it will not only be more comfortable when I'm moody but also reflect that mood and separation from the rest of the world in a more accurate way. Anyway, chances are you won't read this after 2 years of posting the video, but I guess this little rant is just a result of the type of motivation I usually find in your content. Thank you.

Your idea of depressing is really quite beautiful! Nice work Shane, we should see more of it :)

Inspiring. I love Elliot's humour, Thanks

Great video very informative