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Post by susanac on Sept 6, 2012 10:55:05 GMT -5
Would like to purchase a 35 mm film point and shoot camera to use for stealth street photography. Does anyone have any suggestions?
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Berndt
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Post by Berndt on Sept 6, 2012 12:01:26 GMT -5
Could you specify your idea of "stealth photography" ? If you would want to take pictures from far, you would need a SLR and something like a telephoto lens, if you would want to take pictures from close distances, your equipment would need to be completely different.
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mickeyobe
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Post by mickeyobe on Sept 6, 2012 14:18:37 GMT -5
Would like to purchase a 35 mm film point and shoot camera to use for stealth street photography. Does anyone have any suggestions? I think a twin lens reflex would be a good choice or a 35mm camera with a waist level finder although the ground glass image on the 35mm would be rather small. People today are not familiar with a TLR. You could point it at your subject but stand facing 90 degrees from them yet still see and focus on the ground glass. Or do what they did in 1895. A French "The New Cosaque Senior " 3-1/2" x 4-1/2" falling plate (glass or sheet film) Detective Camera. It is 7"H x 4"W x 9"L. and would only weigh about 7 pounds when fully loaded. It was designed to be used as I described above.  Mickey |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 6, 2012 15:22:39 GMT -5
"Stealth street photography" can get one in a lot of trouble these days if the subjects discover they are being photographed. It's not like 40 years ago when just about anything was OK shooting on the street. Probably won't be a problem if A: the subjects don't realize they are being photographed and B: You never post your photos anywhere where the subjects might see them (i.e. the Internet).
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Post by nikonbob on Sept 6, 2012 16:56:58 GMT -5
I don't know if a P&S camera is that good for street. Any small film camera with a lens of about 35mm set to f8 hyperfocal and exposure pre set should work for traditional street.
As Wayne has mentioned the world has changed tremendously in the last few years WRT street shooting so be prepared to be hassled and possibly violently so.
Bob
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Post by Randy on Sept 6, 2012 22:23:09 GMT -5
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Berndt
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Post by Berndt on Sept 7, 2012 2:28:11 GMT -5
Wayne is absolutely right. I commented on this topic just recently in another thread. My personal opinion would be: Play nice, be polite and ask people, if you can photograph them. I made good experiences with that and got better pictures than with the nasty "paparazzi-style". And if somebody refuses, just respect it. Until you are not a pro, making a living with hunting celebrities, you can live with that, I think. My personal recommendation in this case: use a camera as old and exotic as possible ( better is even older than 35 mm ). You will see, that people will get interested in you and your art and most will let you take a picture later. And ... there are a few other psychological effects. Film looks valuable and expensive. So many people worried about "waisting a frame" if taking a picture of them. You basically turn the situation around ... from "invading private space" to "granting the honor of being captured by an old and rare camera". It's all about, how you sell it  This japanese street photographer for example uses mainly a TLR and I like his work very much: www.flickr.com/photos/55411539@N04/And there is another famous photographer. I forgot his name, but I saw an interesting documentary about him about a year ago or so. He wanted to take pictures in the slums of a big city in the states ( also forgot which though ). He tried several times and always became beaten up by the locals ... until he had an idea. He came with a huge large format camera and could slowly earn the respect and interest of the people living there. His pictures are truly amazing !!! Poor people, gangsters, whores, gangs and just normal people. Nobody could ever get that close and get such amazing pictures. He would never have got so far with just a spy camera ... or maybe just to the next hospital  |
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mickeyobe
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Post by mickeyobe on Sept 7, 2012 3:21:39 GMT -5
Would like to purchase a 35 mm film point and shoot camera to use for stealth street photography. Does anyone have any suggestions? I don't see how today's point and shoot cameras can fool anyone. The photographer standing with arms stretched out in front like a sleep walker is a dead (only in tough neighbourhoods) giveaway. Mickey |
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Post by pompiere on Sept 7, 2012 22:51:31 GMT -5
The Yashica T4 Super is just what you are looking for. It has a 35mm f3.5 lens, auto focus, is weatherproof, and has a waist level view finder. It was available in black or silver. I found mine at Goodwill among the other cheap disposable cameras.
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Post by Rachel on Sept 8, 2012 4:11:38 GMT -5
The Yashica T4 Super is just what you are looking for. It has a 35mm f3.5 lens, auto focus, is weatherproof, and has a waist level view finder. It was available in black or silver. I found mine at Goodwill among the other cheap disposable cameras. ...... and I think called the T5 outside US. |
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hansz
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Post by hansz on Sept 8, 2012 8:47:08 GMT -5
My preference would be the T1 (or better, the T) - it sports the 2,8 Tessar, is a lot cheaper (in the NL...) and is an absolute fine shoooter.
My 2 cents, Hans.
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daveh
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Post by daveh on Sept 9, 2012 1:28:36 GMT -5
Welcome, susanac,
You're quite right, except in that it ceases to be true "street photography" then. You can always snap first and ask later. Mind you if you're using film you can't see what you have got straight away and so you can't really show the person anything.
The trouble is that many shots need the subject to be looking at the camera to give them, the photos, real interest. However once they spot the camera the moment is often gone.
I would argue that much street photography today is just photos taken in the street (or other public place) and not street photography as was originated in France by Robert Doisneau and Henri Cartier-Bresson. For me a technically perfect candid portrait is not street photography it's just a good candid portrait. If you have already asked the subject it ceases to even be a candid.
I don't think it matters what camera you use. It's the ability to photograph the decisive moment that is important. That comes from the photographer and not the camera (obviously within limits). You can use a camera phone or the most sophisticated camera around, or anything in between. Okay, so there isn't the same choice if you are going to use film, but I would say get something, anything, and see if it suits your way of working (and/or your budget).
addendum: "see if it suits your way of working": by that I mean some people can get in close and yet be unobtrusive. Others can't. Some people are noticeable even if they are well away from the action and using a big telephoto lens.
By the way you don't have to use the viewfinder. If you know your camera, and what the lens gets in shot you can just point and shoot. There is no need to have it to your eye (or in the case of camera phones held at arms length. It is the manner of taking not the medium used which causes at least most of the problems.)
Of course, it's always worth checking what is allowed in each country you pan to take photos what their laws are. I know someone who was locked us as a spy in Egypt forty years or so ago because he was writing the names of ships down that were in harbour. He just had an interest in ships. A real spy would have done it without being noticed. Fortunately they let him out soon after.
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SidW
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Post by SidW on Sept 9, 2012 9:27:03 GMT -5
Stealth implies not intruding, not being seen. That cuts out longer focus lenses that give away the subject.
Why not do what the Leica photographers did in the old days, when point and shoot was a method rather than an object.
Use a wide-angle lens, set at f11 and focused to 2 metres. Then take from the hip while looking the other way. Afterwards, crop and enlarge at will.
If you want a compact rather than a system camera, it will need a zoom lens that you set to its wide-angle end. You'll need manual operation, to keep the zoom, aperture and time settings in place, to prevent auto trying to be clever. Or at least aperture preference. So go for a reputable manufacturer (for reliability and dependable manual operation) with good specs (to give you a good lens).
PS: sorry, I see Nikonbob had similar advice.
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Berndt
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Post by Berndt on Sept 9, 2012 9:51:27 GMT -5
Good advice. I did that a few times too  Where is actually the thread starter ? Would be still interesting to know, what she/he actually intends to shoot and for what purpose. |
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Post by camerastoomany on Sept 11, 2012 9:34:55 GMT -5
If you really want a p & s "stealth" camera, consider a Pentax Espio 200. It was the first p &s with a focal length of 200mm (perhaps the only one): 48-200mm, actually. You need a reasonably fast film for sharp hand-held shots at the long end.
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Where is actually the thread starter ? Would be still interesting to know, what she/he actually intends to shoot and for what purpose.