Photographing Strangers Lens?

Luminosity · Dec 29, 2005

I spotted this on another site, wondered if this would be useful for ppl who love photographing other ppl on the street but are wary of aforementioned strangers taking offence and the like...

http://www.camerafilters.com/pages/rightanglelenses.aspx

Anyone got or tried one of these lenses ? Opinions ?

It looks like a lens that I would get a LOT of use out of as I love street photography and I'm constantly wanting to take photos of ppl I see whilst oot and aboot but I can't really raise my camera and point it at them while their a metre or two away from me.

Bace. · Dec 29, 2005

Looks like fun!

darin3200 · Dec 29, 2005

Or get a really wide angle lens and don't point directly at them

Mitica100 · Dec 29, 2005

A really wide angle lens might distort faces so look into a 35mm or 28mm WA, nothing wider than that. I'd use the hyperfocal focusing BTW so you don't have to focus all the time.

Hertz van Rental · Dec 31, 2005

I've seen that particular (or a very similar) lens being advertised since the mid-70's.

markc · Dec 31, 2005

That's one of the cool things about a waist viewfinder. You can easily make it look like you are just fiddling with the camera.

Of course that's not much help for most 35mm/digital folks. I've never tried the lens above.

AprilRamone · Jan 1, 2006

Yeah, I think I read in one of her books that Diane Arbus used to shoot people from the waist. And her "stranger" pictures are awesome.

Alexandra · Jan 1, 2006

i have heard of those... really useful thing.

Don Simon · Jan 1, 2006

markc said:
That's one of the cool things about a waist viewfinder. You can easily make it look like you are just fiddling with the camera.

Of course that's not much help for most 35mm/digital folks.

Argh I know... wandering about snapping away with a 35mm compact or SLR from the waist can get some good results, but it would be nice if I could properly compose a shot sometimes... I suppose I could get a speed-finder and a pro SLR to go with it for only a grand or so :mrgreen: although I've seen some very old German SLRs with waist-level finders too... off to Ebay I go again :mrgreen:

darin3200 · Jan 1, 2006

An old waistfinder SLR would be great for street photography

markc · Jan 2, 2006

Henri Cartier-Bresson got so good at judging distance and shooting subtly that he could take a picture of you with his 35mm rangefinder without you noticing. He would pre-focus, visualize how the image would look in the viewfinder so he wouldn't have to compose with the camera at his face, and then he would just lift the camera... *click*... and put it down in a smooth motion. Always shooting with the same lens helps. (I think it was a 55mm)