With more than 6 years of experience in the Street Photography Field and almost 500k pictures taken, I have been able to try different cameras while shooting down the streets. This list is based only on our experience, so if you tried different cameras and think they are missing here, please write it in the comment area below and we will be happy to discover more.

1- FUJIFILM X100 SERIES

Our very first camera for Street Photography was a Fuji X100S, a mirrorless with a fixed 23 mm f2 Lens, and a 16 mpx sensor. A ridicolous autofocus and bad High Iso performance.

Our all time favorite Camera.

We can still remember the feelings while I was holding it in my hands for the first time.

Compared to the actual Cameras, the X100S seems like an analogic one, due to its huge limitations about autofocus and ISO, I took 120.000+ pictures with “her”, plus my most famous, the one from Istanbul Airport (see below).
The 16 mp sensor didn’t give that bad “worm sharpness” typical of the newest Fujifilm (only for Adobe Camera Raw and Lightroom users).

Here is the “Smoking Area, Istanbul 2015”. We remember we was flying to Miami for the Miami Street Photography Festival, waiting for the 2nd flight at Ataturk Airport.

We use to bring our Fujifilm always with our, even on a Motorbike trip in the Balkans in 2016. Its dimensions are a great odd because people get scared only by reflex cameras + 70-200 lens. Plus, the “vintage look” can help you to get out from uncomfortable situations: you can say it’s an analog camera in order to hide the picture!

After the X100S, we stepped to X100F. We can say that it has a lot of technical improvements, especially on the autofocus side and high ISO, but she won’t ever replace her “older sister”.

Click here to discover more about the Fujifilm X100F

2- RICOH GR

The Ricoh GR is the favorite camera for lots of Street Photographer. Pau Buscato, to say one, used to shoot with the GR and took some of the most iconic pictures about this genre.

The Ricoh GR is a real pocket camera, essential as powerful. The first model had a 16.2 mpx apsc sensor with a 18 mm f 2.8 lens (28 mm equivalent). Lots of limitations but in daylight it was perfect; the actual GR III made remarkable progress compared to the previous GR and GR II.

The sensor was increased to 24.2 mpx, but the focal length remained the same, with 2 cropping options (35 mm at 15 mpx and 50 mm at 7 mpx).

All of our Banana Fellow, Davide Albani, Giorgio Scalici, Riccardo Cattaneo and Matteo Zannoni use to shoot with the GR (even if now are moving to shooting medium format 😀 )

3- LEICA M6

“A digital camera among the best 5 cameras for street?”

No, it’s not a mistake.

Shooting Film is not a mere “pressing the shutter”, it’s a parallel experience. It starts with loading the roll and never ends: a film picture owns a sort of analog life. We develop our films trough a trusted lab, plus we scan the negative to have a digital archive.

Shooting with Leica M6 gives our the opportunity to slow down and better focus on what surrounds our. No rush, no stress. Just our and our camera as a way to discover the world.

CONCLUSIONS

As we previously mentioned, this list is based on our personal experience. All the pictures, except the one with the Leica M6 and Ricoh GR, are copyright of Vita D’Immagine.

Thank you for reading this article and let our know your opinion in the cotact area below.

Vita.