Last Updated on 09/05/2015 by Chris Gampat
The best focal lengths for street photography tend to range from the low 20s to around 50, and given the ever-increasing popularity of mirrorless cameras, we thought we’d put together a roundup of our ten favorite lenses across systems. Some of these dip below the 20mm mark, but with the crop factor, they’re well within the ideal range. So, if you’re thinking of going mirrorless or have already and want to get into street photography, these are the lenses to consider.
Sony 24mm f1.8 (E-mount)
Sony 28mm f2 (FE-mount)

Fujifilm 23mm f1.4
Buy it now: Amazon
Olympus 25mm f1.8
Sony 35mm f1.4 (FE)
In our review, we state:
The Sony Zeiss 35mm f1.4 is a hefty lens with fast autofocusing abilities, beautiful bokeh, sharp image quality, a solid build and a heck of a price tag. Itâs a beautiful lens that youâll never want to put down, but we only recommend it if youâre planning on going pro.
Buy it now: Amazon
Panasonic 15mm f1.7 (MFT)

Panasonic 20mm f1.7 (MFT)
In our review, we state:
In our tests, we used the lens a lot on the streets because thatâs what we feel it would be best for. When the first lens was released, it became a cult classic amongst street photographers. And when it comes to image quality with this lens, weâre sure that most folks wonât really complain about it if theyâre shooting RAW or if they want a very film-like look.
Buy it now: Amazon
Fujifilm 35mm f1.4

SLR Magic 23mm f1.7 (Fuji)
In our review, we state:
Being an all manual lens, the SLR Magic 23mm f1.7 does not have autofocusing. Instead they opted for manual focusing. This works best for many true street photography nuts as they can just use the zone focusing style of shooting and capturing subjects. Focusing this lens is wonderfully smooth. In terms of smoothness Iâd rate this lens as an overall better experience than Rokinon, Zeiss, Leica and Voigtlander.
Buy it now: Amazon
Sony 35mm 1.8 (E-mount)
In our review, we state:
This lens is fast to focus on the NEX 5R in ideal conditions, which tells us that it will work seamlessly with higher grade cameras. Focusing in low light was only a tad less snappy than in daylight. If youâre looking to use this lens for street photography, it can surely keep up with the best of the bestâbut I personally recommend switching the lens into manual mode and using the Zone Focusing method to get the best results. Sony has a distance scale and focus peaking that will work well to your advantage when practicing that method.
Buy it now: Amazon