Street Photography: 8 Great 35mm Primes That Won’t Fail You in the Rain

Last Updated on 10/28/2020 by Chris Gampat

These weather sealed 35mm prime lenses are perfect for street photography thanks to their tough nature.

Street photography is one of the most beloved genres of photography around. Photographers worldwide go out daily to capture the life being lived all around them. Of course, being outside all the time means you’re going to need gear that can withstand the weather, especially rain and snow. Images taken during a rain or snow storm take on a life of their own. Pictures become much more dynamic, colors pop more, reflections bounce off of sidewalks, and people act differently, which can make for interesting shots. 35mm primes are perfect for street photography thanks to their natural field of view. The 35mm prime lenses we’ve rounded up after the break also happen to be weather sealed. The weather will soon be changing as we head into fall and winter, so if you need new weather-sealed prime lenses, check out these 35mm options.

All the lenses we have listed below are exceptional performers in all categories. They focus rapidly, and have incredible weather sealing that we have tested to the max. Your images will be sharp, and colors will be rendered beautifully. We have selected weather-sealed 35mm prime lenses across multiple platforms to cover all users. Pick up one of these lenses and you’ll not be disappointed.

Tamron 35mm f1.8 Di VC

Here are the pros and cons from our full review:

Pros

• Great texture on the outside
• Weather sealing
• Pretty good image quality, though it requires more post-production than that or other lenses to get it that way
• Fast focusing, though it can be inaccurate.

Cons

• Images need more post-production than we’d like

Buy now Canon EF: $599

Buy now Nikon F: $599

Sony 35mm f1.8 FE

Here are the pros and cons from our full review:

Pros

• Small
• Cost-effective
• Weather sealing
• Sharp: very sharp
• Beautiful bokeh
• The best colors we’ve seen from a Sony lens
• Can focus very closely
• Fast aperture
• With AF-C on the Sony a7r III, it is fast enough for street photography

Cons

• Though this is minor, we wish Sony gave us a working distance and zone focus scale for street shooting

Buy now: $748

Pro Tip: Street photography is a challenging genre that can take years to master. Fortunately, there are plenty of guides out there that can help speed up the learning process. This easy to read ebook will teach you all you need to know about street photography. From overcoming your fears to post-processing, this tutorial covers it all. It’s under $15 too!

Olympus 17mm f1.2 PRO (Micro Four Thirds 34mm Equivalent)

Here are the pros and cons from our full review:

Pro

• Fast & Silent AF
• Great build quality
• Good low light performance
• Excellent Bokeh
• Weather Sealing

Con

• Large for a Micro Four Thirds lens
• Heavy for a Micro Four Thirds lens
• Expensive

Buy now: $1,089

Fujifilm GF 45mm f2.8 R WR (Medium Format Equivalent of 36mm)

Here are the pros and cons from our full review:

Pros

• Fantastic color rendition
• Pretty fast focusing abilities
• Very sharp
• Keeps distortion down pretty well
• Weather sealing
• Lightweight
• Pretty small

Cons

• We wish this lens had a significantly faster aperture
• The Fujifilm GF system has fantastic autofocus for medium format but is still behind 35mm full-frame cameras.

Buy now: $1,699

Nikon NIKKOR Z 35mm f1.8 S

Here are the pros and cons from our full review:

Pros

• Robust weather sealing
• Excellent sharpness
• Compact and lightweight

Cons

• More expensive than competing Full Frame 35mm f1.8 lenses

Buy now: $799

Pro Tip: These 35mm prime lenses are fantastic for street photography. However, this focal length is perfect for several other types of photography too. If you want to master more than one type of photography, you’ll need to arm yourself with knowledge. Once you’ve done that and you want help editing your images, you’ll need presets. With these two things in mind, you might want to become a Plus Member at Photowhoa. Photowhoa is home to some of the best tutorials and preset bundles around. And becoming a Plus member will allow you to save 20% on future purchases. You’ll also get six free photography bundles each year! Find out more about Plus Membership here.

Fujifilm 23mm f2 R WR (35mm Equivalent)

Here are the pros and cons from our full review:

Pros

• Good image quality
• Seriously and surprisingly fast focus
• Fast focus on the X Pro 2, X-T2, and even the X Pro 1. The latter completely shocked us
• Nice colors
• Compact size
• Weather sealing
• Turning the aperture ring feels nice and smooth until the clicks come in. It’s a tactile experience that’s just lovely
• Sharp images
• Fairly nice bokeh
• Affordable price point

Cons

• Something about this lens just simply doesn’t have the magic that the 23mm f1.4 R does

Buy now: $449

Tamron 35mm f2.8 Di III OSD

Here are the pros and cons from our full review:

Pros

• Compact
• Lightweight
• Class-leading weather sealing
• Excellent image quality overall

Cons

• Plasticky build quality
• Low light autofocus can be a tad slow

Buy now Sony E: $299

Sigma 35mm f1.2 Art DG DN

Here are the pros and cons from our full review:

Pros

• Beautiful image quality
• Gorgeous bokeh
• We adore the aperture ring
• Weather sealing
• Sharp image quality
• Gorgeous colors on the Panasonic S1R
• While Face detection on Panasonic isn’t that great, AF tracking isn’t terrible with the Sigma 35mm f1.2 Art DG DN

Cons

• On the L mount system, the autofocus is lousy and doesn’t allow full advantage of the Sigma 35mm f1.2 Art DG DN.
• It’s cumbersome and even heavier on Panasonic’s L mount options
• It’s a massive lens that goes against the whole point of Mirrorless
• A few fringing issues, but they’re rare
• On the untextured areas, the Sigma 35mm f1.2 Art DG DN is slippery to hold

Buy now L Mount: $1,499

Buy now Sony E mount: $1,420.09