Best "cheapo'' lens for Street Photography

Ian Miller
Jan 25
4 min read

Here are some of the best affordable lenses for street photography that balance price, image quality, compact size, and usefulness on the street 📸 — whether you’re on a budget, just starting out, or want to expand your kit without breaking the bank:

📸 Best Affordable Street Photography Lenses

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM – ⭐ Classic “nifty fifty”

One of the most recommended budget primes for street and general photography.
Fast f/1.8 aperture for low-light and shallow depth of field.
Compact, lightweight, and versatile for candid work.
Often recommended as a first lens due to value and quality.

Nikon AF‑S NIKKOR 50mm f/1.8G – ⭐ Great for Nikon shooters

Very similar to the Canon 50mm in versatility and performance.
Fast aperture and sharp optics make it ideal for street portraits and everyday scenes.
Great value, with reliable autofocus.

TTArtisan 27mm F2.8 Lens – 📍 Ultra-compact pancake lens

Excellent budget choice for mirrorless shooters (e.g., Sony E, Fujifilm X, Nikon Z).
Pancake design makes it discrete and perfect for street work.
The 27mm focal length gives a natural wide perspective (close to 40–45mm equivalent on crop bodies).

TT Artisan 35mm F1.4 APSC – 📷 Affordable fast prime

Great value 35mm focal length — a traditional street photography classic.
Wide aperture allows low-light shooting and nice background separation.
Manual focus (great if you like more control and don’t mind focus peaking).

Budget 32mm F10 Free Focus Pancake Lens – 💡 Ultra-cheap / fun option

Extremely low price, lightweight, and quirky. Ideal if you want something very inexpensive to practice with or experiment.
Best if you’re shooting casual shots and don’t need autofocus.

📏 Best Focal Lengths for Street 📸

Street photographers tend to prefer these kinds of lenses:

🎯 35 mm equivalent – Great everyday perspective, close to human vision.🎯 50 mm – Perfect for candid portraits and isolating subjects.🎯 25–28 mm (wide) – Better for capturing street scenes and context.

Fixed (prime) lenses like 35 mm and 50 mm are popular because they’re compact and encourage you to move with the scene — ideal for candid photography.

🧠 Tips for Street Lens Shopping

📌 Consider a prime lens first — they’re usually cheaper and sharper than zooms at similar prices. 📌 Look at used lenses — you can often find 50 mm f/1.8 lenses for very low prices (sometimes under $100). 📌 Match focal length to your camera’s sensor size (APS-C vs full frame) — a 35 mm on APS-C is more like ~50 mm full-frame.

💭 Quick Recommendation by Use Case

📷 Best all-round/first street lens: Canon or Nikon 50 mm f/1.8📍 Most discreet for mirrorless: TTArtisan 27 mm F2.8🌆 More creative / low light: TT Artisan 35 mm F1.4💸 Absolute entry-level: Budget 32 mm F10 Pancake

The Nikon 85mm f/1.8G is not the “classic” street focal length most photographers pick first, but it’s actually PERFECT for a certain style of street photography — and here’s why 💡📸: one of my personal favs for street.

📍 Why 85 mm Can Be Amazing for Street

🔹 Compression & Isolation

At 85 mm, the background gets nicely compressed and softened, which creates:

Beautiful subject separation
Isolated portraits within the street environment
Artistic focus on individuals without too much distracting context

📸 This is great if you enjoy capturing:

Candid portraits from a modest distance
Intimate moments without crowding your subjects
Faces, gestures, texture, expressions

🌆 85 mm Street Works When You:

👀 Want a discrete look

You can shoot with less intrusion because you’re not right up in someone’s personal space.

🖼️ Like tight compositions

Instead of showing lots of environment, you focus on people, emotions, and compressed snapshots.

🌙 Shoot in low light

That f/1.8 aperture is super helpful for streets at dusk, interiors, or dim alleyways.

📸 How It Compares to 35 mm / 50 mm on the Street

Focal Length	Style	Typical Use
35 mm	Wide, storytelling	Shows context, street flow
50 mm	Balanced	Street portraits + environment
85 mm	Tight, expressive	Portrait-oriented, less context

So think of 85 mm not as a replacement, but as a complementary voice in your street work.

📍 Production Strengths of the Nikon 85 mm f/1.8G

✔️ Sharp wide open — beautiful bokeh for isolating subjects✔️ Great contrast and color rendering on both D700 and D800✔️ Fast enough auto-focus for candid moments (especially on the D800)✔️ Ideal on full-frame bodies — it doesn’t feel bulky, just purpose-built

🧠 Tips for Using 85 mm on the Street

📌 1. Pre-Visualize

With 85 mm, scenes come alive when you think in compression — look for:

Faces framed by background shapes
Layers of depth compressed together

📌 2. Use distance to your advantage

You can capture natural expressions without people sensing you up close.

📌 3. Watch your background

Since 85 mm is tight, bad backgrounds become obvious — so position yourself to use walls, light patches, or architectural shapes.

📌 4. Try portrait sequences

Lots of street shots become mini-portrait sets rather than wide scenes — and that’s a stylish body of work.

🎯 When 85 mm Shines Most

✨ Candid portraits✨ Moody urban light (golden hour, dusk)✨ Detail-oriented shots✨ Street scenes where context is background texture, not subject

💡 Example Scenarios Where 85 mm Wins

📸 A vendor counting change in warm evening light📸 A musician playing on a stoop, isolated from crowds📸 Reflections and faces framed by city geometry📸 Shadow pattern portraits

🧠 The 85 mm Street Personality

You’re not doing:🔹 Big environmental storytelling

You are doing:✔️ Person-focused street studies✔️ A cinematic, narrative feel✔️ More portrait-style street captures

It’s a creative choice, not a compromise — one loved by many street shooters for the depth and feeling it brings.

🔎 Pro Tip: Walk, Don’t Zoom

Even with 85 mm, the best framing often comes from moving your feet — stepping closer or farther — rather than cropping later.

🎉 Final Thought

The Nikon 85 mm f/1.8G isn’t “wrong” for the street — it’s a signature look. It turns everyday life into moments with emotion and depth rather than a documentary context alone. If that’s your vibe, it’s a lens that really defines a style.