Over the decades, I have tried 21, 24, 28, 35, 40, 45, 50, and 55mm lenses for street photography. All worked well. For me, the 35mm focal length on a full-frame camera is perfect. The 40mm focal length is my second favorite. Some of my favorites are: The 35mm f/1.4 Zeiss on Leica M6 and M10 rangefinders. The 35mm f/1.4 Nikkor on a Nikon F2 SLR. The 23mm f/2 Fujinon on a Fuji X-Pro2 APS-C digital mirrorless.
Brilliant take on the 35mm equivalent. I used to think 35mm was too wide but I’m loving it, especially with open gate video on the XS-20, I feel like I can easily frame the shot I want.
After using the 28mm equivalent Ricoh GR for a longer time, the 35mm of the Fuji were so easy going😊. Wide angle lenses have taught me a lot about composition. My first 500 28mm photos were crap with 70% useless space, but then it started to become interesting❤
Personally, I actually like the 35mm focal length, but I like the manual 21mm on the APS/C camera even better, which corresponds to 31.5mm. This gives me some space around the subjects and allows me to straighten my images because I take photos on the street "hands-free" without checking my frame in the viewfinder. The 21mm lens gives me the physical advantage that my field of focus is quite large and I don't need to focus. In a city with rather wide streets and few people, I would rather work with a 35mm (equivalent to 52.5mm). Every focal length has its advantages and disadvantages...
I typically carry either 28 mm or 35 mm for traveling pending on sceneries and the number of people. Since I shoot with manual focusing lenses, 28 mm has its benefits over 35 mm in most cases.
I bought a very good 35mm lens that I hardly ever use because it is too heavy. I bought it because I wanted the 1.4 aperture only to find I hardly ever need it. These days I use a lightweight 28-200 zoom (I know using a zoom is a crime) that I love. I take a lot of pictures at the beach and the reach is very handy.
