The Best Camera for Street Photography: Fuji vs Leica

Talking with New York Times street style photographer Simbarashe Cha about how take better street photos and if Fuji or Leica make the best camera for the job.
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0:00 Intro
2:20 Getting into street photography
16:30 How to approach people on the street
28:47 Street photo tips
34:20 Fuji vs Leica
1:05:20 Dynamic range settings
1:14:00 Film sim and color
1:26:00 I finally care about my fitness

[@syrcular]

This was an awesome podcast! Really enjoyed the conversation and have been going through some similar ebs and flows in my equipment so I found this conversation very helpful and enlightening. Especially since both of you had slightly different perspectives. Thank you for sharing this conversation! Love both your work!

[@moodvillepro]

I just got the first Q and it has been an amazing experience. It has a balance of character and perfection. The 28mm is my favorite and the ability for close focus is a game changer for an everyday camera.

[@garymorrow9324]

Such a terrific video. Thank you!

[@DaciaProject]

911 Porsche barely evolves design-wise too. . .

[@donjagoe]

Really insightful discussion. Thank you both.

[@AniaB]

my fave guest is back 😍😍😍😍

[@zubair.asyraf]

Ricoh. Nothing beats hiding in plain sight

[@ILZHOO]

Come here to write it down

[@LordAshbury]

The “something small” camera I recommend to most people.

[@ErikN1]

I'm planning on getting one eventually in addition to my X100VI for those times when I want something truly pocketable and barely noticeable.

[@martinvonstoll]

Shoot with whatever camera brand makes you happy

[@dccoletrain]

I’ve always been interested in street photography so I find this fascinating. Also waiting on my Fujifilm X100VI preorder 😂

[@MKNYC_]

17:28 YES THANK YOU. Everyone is walking around being like “omg I’m so introverted” as if it’s some like unique thing. Turns out most of us are (myself included somewhat).

[@ZombieRofl]

The one that you own, and cary with you (sorry had to make this comment).

[@NDakota79]

That’s lame, but you have a point

[@richwinestudios]

That’s why I only shoot on iPad.

[@DaciaProject]

If money is no issue, then go with Leica. Otherwise, a Fuji ain't bad. . .

[@frankiacone6642]

why not bith I have the Q3 and 100Vi

[@SelimKrdy]

so if money is no issue, pay for sth that actually worths less than the half of the actual price. cool.

[@TheWutangclan1995]

I’d still pick Leica even if money was an issue. I’ve had a few fujis and they all got sold or returned. Last time I played around with one was the x pro 3. My one and only Leica m6 is the only one I’ve bought. Saved a lot of money from buying new bodies.

[@frankiacone6642]

@@TheWutangclan1995 I won the Leica Q3andfuji bodies I love, so I keep mine. I also have a Sony A7 RV with a lot of GM lenses that I use for portraits and landscapes. The Hs2S is good for sports and wildlife,100VI for street and my sx20 for travel.

[@unbroken1010]

Leica is bs

[@DarrenRowse]

I predict Sony will come out with something in this space in the next 6-12 months. There have already been a few rumors on this front.

[@stalman]

I’ve been waiting for it, seems like easy money for them

[@dennislodes7407]

If you want the closet to film try Fuji's version 2 tran sensor. The EX 2 takes wonderful pictures and as close to film as you can get in a digital camera. Nothing too sharp but just the right amount.

[@rythie]

Great discussion. I have the Ricoh GRiii which works well for me (I don’t do pro work). I think it’s great option for someone who wants a street camera that isn’t their phone. Fits not only in my jacket pocket but also jeans pocket. The stabilisation is great, at 0.5 second exposures I can get still get sharp shots, which great for evening shots. It’s really neat having a built in ND filter, which gives the option of dragging the shutter in the daytime. Results wise I’m happy with the images and when reviewing them, I often forget they were on this camera rather than my Sony a7iv. The model I use has a 40mm equiv. lens though I often use the digital zoom to 50mm & 71mm which are still easily good enough for most uses. It’s also 2/3rds of the price of Fuji and 1/5th the price of the Leica. On the downsides are that it’s not weather resistant and it’s only f2.8. There are now very few options of large sensor prime lens compacts, actually the Ricoh ones are the only other APS-C ones, so it would be good see comparison of the Ricoh and Fuji (as they are similar bracket cost wise).

[@stalman]

I want a Ricoh too 😅 very curious when we’ll see an update

[@giomusah2155]

@@stalman what about small camera that can do video too?

[@unbroken1010]

Nikon coolpix

[@DelusionalNYC]

22:40 while well-intentioned, the problem with this approach is that it presumes that every customer service professional has a high Emotional Quotient, can “read” people accurately, and will act appropriately. The reason that some companies prescribe very specific behaviors for their employees is to counter that natural biases that humans have to feel more comfortable approaching people they identify with and treat people they don’t identify with in a different way.

[@notverysharp]

I think the main reason why Q3 images are sharper than the M cameras is due to IBIS. Handshake has a greater degree of impact on a 61mpx camera. Also the DR setting on Fuji is basically processing highlights at a lower ISO and shadows by a higher ISO before going through a digital converter (this is why it shows up in raw). In a digital camera ISO is amplifier like gain on a microphone, the highlights are simply not amplified. 200 is by 1 stop and 400 is by 2 stops.

[@elliotresnick5433]

Just curious, have you tried manually focusing subjects on the Q3 to emulate results of the M11 or used a mist filter?

[@eric.p.merlin3537]

This « Street photography » craze is getting .. crazy 😂

[@shzammpatapon9865]

simbarashe cha, is amazing photographer, i'm from malaysia and has been following his works for a long time. was pretty disappointed that you post your fuji vs leica video with his footage in it but there was no episode yet hahahaha. also, fuji wins because they have dr400 and you can tweak the shadow and highlight in the camera, filmic response is all about the curves, not the colours. you have wacky colours since the film days, and the colours are super weird based on film stock. dr400 is essentially mean underexpose the photos by 2 stops and raise them back. however, dr400 is no longer as straight forward as it seems because later sony sensor is variance raw, and not isoless. the way i have shot fuji for a very long time is lowering the highlight as much as possible with dr400 and increase the shadows by 1 or 2 to bury the back noise even more. that way you have to overexpose the image but both the highlight are protected and shadow noise are burried maintaing the contrasty look. it is easier to get it right on camera film has always have wacky colours, the filmic look is just about the curves and the high dynamic range look because it is practically impossible even if you overexpose film by 3 stops to get it to burn the film to have pure white. the digital sensor is the opposite, it is practically impossible even if you underexpose by 2 stops to get pure black. leica made a big mistake to not allow you underexpose and raise the shadows later in camera, because modern sensor noise floor is super low already, you're basically just losing out dynamic range, it's disappointing that a more expensive camera have photos that looks cheaper sooc because of stubbon decision.

[@JamesDaviesPhotography]

Bit of a random Q (Simbarashe if you read these comments) are the pictures behind you shot in Broadstairs, UK? They look like the cliffs on the beach at the end of my road.

[@KeAiFu]

For Street - I take Sony A7CII with the Tamron 20-40/2.8!

[@stalman]

Great choice!

[@PhilKnall]

Same, except for me it's the Sony 40 2.5 G. Great little cam.

[@snifferstein]

Great episode! Simbarashe mentioned he has four m-mount lenses. I would love to know what specific lenses he has in his arsenal. I'm a big fan of his work at the NY Times.

[@LordAshbury]

Thanks for your kind shout. I have the Summarit 2.5 and Summicron 35mms, a Voigtlander 50 APO (best or second best 50mm I’ve ever used from any brand for reasons other than clinical sharpness) and the Summicron 28. Just came into a Voigtlander 90mm but that’s for a highly specific use situation.

[@snifferstein]

Thanks so much for the reply and great selection of lenses!

[@norainaemran4035]

Great video. Nice to see different perspectives and very professional discussions. Just wished the host didnt interrupt sooo frequent. Let your guess finished talking his points rather than interjecting and voiced out your opinions.

[@yuvalha2954]

I own both x100VI and Q3, use them about 50/50. When I know I will probably take many photos I tend to prefer the Q3 on other occasions when I’m not sure or taking photos is just a side thing.. or I want to keep the form factor smaller..I grab the VI. Before I had the V. I think the focus of VI hasn’t changed much that’s why the miss rate had risen.. probably because of the higher mp. The Q3 nail it most of the time even at f1.7.. no need to use burst mode.

[@sonny5068]

I've always been a Fuji fan. They're not ridiculously priced and have fantastic quality.

[@j5daniel182]

The A7CR with a pancake lens like the 40mm F2.5 is basically a fullframe X100. Uses the same sensor as a Leica M11 and Q3. And for pro work, just slap on whatever 1.4 prime or 2.8 zoom on it.

[@LordAshbury]

The Q3 and M11 do not use the same sensor.

[@j5daniel182]

@@LordAshbury they do. Sony. 60mp. With pixel binning - small, nedium and large raws.

[@juergenstrapko7159]

I have both, the Sony is bigger and looks boring, yes better picture qualities..but for Shooting with soul anf fun i always use the Fuji

[@j5daniel182]

@@juergenstrapko7159 i have both too. Obviously x100vi is smaller - but it’s crop sensor too. Its just a consideration if IQ is a must.

[@cloulan]

Are you still using Riverside to record and FCP to edit?

[@video-carl]

I believe that Fuji built the X100V with aluminium top and bottom plates whereas the previous versions used silver paint over magnesium. Perhaps that is an ingredient of why this model took off?

[@PBnoJelly]

highlight weighted metering works well if your find you clip highlights

[@ashen6662]

Simba already explain it perfectly on how the DR400 works. Again, pal2tech already explain this. If anything Fuji related, pal2tech is the way to go.

[@x4g1706]

More about the person behind the camera

[@CertifiedCryptoBoy]

How do you get this quality of video on a virtual podcast?

[@stalman]

By recording with Riverside, I’ve done a couple videos about the workflow

[@sonholee5769]

Interesting talk about color... So much effort to control color! Here I was thinking that people went into Leica or Fuji bc of their color SOOC. My struggle as a hobbyist at the moment is trying to get the hues to come out on print. Ugh.

[@LordAshbury]

But when you sort that out, it feels like you can do anything!

[@andrewthomascliftonvisuals]

A great conversation, glad to see it. Also I would love to have you (Tyler) stop interrupting people in the middle of a sentence. They give you the space to get off a full thought but you tend to jump in when you have an idea.

[@AniaB]

the job of an interviewer is to keep his guests on track and not let the conversation steer into tangents

[@andrewthomascliftonvisuals]

@@AniaBI absolutely understand the concept, thanks for reiterating… and also, this is not what I am talking about. What I am specifically talking about is when Sim starts talking to answer a question asked, and then Tyler interrupts about 30 seconds in and talks for longer than the Sim and then never goes back to the part where Sim was stopped and encourages continuance of the thought. The “job” of an interviewer is to ask questions and to get answers. A high percentage of the answers were cut off before finished. Constructive criticism

[@norainaemran4035]

@@andrewthomascliftonvisualsAgreed! Rather annoying actually with too many interruptions. Would have been a much better interview

[@video-carl]

Perhaps Sony built the RX1 on the road to developing its alpha 7 series. Once the Alpha 7 was available, Sony made money on lenses. RX1 perhaps "steals" sales from the Sony's lens product line? The A7C line isn't the same as an RX1 but perhaps Sony is more comfortable with a body that can support its lens product line.

[@JSS75]

I've been very surprised at how poor the Q3 is after all the stuff I have heard about it, finally got a chance to test it but the cons list is 3x longer than the pros list. I don't understand the hype or the price.

[@spooky_lights]

Fuji: Nice Jpgs, Small, but flashy. It looks cool and you will be noticed more. APC sensor not as dynamic as FF Ricoh: Smaller, Discrete, Great 28mm, but not as cool looking as Fuji. Leica: Small (depending on the lens), Cool looking, amazing FF sensor. Basically amazing at every aspect, but super duper expensive.

[@avnidvyi]

Q3 is also doing better than x100vi on the street. I agree with the lux tax things, but it's also true that when you pursue the last 10% or 1% quality on the top, it is always getting rediculous pricy. not only the cameras, but almost all the things. i can't agree with Mr. Cha on the "I don't need sharpness on the street photography equals x100vi is better than Q3" , I know he's not saying that directly but that is what I understand from his saying. he's shooting m11p, which I got one too. but when I need 28mm, Q3 is my go to choise. the manual focus is smooth on Q3, and it can help me when I need the afc. I'm planning to trade my m11p for a x2d for landscape and portrait shooting. I'm satisfied by the q3, and when i need other focallenth, i use my penf and M mount lenses with adapters.

[@LordAshbury]

Def not saying Fuji is better than Leica and anyone who says one is better than the other should not be trusted. But whenever someone doesn’t buy my stance on sharpness, I like to bring up the fact that in 2020 I bought a GFX and X100v, used them about equally. In 2021, I made 6 figures in commercial photography exclusively from jobs shot on the X100V. I discussed this often with Tyler in real time as it was happening, which in part inspired my previous appearance on his podcast, “Get It Right In Camera”. I own several cameras and lenses that are significantly sharper than the X100V. Sometimes I need the sharpest tool, but when it comes to *making a living* in photography, sharpness is simply not a thing my clients are concerned about when they see my images. If the issue of sharpness does come up, its usually because a critical part of an image is out of focus, and too many photo bros confuse the two issues.

[@v000000000000v]

the best thing about the Q3 is the lens, literally no other system on the market has the same combination of size, weight, IQ, AF, aperture, and focal length of ~24-30mm, it's way more flexible at the expense of weight (~extra 200g), having f/1.7 FF = f/1.13 APSC you are getting a 2.5 whole stops of extra light, even when cropped to 35mm you're still at an equivalent f/2.1 FF = f/1.4 APSC which is a whole 2 stops of extra DoF and light over the x100 series, i love shooting wide open on the Q, it's amazing for environmental portraits

[@avnidvyi]

​@@LordAshbury i totally agree with these words, and tbh, it feels so different in the video, but I get that, written words are more Thoughtful, and when saying them , the feelings that passed to other people could be very different. and yes, sharpness is just a tool in the box, if you need it, you have it and that should be fine. you can make six figures with x100v, I'm 100% sure you can do it with other cameras.

[@tsellsseashells]

Ricoh GRiii is the best

[@Nicosalgadophotography]

Highlight from Leica is great and no one can’t ever over expose with a Leica impossible . Even like you that you use your jpegs

[@undifinder6643]

I trust a pro with mediocre camera than an average with the pro (in price) camera.

[@energetic17]

Both Q3 and X100VI feel too clinical for me. I prefer the V or even S because they produce more of a filmic result. Maybe it's because I have a deep love for analog photography. I hope to own a Leica M one day purely for the feeling it evokes, not because it offers something my Fuji system lacks, just for the nostalgia. 😊

[@throughmyeyes9940]

makes sense & honest

[@video-carl]

Leica has software as one of its growing skill sets. Fujifilm doesn't. Leica's north star isn't retro design. Perhaps that's why the x100 software is a little lost?

[@Tiago_Dias87]

Really Missing Tumblr Right Now

[@BenjiSamosir]

nikon :)

[@Millicente]

I disagree that the X100 is not a point and shoot. I believe anything that is meant to be compact and easily pointed and shot, is a point and shoot. It just so happens that these point and shoots are adopting "pro" features because otherwise people wouldn't buy them. In the minds of the average consumer I imagine that a camera without those added features and doesn't look like it does is pointless. Their phone does just as much if not more and it's EVEN smaller and always with them. So these are point and shoots in my opinion, just fancier ones. Then there's the Leica which is even fancier and is basically the Gucci or whatever bag of the group.

[@stalman]

But every pro camera has those same point and shoot features. A giant Canon R3 would probably perform better than anything if you point and shoot it

[@Millicente]

@@stalman But then they're not easily carried around and compact like the x100s are. My personal qualifications for point and shoot were size and relative ease of use which I feel the x100s and Q cameras fit into

[@arkon6084]

Leica for the elitists and Fuji for commoners.

[@juanstevens873]

He said job related? I wish he went into detail. I'm not saying this for sure but Leica sponsors it sends cameras to a lot of KZbinrs or social media content creators. I wish people were more open with that. For me, the same numbers speak the truth. I just want a totally truthful conversation. Maybe I'm off.

[@juanstevens873]

The justification for Leica over Fujifilm just never made sense to me. I just don't understand. I think of people were totally honest, maybe I would.

[@stalman]

I bought my Leica and my X100 F. Browned the X100 VI for a few weeks from Fuji to review. I can’t speak for Simbarashe but I know large photo companies are often able to help with camera access. When you’re shooting for the biggest publications, they don’t want gear to be holding you back.

[@evertigo]

Gazillion times discussed on KZbin - rangefinder is better, why to waste more time on that? In effort to give rangefinder cosplaying Fuji more meaningfulness?

[@stalman]

So…. you like rangefinders or you don’t like rangefinders?

[@-grey]

Leica, because Fujifilm lacks quality zone and hyper focal UX. I mean Fujifilm, because Leica lacks auto focus. I mean Ricoh, because it has both. I mean Sony or Canon because all the above lack good auto focus. I mean Leica because Sony and Canon lack quality zone hyper focal UX. I mean... 😂 Personally I use Ricoh because it's small, and the one-handed operation is so fast with intelligent UX, custom functionality, and well-considered supplementary focus modes that it gets me shots I'd have missed with any camera that is less hyperspecialized. That said: terrible beginner camera, it's like bringing a F1 prototype car to pick up groceries. If you aren't ready for it the Ricoh will make you feel like you suck, or if you're really not ready for it - like the camera sucks. I'd recommend Fujifilm 8/10 times over Leica and Ricoh. ✌️

[@Sojourner88]

Prosumer.

[@1971bafana]

Such a shame you always interrupt your guests.

[@eric.p.merlin3537]

Hello hipsters 😂

[@cameraprepper7938]

There is no "best" camera for street photography ! That said, I would NOT use either of those two cameras.

[@walkingmanvideo9455]

Like, like, like, like………you guys have to like stop saying like when talking like about cameras like Fujifilm, like Leica, like please stop with line the likes!

[@stalman]

I blame MTV

[@AniaB]

video killed the radio star