Which settings for street photography?

What settings for street photography?

If you are a beginner and you want to start right away, put your camera on your favorite mode, and have your finger ready to push up or down your Exposure Value. If you are more experienced with your camera, here are the recommended settings:

MeterCenter weighted
Exposure ModeManual
Aperturef/5.6 and lower
Shutter Speed1/125th max
ISOAuto ISO 3200
File TypeRAW
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These settings are not magical. The streets can be a chaotic place and no setting can be valid 100% of the time, there’s just way too many variables. But they are good as a start for beginners. Here’s the reasoning behind the choices:

📌 Meter: Center weighted. It takes into account the light entering the whole frame with a bias for the light at the center. Good for most situations anyways.

📌 Exposure mode: Manual. The automatic modes goal is always to give you an averagely exposed image. Manual lets you be in control of the frame, especially that the streets change quickly and one street corner needs a different treatment than another corner.

📌Aperture: 5.6 and lower. It’s a small enough aperture to have a lot of the frame in focus and yet do not require too much light. If there is enough light then f/8

📌Shutter speed: 1/125th and faster. 1/125th is the slowest you can go while moving at an average speed and your subject moving at an average speed and still have things sharp.

📌ISO: I’m a big fan of fully manual, including ISO, but sometimes in the streets while you are changing settings a shot appears out of nowhere. Auto ISO gives you a chance at making that image when you have no time to change settings.

📌File type: RAW, because it gives you way more to play around with when you post process your images.