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With this post you will discover because I consider Leica X2 a fantastic street photography tool. Of course this is not the only camera very good for the genre, but Leica X2 with the necessary precautions and settings can become a a great solution for street photographers. I will explain how.

Before this let me remember some basics of photography, that will be useful for understanding the settings for Street Photography with Leica X2, sure can be applied to other cameras.

Please note: the images in this article are not good street photographs. But they are all taken using full manual exposure and manual focus. I think the images represent well this technical article.

Full manual with Leica X2

As we see in my first month review of this camera, I feel more motivated – thanks to the dial system – to use full manual exposure. After a month of experience I can affirm that using full manual, included manual focus, is the best way to use this camera for me.

The basics of photography to understand my choice

Although my blog has an audience of advanced photographers there are also beginners and I think is ueful for all in this article to remind the fundamentals of photography.

Manual Exposure

Shooting in manual relies on three parameters: ISO, Aperture, Shutter Speed. You can understand the number of combinations for the same situation of light are numerous. So, understanding the Sunny 16 rule can be useful.

Sunny 16 rule

“On a sunny day set aperture to f/16 and shutter speed to the ISO (film or setting) for a subject in direct sunlight.”

Do you remember the kodak the packaging of the Kodak rolls? No!? Well, there was the rule called Sunny 16, or Sunny F/16. What is this rule? Sunny 16 is a method of estimating correct daylight exposures without a light meter. Shooting full manual is challenging, and you must consider a lot of factors, but the benefits can be enormous: and you can actually draw your photograph. With a very high degree of personal satisfaction. To become a master of the light you must know the basics of photography. The manual exposure is part of this. You can’t say to be a photographer if you are not able to exposure without automatisms. And this will be useful also when you will shoot in program, aperture or shutter speed priority. General examples:

On a sunny day, at ISO100, an aperture of F16 requires a shutter speed of 1/125.

On a sunny day, at ISO200, an aperture of F16 requires a shutter speed of 1/250.

Of course F16 is not the aperture you should use… In bright light an apertre between f8 and f11 and a shutter speed of 1/500 will allow you to obtain sharp images. You will see that you will use often the same parameters with your camera with determinated conditions of light and so you will have favourite settings.

What ISO?

This is a matter of choices by the photographer. For many photographers ISO 200 is the base level, not for me that I prefer to use ISO 400. For me noise is not a problem because for me also in digital noise is grain. And I love grain for my images.

Zone Focus

Zone focus is also known as “f/8 and be there”. This technique used by photojournalists allows the photographer to essentially “set and forget” the aperture and focus. If used correctly your shooting experience in the street will be easier and will allow you to focus on the content and composition. Using the depth of field (or “distance”) scale and aperture ring found on many prime lenses, you can identify a “zone” of acceptable sharpness (sharpness is a relative and conventional concept) while shooting at a specific aperture, from a specific distance away from the subject. Zone focusing with a profound depth of field works very well and Leica X2 has a good indicator for a compact camera (as you should always consider this camera).

A great resource online is DOF Master. Click here to check out.

For Leica X2 users: my choice is manual focus.

Although it is proved that the AF of X2 is improved in respect to Leica X1, the experience with the camera suggest to use the manual focus.  With the depth of field indicator, X2 users can see the in-focus area of a picture they would take based on the current aperture set on the top dial. You can use the MF saving* feature and the lens will be focused on the same position when you turn on the camera. I am using memorized the focus from 4 feet to infinity: it is perfect for 99% of the situations in the street. I don’t need AF, I don’t want to use AF with this camera! Never. For my type of approach, close proximity to my subjects and reaction times must satisfy my instinct: in Manual Focus I can have a immediate response for my street shots.

*If the delete/focus button is held for a couple of seconds while in MF, the selected MF position is locked. A ‘locked’ symbol appears briefly on the screen. It remains locked until the button is held for a couple of seconds again – even if the camera is switched to an AF mode, or switched off.

Leica X2 is a camera for Street Photography. I can assure you about this. There are other considerations to make through this post. The APS-C sensor of Leica X2 has a significantly wider DOF than a full-frame camera like M9. This is a factor to consider for our settings. I am not a bokehlicious addicted in absolute, but sometimes to have shallow depth of field can be useful also in street photography. Of course Leica X2 has a great depth of field versatility, but with the advantage of being very compact yet.

Shutter sound silenced, compact size, inexistent shutter lag when in manual focus mode (vibration free!) allow me to affirm that Leica X2 is a Street Photography “monster”. In manual focus mode X2 is a stealth camera, exactly what I ask when I am on the street.