About Lenses

The wide-angle lens is the one I prefer for taking street photos, mainly because of the great depth of field it allows.  Even with the electronic auto-focus feature now so common in cameras, it's possible if one is not careful to take photos which may turn out to be out of focus.  

This is where the wide-angle lens comes into its own.  The focusing with this lens does not have to be right on target, because the depth of field coverage will get everything sharp from infinity down to a few feet.

My zoom lens's widest setting is 24mm (35mm photography equivalent), which is wide enough for most needs, and may even be a bit too wide if you're concerned about vertical distortion.  I happen to like this kind of distortion which can be quite effective for certain shots.

One other thing that a wide angle lens can do is to distort facial features in portraits and close-ups.  It's okay when used for fun photos, but can be less than kind to the subject for regular portrait shots, especially when frontally posed, because of the distortion of the nose.  

For good portraits a longer than normal focal length lens is preferred — in 35mm terms, a focal length of 70 to 100mm is ideal.  It has the advantage of throwing the background out of focus so that the emphasis is on the subject, without including distracting background detail.