At first it sounds like technical advice to set the aperture to f/8, go out, and the pictures will come. But of course photography is never that simple. The phrase is often attributed to Arthur Fellig, better known as Weegee, the New York press photographer famous for arriving quickly at crime scenes and accidents with his large-format press camera and flash.
The exact origin is somewhat unclear, and the Weegee connection may be more legend than documented fact, but the meaning has survived because it still says something important about photography.

To me, the expression f/8 and be there is not really about f/8.
It is about being ready.

It is about removing hesitation.

It is about knowing your camera so well that the technical side disappears into the background, allowing you to pay attention to the world in front of you.

This image would never have had the opportunity to be interesting in the same way if shot wide open with a narrow depth of field.
The image relies on lines and the interplay between the colours.
First of all, I may have missed focusing on the person running, and secondly, a blurred background would have ruined the lines and objects of interest.

Photography does not happen in the menu system. It happens in the street, in the light, in the shadow, in the colour of a wall, in the gesture of a hand, in the way a person briefly enters a frame and then is gone.

The moment does not wait for us to be ready.

We have to be ready before it arrives. It doesn’t help a photo if it is shot wide open with a narrow depth of field, rather than with a deep DOF at f8 or higher. The image has to be interesting no matter which expression is chosen.

f/8 Is Practical, But Not Magic

There are good technical reasons why f/8 became such a durable part of photographic language. Many lenses perform very well around f/8. It often gives a useful balance between sharpness, depth of field, and exposure. Stopping down also reduces many optical imperfections that may appear wide open, while avoiding the stronger diffraction that can appear at very small apertures.

In practical terms, f/8 gives the photographer a little room for error.

If focus is not absolutely perfect, the photograph may still survive. If a subject moves slightly forward or backwards, there is still a chance. If the scene has layers — foreground, middle distance, background — more of it can remain acceptably sharp.

That matters in street photography.

But we should not turn f/8 into religion. Some photographs need f/2 or even f.14 or lower. Some photographs need f/11. There are photographs where blur, movement, or shallow focus is exactly the language the picture needs.

So the expression is not saying: always use f/8.

It is saying: choose a reliable starting point and get on with photographing.

The greatest danger in photography is often not using the wrong aperture. It is being so occupied with the aperture that we fail to see the photograph.

These two images may have worked well with a deeper depth of field, but the shallow DOF created by setting the aperture to f1.4
create an intimacy that F8 will not in these two images.

Being There Is the Real Message

The second half of the phrase is the most important part: be there.

Not think about being there.
Not plan endlessly to be there.
Not sit at home reading reviews about which camera would be best if one day you were there.

Actually be there.

But even that does not only mean physical presence. You can stand in the middle of Paris, Málaga, Copenhagen, or Odense with a perfect camera in your hand and still not really be there. If your attention is on settings, screens, lens choices, or whether another camera would have been better, then you are only partly present.

Even though the aperture is at f8 there is a slightly blurred background created by the movement and near focus on the 50mm when a pigeon left the ground.
F8 helped keep it within a reasonable focus area.

Being there means being visually awake.

It means noticing how light falls across a face.
How a warm wall changes the feeling of a street.
How red, blue, and yellow suddenly arrange themselves.
How shadows can carry just as much meaning as light.
How space can make a photograph dreamlike.
How the absence of something can become the subject.

This is why the expression fits so well with a simple approach to photography.

One camera. One lens. Familiar settings. Fewer choices.

The fewer decisions we have to make about equipment, the more energy we have for seeing.

f/8 on Full Frame and APS-C: Is It the Same?

Yes and no.

In exposure terms, f/8 is f/8. It lets in the same amount of light regardless of whether you are using a full-frame Leica M, a Leica Q3, a Leica Q3 43, or a Fuji X100VI.

But the look is not the same.

Sensor size and focal length affect depth of field. A Fuji X100VI has an APS-C sensor and a fixed 23mm f/2 lens, giving roughly the same angle of view as a 35mm lens on full-frame. A Leica M or Leica Q is full-frame. The standard Leica Q3 uses a fixed 28mm f/1.7 Summilux lens, while the Leica Q3 43 uses a fixed 43mm f/2 APO-Summicron lens.

So, if you set both a Fuji X100VI and a full-frame Leica to f/8, the exposure may be the same, but the depth of field will not feel identical when the framing is equivalent.

The APS-C Fuji at f/8 gives more depth of field than a full-frame camera at f/8 with an equivalent field of view. In practice, the X100VI at f/8 feels closer to a full-frame camera stopped down further, perhaps around f/11 or so in depth-of-field character.

For street photography, that can be a strength.

It means the Fuji becomes quick, forgiving, and fluid. You can work with layers. You can trust that more of the scene will hold together. You do not have to use shallow depth of field to make the photograph interesting. Instead, you can work with composition, colour, gesture, light, and timing.

The Leica, being full-frame, gives you a little more separation at the same aperture and equivalent framing. This can be beautiful, especially when you want a subject to stand slightly more apart from the background. But it also asks for a bit more care.

Neither is better.

They simply encourage different ways of being ready.

The Leica M: f/8 and Intention

On a Leica M, the expression feels completely natural.

The M asks you to participate. You do not just point and let the camera decide everything. You choose the aperture. You focus. You understand distance. You see the framelines. You learn what the lens sees before the camera reaches your eye.

With a 35mm lens at f/8, the Leica M becomes a classic street photography tool. You can zone focus. You can preset the lens. You can read the light and walk through the world with the camera already prepared.

The beauty of the rangefinder is that you are not only looking at the frame. You are also aware of what is about to enter it. You can see around the edges. You can anticipate.

That matters because many good street photographs happen just before or just after the obvious moment.

A 35mm lens on the M gives context. It lets the street remain part of the picture. It includes the surrounding scene without becoming too wide. It is a lens for relationships — between people, architecture, colour, light, and space.

With a 50mm lens, the Leica M becomes more selective.

At f/8, a 50mm is still practical, but it is less forgiving than a 35mm. You see less of the world, and your position matters more. You must be more precise. The 50mm does not describe the whole scene as easily. It asks you to decide what the photograph is really about.

A 35mm says: include the relationship.
A 50mm says: choose the essence.

Both belong to the “f/8 and be there” philosophy, but they lead to different photographs.

The Leica Q3: f/8 and Step Closer

The standard Leica Q3, with its 28mm full-frame lens, is a different kind of tool.

A 28mm lens includes a lot. At f/8, it gives generous depth of field and allows you to work quickly. But it also demands courage. If you stand too far away, the picture can become empty. Everything is included, but nothing is important.

With a 28mm, you often have to step closer.

Not aggressively. Not without respect. But close enough that the viewer feels inside the scene rather than observing it from a safe distance.

The Q3 is a camera for immersion. It is good for streets, interiors, travel, crowds, cafés, and layered scenes where the environment matters. The 28mm lens can make the viewer feel present, but only if the photographer was present too.

So for the standard Q3, the expression becomes:

f/8 and step closer.

The camera can crop. The sensor has the resolution to allow it. But the spirit of the 28mm Q is not really about cropping from a distance. It is about entering the scene and arranging the world from within it.

The Leica Q3 43: f/8 and Pay Attention

The Leica Q3 43 changes the Q concept completely.

Where the standard Q3 is wide and immersive, the Q3 43 is calmer, more selective, and more natural in perspective. Leica describes the Q3 43 as a full-frame fixed-lens camera with a 43mm f/2 APO-Summicron lens, presenting the 43mm focal length as a natural and balanced view close to human vision.

This makes it very interesting in relation to “f/8 and be there.”

The 43mm lens sits between the classic 35mm and 50mm. It is not as wide and contextual as 35mm, and not as tight or decisive as 50mm. It gives a little breathing room, but not too much. It feels observational. Human. Quiet.

At f/8, the Q3 43 gives enough depth of field for responsive photography, but it does not have the same wide-angle forgiveness as the 28mm Q3. You have to frame with more care. You cannot include everything. You have to notice what matters.

That can be a beautiful discipline.

The Q3 43 seems well suited to small gestures, street portraits, details, quiet colour relationships, and moments where the world does not need to be made dramatic. A warm background. A person waiting. A hand on a table. A face in soft light. A shadow cutting through a simple composition.

If the standard Q3 says:

f/8 and step closer

then the Q3 43 says:

f/8 and pay attention.

It is also very connected to the “One Lens For All” idea. Because the lens is fixed, you cannot escape into another focal length. You have to work with what the camera gives you. Move closer. Step back. Wait. Change angle. Or accept that this particular photograph is not yours.

That limitation is not a weakness.

It is the teacher.

The Fuji X100VI: f/8 and Flow

The Fuji X100VI may be one of the most natural modern cameras for the “f/8 and be there” idea.

Its fixed 23mm lens gives a 35mm full-frame equivalent field of view, which has long been one of the most useful perspectives for everyday, travel, and street photography. It is wide enough to include life around the subject, but not so wide that everything becomes distant.

At f/8, because of the APS-C sensor, the X100VI becomes very forgiving. You have depth of field. You have speed. You have a camera that encourages you to stop thinking about changing lenses and start looking.

This fits beautifully with a colour-based way of seeing.

When you are thinking in colours while shooting — not waiting to “fix” colour later — you need attention available. You need to see the warm wall, the blue jacket, the red sign, the green reflection, the yellow light. You need to see how the colours talk to each other before the moment breaks apart.

The X100VI supports that kind of flow. It is compact, self-contained, and direct. You take it with you. You do not build a system around it. You simply go out and let the camera become familiar enough that it disappears.

And that may be the most important thing any camera can do.

Disappear.

28mm, 35mm, 43mm, and 50mm: Different Ways of Being There

The focal length changes the meaning of “being there.”

A 28mm lens places you inside the scene. It includes more of the world and asks you to come closer. It is immersive, energetic, and sometimes risky. If used from too far away, it can become empty.

A 35mm lens is the great balance. It includes context without feeling too wide. It allows street scenes, portraits within environments, colour relationships, shadows, reflections, and layered compositions. It is perhaps the most natural documentary focal length for many photographers.

A 43mm lens is the quiet middle. It is more concentrated than 35mm but more open than 50mm. It feels natural and attentive. It does not shout. It observes.

A 50mm lens is more precise. It removes more of the surroundings and asks for stronger decisions. It can simplify the world beautifully, but it gives you less room to hide weak framing.

So the rhythm becomes:

28mm: be inside the scene.
35mm: be with the scene.
43mm: be attentive to the scene.
50mm: be precise about the scene.

All of them can be used at f/8.

But they will not give the same photograph.

The image on the left is f8, and on the right it is f1.4

The Real Meaning

In the end, “f/8 and be there” is not a rule about aperture.

It is a reminder to simplify.

Know your camera.
Know your lens.
Know what your frame includes.
Know how your settings behave.
Then stop worrying and start seeing.

Whether it is a Leica M with a 35mm or 50mm, a Leica Q3 with its 28mm, a Leica Q3 43 with its more natural standard view, or a Fuji X100VI with its 35mm equivalent perspective, the principle is the same.

The camera should not interrupt the photograph.

The lens should not become an excuse.

The settings should not become the subject.

Be ready. Be open. Be visually awake.

Because the photograph is rarely waiting in the camera.

It is waiting in the world. It is waiting for you in a workshop. Join me here.