Alina Behfar (@alina.beez) is a street photographer whose work has a cinematic style. She always prefers moody weather conditions such as rain, snow or fog and when night falls over the city, she takes to the streets and makes images. “The nighttime gives you the opportunity to control the ambient light of your surrounding to your advantage,” she says. Before Reels on Instagram became popular, she already was interested in taking short video clips as an extension to her street photography work, so the Sony Alpha 7 III, being a hybrid camera, was the perfect choice. In 2021 when the Sony Alpha 7 IV was released, she switched to it, but she always kept the Alpha 7 III as a back-up camera among other reasons. “My Sony gear allows me to focus on the creativity because I can count on the reliability of the system.” We caught up with Behfar to learn more about her current kit including the two Sony G Master prime lenses she uses for moody street photography.


Street photographer Alina Behfar’s work has a cinematic style, so she always prefers moody weather conditions such as rain, snow or fog. Read more on the gear she uses to create.

Cameras 

Sony Alpha 7 IV and Sony Alpha 7 III: The Sony Alpha cameras with their high dynamic range and advanced autofocus make it possible to take sharp images under worst conditions as at nighttime or in the rain. Despite being forced to use a small f-stop to keep the iso low, the autofocus of the Sony camera always works flawlessly. Using the Sony Alpha 7 IV at least twice a week and mostly in rain, I never had an issue regarding weather sealing. The cameras high customizability and the Sony Alpha 7 IV’s higher resolution, make my workflow much more efficient and enjoyable.

Photo by Alina Behfar. Sony Alpha 7 IV. Sony 135mm f/1.8 G Master. 1/200-sec., f/1.8, ISO 8000

Photo by Alina Behfar. Sony Alpha 7 III. Sony 135mm f/1.8 G Master. 1/250-sec., f/1.8, ISO 16000

Lenses

Sony 135mm f/1.8 G Master and Sony 24mm f/1.4 G Master: For my work I use exclusively prime lenses. I specifically chose those because they are at the edge of the spectrum. This allows me to have a lot of variety in my work. Before going out and shoot, I always determine which one of the lenses I will use that day, depending on the location and my personal feelings. As I mentioned before, the autofocus of the G Master lenses work even at f/1.4 flawlessly and the weather sealing allows me to shoot at all occasions. Those lenses are ultra sharp so  that I even have sometimes to pull down the sharpness in post processing to reach the moody look which I intend to. These lenses allow me to fulfill my creative vision without interfering in any way. I feel like the Sony camera and lenses are just extensions of myself.

Photo by Alina Behfar. Sony Alpha 7 III. Sony 135mm f/1.8 G Master. 1/400-sec., f/1.8, ISO 6400

Photo by Alina Behfar. Sony Alpha 7 IV. Sony 24mm f/1.4 G Master. 1/125-sec., f/2.5, ISO 4000

Accessories

To be honest I don’t use too many accessories. Back in the days someone told me, don’t put a cheap glass in front of your expensive lenses, so I still stick to that advice. So no, I don’t use filters, except ND-Filters for my video work.

Bag: The most valuable accessory is my backpack from Manfrotto, which is separated in two sections. One is reserved for my personal stuff the other one holds my camera equipment, therefore I can have my camera at anytime with me.

Photo by Alina Behfar. Sony Alpha 7 III. Sony 24mm f/1.4 G Master. 1/200-sec., f/2.2, ISO 200

Peak Design Camera Clip: This is the second valuable accessory that allows me to attach the camera to my backpack and have my hands free for a coffee in between.

Sony HVL-F45RM Flash: This is only for personal use, if for example someone from the family asks for a portrait shoot.

See more of Alina Behfar’s work on Instagram @alina.beez.