Adding... Adding item to the basket...

Failed to add item to basket, please try again or contact support

Choosing a lens for landscape photography

25 May 2017

Choosing a lens for landscape photography

Above: An ultra-wide lens can be useful for going in close to a foreground subject and capturing a big sky

 

There is no fixed value for the focal length of a landscape lens and optics can be roughly divided into the following brackets.

Ultra-wide – 10-24mm lenses are seen as the ultra wides and they enable you to capture stunning vistas. The huge field-of-view often exceeds the view that can be seen by the human eye and will create the illusion of space in the foreground of the image. 

Standard wide – Standard wide angled lenses are seen as anything between 24mm and 35mm. They crop to a narrower field-of-view than the ultra-wides and draw forward the background that can often seem lost with the ultra-wides. It’s a focal length range that is traditionally seen as the sweet spot for landscape lenses. 

Not-so-wides – Finally 35mm up, these lenses enable you to pick out details and compose areas of the landscape. They also offer greater ability to restrict depth of field for creative shots. 

When considering lenses, do remember to take into consideration crop factor. If you’re using a Canon 7D Mark II, for example, the Sigma 20mm f/1.4 will go from a wide 20mm to a not so wide 32mm.

Above Zooms offer versatility that’s useful when you’re exploring an area
Below: A long lens enables you to pick-up interesting patterns, shapes and forms in the landscape

Prime or Zoom

Many focal lengths can be achieved by a fixed or zoom lens. A fixed or prime focal length lens is the purist’s choice, and there’s a definitely a level of satisfaction in capturing the perfect landscape using one. That said, opting for something with a little more flexibility isn’t a cop-out, in fact, it’s often a good idea. 

Unless you’ve been shooting landscapes for years and have decided on your optimum focal length for your style of photography, the likelihood is that a little flexibility provided by a decent zoom is going to be welcome. 

A lens like the Zeiss Milvus 15mm f/2.8 ZE on a Canon EOS 5D Mark IV really is hard to beat when it comes to optical quality, but the Fujifilm XF 10-24mm F4 R OIS on the Fujifilm X-T2 is lighter and more versatile. 

A zoom will usually weigh a little more than your average fixed focal length lens, but the options they give you often make that sacrifice in weight worthwhile. 

At the premium end of the lens range are optics like the Nikon 14-24mm and the Canon 11-24mm. Both are incredible lenses that despite their ultra-wide focal lengths keep distortion under control, or at least as under control as you can get at 11mm. 

These lenses don’t just give you a wide field-of-view, they also offer wide apertures of f/2.8 and f/4, greater than you would usually consider for landscape. However, those apertures coupled with minimum focus distances of just 28cm will enable you to get ultra creative with your shots. 

Moving up the zoom scale to the essential 24-70mm lenses from Nikon, Canon and Sigma, all f/2.8 and all offering outstanding build and optical quality. The focal range of 24mm will give you a good traditional landscape field-of-view, whilst the ability to zoom to 70mm gives you a few additional options. 

Finally, if you want to break from the norm, let’s not forget the telephotos. The Nikon, Canon and Sigma 70-200mm produce outstanding results in this range and they’re handy for picking out landscape details such as dry stone walling or waterfalls from afar. 

Our recommendation

The choice of lens for shooting landscapes ultimately comes down to your own personal preferences, but if you’re undecided about which way to go, then a little discipline is a great way to start - just pick one lens. Our suggestion is the Sigma 24mm f/1.4 DG HSM. It’s a great optic that provides a traditional landscape field-of-view and will really help you to think about composition. 

You should also consider a Tiffen ND filter set to help you get more creative with exposure. These screw-in filters will make a great addition to landscape photography kit bag, enabling you to extend exposure times and capture stunning soft cloud and water effects in bright daylight conditions.