Today, I would like to dive into a key topic for anyone passionate about photographing the great outdoors and that's how to choose the right lens for landscape photography.
Here’s a straightforward guide based on my experiences and preferences, including tips to help you make an informed decision.
Understanding Your Lens Needs
When choosing a lens, consider these three factors:
What Do You Intend to Shoot?
Your subject largely dictates the focal length you’ll need:Mountains and hills: A telephoto lens is indispensable for isolating distant details.
Coastlines: A wide-angle lens shines here, perfect for dramatic skies and expansive vistas.
Conditions You Shoot In
If you often brave wet, dusty, or challenging weather (like me, here in rainy Wales), weather-sealed lenses are invaluable.
If you stick to clear, dry days, you might save money by opting for non-sealed options.
How You’ll Use the Images
If you’re printing large images or selling commercially, invest in top-tier optics.
Otherwise, mid-range lenses often deliver more than enough sharpness, especially at their sweet spot (usually between f/5.6 and f/11).
a wide angle prime lens that I use for landscape photography
The Sweet Spot of Landscape Photography Lenses
As landscape photographers, we’re fortunate because our craft often requires a large depth of field, ensuring sharpness from the foreground to the distant horizon. This need aligns beautifully with the "sweet spot" of most lenses—typically between f/5.6 and f/11. It’s in this range that lenses, regardless of their price or grade, tend to deliver their best optical performance.
Even kit lenses, which are often more affordable and lightweight, can perform remarkably well at these mid-range apertures. In fact, the difference in sharpness between a kit lens and a high-end pro lens can be negligible when both are used in this range. For many shots, the images captured with a kit lens at f/8 could rival those taken with a lens costing three times as much.
This is why f/4 lenses can be such a fantastic option for landscape photographers. Compared to their f/2.8 counterparts, f/4 lenses are generally:
Lighter: A significant benefit for anyone carrying gear into the mountains or trekking through remote locations.
Cheaper: Allowing you to invest more in other gear or experiences.
Optically Excellent: Between f/5.6 and f/11, the image quality from f/4 lenses is often just as good as that from f/2.8 lenses.
Unless you frequently shoot in low-light conditions where you need to open the aperture wide (e.g., astrophotography), the weight and cost savings of f/4 lenses can be a game-changer.
The Other Side of the Coin: Benefits of High-End Lenses
While the image quality of kit lenses and pro-grade lenses can be comparable at the sweet spot (f/5.6–f/11), there are important distinctions to consider. High-end f/2.8 zoom lenses offer several advantages that go beyond sheer sharpness, making them valuable tools for demanding photographers:
Advanced Lens Coatings: Premium lenses often feature advanced coatings that minimize flare, ghosting, and chromatic aberration, ensuring cleaner images with better contrast, especially in challenging lighting conditions.
Superior Build Quality: Pro lenses are typically weather-sealed and built to withstand tough conditions, making them reliable for photographers working in unpredictable environments.
Edge-to-Edge Sharpness: While kit lenses perform well in the center, pro lenses excel in maintaining sharpness across the entire frame, which is especially important for large prints or compositions with critical detail at the edges.
These factors do not diminish the value of kit lenses but highlight why pro lenses command a higher price. For photographers who prioritize durability, consistent optical performance, and the ability to handle diverse situations, investing in high-end glass can be well worth it.
standard zoom lens
Zooms vs. Primes: The Big Debate
When it comes to lens selection, the choice between zooms and primes often sparks passionate discussions among photographers. Both have their strengths, and understanding these can help you make the right choice for your needs:
Zoom Lenses
Versatility: Zoom lenses offer the ability to cover a range of focal lengths, making them invaluable for landscapes where you may want to switch from wide sweeping vistas to tight, intimate compositions without changing lenses.
Essential Zoom Ranges for Landscapes: A wide-angle zoom (16-35mm), standard zoom (24-70mm), and telephoto zoom (70-200mm) are the go-to trio for most landscape photographers, ensuring you’re prepared for nearly any scenario.
Convenience: With a zoom lens, you can adapt to changing conditions quickly, like capturing a fast-moving storm or shooting from a fixed position where you can’t move closer or farther away.
prime lens
Prime Lenses
Exceptional Sharpness: Prime lenses are renowned for their superior optical quality and edge-to-edge sharpness, often surpassing zooms at equivalent apertures.
Wider Apertures: With apertures like f/1.8 or f/1.4, primes are ideal for low-light situations such as astrophotography, where capturing faint starlight is critical.
Creative Opportunities: The shallow depth of field provided by wider apertures opens up creative possibilities, such as beautifully blurred backgrounds in a telephoto prime.
However, prime lenses come with limitations that can make them less practical in certain situations:
Fixed Focal Length: The inability to zoom means you’re forced to move. This can be a problem in tight spots, like a narrow mountain path or a crowded overlook, where physical movement is restricted.
Lens Changes: To cover different perspectives, you may need to carry and swap multiple primes, which can interrupt your workflow and expose your camera’s sensor to dust in outdoor environments.
Recommendation for Beginners
For those just starting out, zoom lenses are a fantastic choice due to their flexibility and ability to adapt to a variety of scenes without needing to carry a bag full of lenses. A good quality wide-angle zoom, for instance, can handle everything from expansive landscapes to architectural details, making it a versatile companion for learning and exploring.
As you gain experience and understand your shooting preferences, adding a prime lens or two to your kit can be a great way to expand your creative options. Both lens types have their place, and many seasoned photographers use a mix of zooms and primes to suit different scenarios.
telephoto zoom lens
The lenses in my kit bag for Landscape Photography
In my current landscape photography bag, I carry three key lenses that together cover a wide range of scenarios:
Standard Zoom: This lens is my workhorse, perfect for capturing everything from sweeping vistas to mid-range details. Its versatility allows me to adapt quickly to various compositions and lighting conditions without needing to change lenses.
Telephoto Zoom: This lens comes into play when I want to isolate distant subjects, compress perspective, or capture intricate details in the landscape that might be lost in a wider frame. It's particularly useful for mountain ranges, wildlife, or dramatic skies.
Wide-Angle Prime: My wide-angle prime is a favorite for both daytime and astrophotography. During the day, it excels at capturing expansive landscapes with edge-to-edge sharpness. At night, its fast f/1.4 aperture shines, allowing me to gather as much light as possible to photograph the stars, Milky Way, or other low-light scenes. The combination of its wide field of view and large aperture makes it a versatile and indispensable tool in my kit.
wide angle landscape photography
This trio gives me the flexibility to approach landscapes creatively while ensuring that I’m well-equipped for diverse shooting conditions.
A Different Approach for "Between the Hills”
For my documentary project "Between the Hills," I’ve taken a different approach compared to my landscape photography. I’ve opted to use just a couple of prime lenses. This choice is intentional and rooted in several key reasons.
First, using prime lenses helps create a consistent look across the body of work. By sticking to fixed focal lengths, I can maintain a uniform perspective and field of view throughout the project, which helps tie the images together visually and stylistically. This consistency adds a cohesive narrative element to the series, ensuring the images feel connected and purposeful.
Second, the limited focal lengths challenge me to think differently. Without the convenience of a zoom, I’m compelled to move, reframe, and adapt my perspective more consciously. This often leads to more thoughtful compositions and helps me engage more deeply with the scene in front of me.
Finally, the prime lenses that I will be using are small, light, and portable enough to fit in my pocket. This is a significant bonus for the type of photography I’m covering in this project, which often involves a lot of movement and spontaneity. The reduced gear footprint allows me to stay agile and focused on capturing the story rather than managing equipment.
telephoto landscape photo
My Favorite Landscape Lens
If I had to pick one, it’d be a standard zoom like the 24-70mm (on full-frame). This range balances wide angles for landscapes and moderate zoom for isolated details. If weight and cost are concerns, consider an f/4 version—it’s lighter, cheaper, and often just as sharp at mid-apertures.
Finding Your Ideal or favorite Focal Length
Here’s a tip: use Lightroom to analyze your most-used focal lengths. Go to the Library module, select your main photo folder, and filter by focal length. You’ll see which ranges you favor most, a valuable insight when upgrading or investing in lenses. You might find that 35mm is your most used focal length and it might persuade you to add a prime lens to your kit.
In Conclusion
The “best” lens depends on your style, environment, and goals. I would always suggest starting with a versatile zoom like the 24-70, then explore primes and other focal lengths as your needs evolve.
I’ve created a comprehensive guidebook on using light in landscape photography. This guide is designed to deepen your understanding of how to read light, adapt to changing conditions, and use it creatively to transform your compositions.
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keep shooting
Ian