Beginner First time???

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Alan
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Hello Landscape corner,

Hope you are all well.

Another question that has probably been asked a million times..SORRY

What lenses should be looking at for landscape photography?, i appreciate it might be "how longs a piece of string" question.

At the moment I only have a Nikon 50mm as I do some portrait work as well?
I have a budget of about £650, my camera is a Nikon D7000.

I have debated wether to sell my camera and upgrade to something better, but then I would have no cash left for a lens....:crying:

Any advice much appreciated!!!!!
 
Hi, Alan, for me there is 'right' lens for landscapes.

I use a Tokina 11-16, Nikon 17-55 and often use my Nikon 105.

The 11-16 @ 11mm is, obviously, very wide and I didn't find it that easy to use. What I mean is @ 11mm the distant subjects appear absolutely miles away, even if they are, in reality only a few hundred meters away, and any FG objects a mahoosive :D

I use the 17-55 for general landscapes.

With the 105mm you can compress landscapes. Here's one to demonstrate below (not for crit, of course :D).

Tranquil TP by andysheader (Posiview), on Flickr


Let us know how you get on (y)

Cheers.
 
Yes, there is something of 'how long is a piece of string' about this as any lens can be used for landscapes.

I think it is accurate to say wide angle lenses are used more than any other. These could be wide angle primes, or zooms around the 17-40mm size or the common kit lenses which are often 18-55mm. The zooms are generally used at the bottom end of their range.

The advantage of these they capture the huge vista you have just seen and their DoF is very large. The disadvantage is they don't see in the same way as the brain. The distant peak that looked so impressive can end up as a tiny speck in the distance fronted by a vast empty foreground which the brain ignored. The wide angles just need to be used with care to avoid the wasteland effect - foreground interest, lead in lines.

However, any lens can be used, I've taken landscape shots at 18mm and at 200mm. Longer focal lengths are good for isolating an interesting part of the landscape. The DoF is much smaller which can be used to advantage and the foreshortening effect can produce quite dramatic images.

As with many other aspects of photography, preparation is vital with landscapes. Landscape shots are possible at any time of the day (or night) but during the day the light can be harsh and flat around midday so quite a lot of landscapes are taken towards sunset or sunrise. At those time the light and colours change very quickly so allow yourself plenty of time to get where you want to be.

I've found an OS map and this - http://photoephemeris.com/ very useful in planning landscape shots

Dave
 
Thanks for the advice guys. Very nice photo.
I have been looking at a 12 - 24mm and the 16 - 35mm, whats ur knowledge on these 2?

Many Thanks
 
A wide angle in the 10-12mm range takes a bit of getting used to!
I use a Nikon 12-24 which I am still struggling with!
Most of my Landscapes used to be at 17mm on my Tamron 17-50 f2.8 and I found this much easier to handle and minimal distortion!
The reason I went to 12mm was because I started to get a lot of comments saying my Landscapes looked a little tight!
 
Thanks guys.

I did wonder about the wide angle lens making things like mountains etc looking a million miles away.

Thanks again.
 
Hello Landscape corner,

Hope you are all well.

Another question that has probably been asked a million times..SORRY

What lenses should be looking at for landscape photography?, i appreciate it might be "how longs a piece of string" question.

At the moment I only have a Nikon 50mm as I do some portrait work as well?
I have a budget of about £650, my camera is a Nikon D7000.

I have debated wether to sell my camera and upgrade to something better, but then I would have no cash left for a lens....:crying:

Any advice much appreciated!!!!!


id say with it being a crop sensor you cant go far wrong with the sigma 10-20mm its also £300
 
If doing landscapes I strongly suggest factoring in a neutral density graduated filter and holder into your budget.
 
I've got the sigma 10-20 f4-f5.6 and its fantastic.



Also.....

If doing landscapes I strongly suggest factoring in a neutral density graduated filter and holder into your budget.

+1 for this advice. Grad filters make a massive difference to shots.
 
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Thanks guys for all you input.

I recently bought a 12 - 24 mm with the lee foundation kit, nd grad 0.6 and nd 0.9, just ordered hitech pro stop IRND, off to scotland next week to try everything out properly....
 
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