Economical Landscape Lenses

Hi all,

I love doing landscape shots and would like to get deeper into it. I currently have 2 crop bodied canons.
I have 10-20 sigma that I love, an 18-200 canon, and I have access too the 17-55 2.8 canon as well. I also just bought the 90mm 2.8 tamron. I have a solid manfrotto tripod with ball head and bubble (but no 360" angle thingy).

All in all, my equipment has served me well; however, I'd like to take my landscape hobby photography to the next level.

Some of the things I like to do are dawn/sunset/fog scenes, urban or rural/natural. I would like to get into panoramas, HDR, and "telling a story" type photos through landscapes. I also love BW dark and gloomy type landscape shots.



My budget is around $1,000-$1,500. What would you recommend?

thanks,
D

+1
Circular Polarizer makes a big difference (but will produce uneven sky on the ultra wide lens), solid ND filters for long time exposures (3 stop and maybe 6 or even 10 stop), and graduated ND is where it gets really interesting. There are a few discussion threads here about filters that you might find useful.

Agreed. Your lens are fine. Accessories are the next step (filters, adapter to compensate for the nodal point, software if you don't have it, ect)

Thanks for the replies about the filters. I have 2 Kenko Filters, one is a 10 stop and the other a variable filter. Every lens of mine has a CPL on it that I don't take off.

Speaking of filters, what are the CPL II filter that some nikon lenses have?

It looks as though you have focal lengths and filters covered and you know what you want to photograph.
For the money you want to spend I would suggest getting a prime lens to push, force or inspire your creativity. A prime will make you think more about composition, it will also make you move your feet a little more. Primes also generally offer better, or in some cases unique contrast and image quality.( the Canon 17-55/2.8 also has unbeatable IQ)
Purely to get you thinking I would suggest;
either of the new Canon 24mm or 28mm with IS,
or my personal favourites would be the Zeiss manual focus lenses like the 35mm/f2 or to really stretch/break the budget the Zeiss 21mm.
Budget wise the new Canon 24/2.8IS or the Zeiss 35/2 would be my recommendations, both lengths work great on crop bodies, but also translate well and work great if you ever decide to take the big step towards Full Frame, which is a logical step in the pursuit of better landscape images.

You can also spend the money on travelling and look for a nice landscape. Maybe practice will improve your pictures more than another lens.

What about a good quality tripod? My tripod was one of the best investments I've made.

+5

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Originally Posted by Agilulfo

You can also spend the money on travelling and look for a nice landscape. Maybe practice will improve your pictures more than another lens.

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You have more than just the basics, time to take pictures.

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Originally Posted by BertnalkBloot

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4 posts and all say ")))". Is someone trying to build credibility to post spam?

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Originally Posted by ahab1372

4 posts and all say ")))". Is someone trying to build credibility to post spam?

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Perhaps, but because I'm human, I can see through this ruse, and I've already deleted the user as a spammer already. And another spammer did 14 posts of actual spam this morning. I'm so happy the delete user page has a 'delete all posts by this user' button.

After Bryan added some simple human authentication, we had no spam for months, now we get plenty, daily. Not sure what changed.

Always tough keeping one step ahead of the schmucks!

I agree with the other advice about spending the money elsewhere since you already have nice lenses. One reason to upgrade would be if you want less flare in your landscape images by getting a prime, but the zooms you have are very good already.

If you don't feel you are missing something, or can't see what you are missing with the equipment you got, I would spend it on courses and traveling. Actually get out and use what you've got.

If you want new equipment, you might want to look at:
Zoom: Canon 70-200mm F4.0 USM (no IS). Is is an inexpencive, sharp and surprisingly light telezoom lens.
Primes for ex. low light and steet photography:Canon 50mm F1.4 or Canon 35mm F2.0
A cheap flash like YN-560 for low light photography

I just read my recommendation about a tripod and realised you already have that covered.

So I'd agree with the other guys - I think a good filter holder system can make a huge difference with landscapes. The Cokin z-pro filter system is probably the most economical, the Singh-Ray/Lee system gets pretty expensive. But if you get a couple of graduated ND filters and maybe a warming filter I think it would make a lot of difference.

Ben

I agree completely with Daniel Browning above. Find a place you've always wanted to photograph that fits the budget you presented, but leave some spare cash to take a course with a landscape instructor who's work you admire. There are many places to see and many photograhers who can show you the ins and outs of a place to get the most bang for the buck. I'm planning on doing this in the Palouse region (state of Washington USA) with Chip Phillips next year. His work inspires me.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/phillipschip/

Happy landscape shooting out there! erno james

The lenses you own now are fine for the APS-C sensor body you now own. Shoot away and have fun. If you really want to move to the next level as a landscape photographer I'd recommend you save your money and get a full-frame 6D and then start moving toward these primes (listed in order of importance):

1. 24mm f/2.8 - This is a simple lens that, for small aperture landscape photography, doesn't have to be an L-series. This is an economical (~$300 US) and reliable workhorse landscape lens that offers great sharpness and angle of view with minimal distortion. The wide-angle zooms can't make these claims.
2. 135mm f/2.0L USM- Extraordinarily sharp lens at a great price (less than $1000 US).

I spent many years hiking around the Rocky Mountains with these two lenses (plus a "nifty fifty" that I rarely used), one body and a tripod. The versatile kit was light and portable. I found that I took the majority of my keepers, maybe 75% of them, with the 24mm and the rest with the 135mm. Use your tripod, cable release, high-quality polarizer, and lens hoods (increases contrast) and you will have all the equipment you need to make world class landscapes.

If you figure out how to make money from your landscapes, you might want to eventually add Canon's 35mm f/1.4. This fails the economy test, but worth it for long exposure night shots.