Landscape Glass

Emancipator · February 3, 2010

I have a Nikon D90 and am looking for the entire spectrum of lens' for landscapes. I am going to the grand canyon. I have no specific price range. Maybe just juxtapose between affordability, travel ability, performance, and versatility? Thanks a bunch as always! :clap

LKN Dave · February 3, 2010

Sigma makes a nice 10-20mm lens that will work great for the Grand Canyon. I took the Canon 10-22mm and it was great for the wide open vistas.

Qarik · February 3, 2010

Emancipator wrote:

I have a Nikon D90 and am looking for the entire spectrum of lens' for landscapes. I am going to the grand canyon. I have no specific price range. Maybe just juxtapose between affordability, travel ability, performance, and versatility? Thanks a bunch as always!

the best ever: nikkor 14-24mm $1600
the best value wrt to optical quality: tokina 11-16mm $500

cbbr · February 3, 2010

Second the Tokina 11-16. I love mine.

DsrtVW · February 3, 2010

If I had to pick 1 lens to take, it would be my Nikon 18-200mm VR. Would not be my first choice but it would be the most versatile. I would want a wide angle and a good telephoto 70-200mm at minimum. Just in case you see some wildlife. A good 70-300mm would cover it good too.
I want a 12-24mm but will probably get the Tokina 11-16mm. I do like Tokina Lens quality

DEE5THOU · February 4, 2010

I have a Tokina 12-24mm on my D5000 and rate it as a very good lens. Tokina's are very well made and with my new Polarizer filter for it I look foward to some great landscape photos.

Allan FG · February 4, 2010

I agree with DsrtVW the Nikon 18-200 is the way to go. I don't know why people talk down this lens, I've owned one for 3 years and I love it. Make sure you take a polarizing filter it will make your colors pop.

Scott_Quier · February 4, 2010

If you have the time to "properly" frame your image, you might also have the time to use a good (excellent) quality 30mm to 50mm. Shoot in portrait orientation, shoot three or four frames on a good pano rail and then stitch them together in CS. Done right, you get good (excellent) sharp corners, little if any perspective distortion, and lots of image data. Really Right Stuff has a very, very good pano rail for about $140.

Of course, this presumes that you will be using a tripod.

Emancipator · February 4, 2010

Regarding the polarizer:

Will this fit the Tokina 12-24mm Lens?

Nikon 77mm Circular Polarizer II Filter

Matthew Saville · February 4, 2010

Emancipator wrote:

Regarding the polarizer:

Will this fit the Tokina 12-24mm Lens?

Nikon 77mm Circular Polarizer II Filter

Personally I recommend the Sigma EX 77mm polarizer, it's super thin but keeps it's front threads for when you need to add a GND. ;-)

In my honest opinion, I think the BEST kit you could want for landscapes, if you were ONLY shooting landscapes, nature / wildlife and not much else, would be this:

Sigma 10-20:
Yes, the Nikon 14-24 and Tokina 11-16 are amazing, but they are f/2.8, and less practical for a crop sensor. No sense in lugging around all that weight, or buying a lens that doesn't have the perfect zoom range, just because it's 1 pixel sharper in the extreme corners. The Sigma 10-20, (both versions) has been proven to be incredibly sharp, especially stopped down where you'll be taking most of your landscapes anyway... (EDIT: I just checked the SLRGear.com reviews of the 10-20's, and I think it seems like the f/4-5.6 version of the lens is a LITTLE better suited for landscapes. (stopped down.) At f/8 it performs noticeably sharper across the chart. Go for that lens! (It's probably cheaper too!)

The Sigma 50-150:
If you have no room for any other lenses, I'd get this one. Yes, it's f/2.8 and goes against my rule of never lugging an f/2.8 zoom into the wilderness if you can avoid it, but this lens is surprisingly small, light, and sharp. I'd consider it an asset because any time you need to shoot wildlife at sunrise or sunset, f/2.8 WILL come in handy. And the rest of the time, just enjoy a lens that is once again insanely sharp especially stopped down. (Although at 50mm, the Sigma 50-150 is so sharp at 2.8, it looks like f/8!)

In between: The Nikon 16-85:
If you are ever on an adventure that only allows ONE lens, for whatever reason, this is the ONLY lens to bring IMO. Unless you know for a fact that you'll only ever be shooting super ultra-wide, (like if you're going caving) then maybe that ONE lens would be the Sigma 10-20, but for 90% of general adventures that only allow 1 lens, the 16-85 is the sharpest, lightest, most versatile range lens on the market.

In between: Either way, if you get the 10-20 + 50-150 OR the 16-85, you'll be missing something towards the middle. Even a landscape shooter may want something fast and "normal" for when you're sitting around the campfire with friends. (Or for star pics at night, etc.) For DX, I'd recommend the 35 1.8 because it fits well between the 10-20 and 50-150.

Now, remember that this advice is for people who do NOT plan on upgrading to FX in the next couple years. If you're eventually aiming for FX landscape photography, well then you'll probably want to consider different lenses. Lenses that unfortunately don't exist yet. I think the ultimate FX landscape kit would include the un-released rumored 16-35 f/4 VR, a 70-200 f/4 VR that doesn't exist at all, OR a replacement to the 80-400 VR, if you're really into telephoto stuff. If you're NOT so much into telephoto, but would still like to cover that range, the Sigma 150 2.8 Macro is an amazing lens for both up-close macro AND more distanced work....

I'm just not a big fan of the 14-24 or 24-70 for landscape work, because their size and weight is just REALLY more practical for photojournalism and portrait etc. work. Hardcore landscape photographers value a lens that is sharp at f/8, small and light, and accepts front filters...

=Matt=

InsuredDisaster · February 8, 2010

I also really like the Sigma 10-20 (I've got the older version). I use it a lot for buildings, landscapes and everything else. I find its a bit slow for nighttime and moving people but lanscapes don't move much. I really like wide angle lenses.

Its also got my stamp of approval for how well built it is. I crashed a scooter with the lens attached to my camera. The UV filter was broken and bent so much it required tools to remove. The lens only goes to 11mm now but other than that, it still works very well.

CoryUT · February 10, 2010

Throw in another vote for the Sigma 10-20mm. I recently did a lot of research on this subject myself and ended up going for the older Sigma. It's been a fantastic lens. The Tokina is great as well, but the zoom range is much more limited.

I've had the Sigma on my camera since I got it a month and a half ago, with the exception of an hour or so when I had the telephoto on.

Landscape Glass

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