Using zoom lens to shoot landscape?

13 years 1 month ago - 13 years 1 month ago #42287 by Catti1era
Can one use a zoom lens like 70-200 to shoot landscape pictures?


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13 years 1 month ago #42289 by crystal
Simple answer....Yes.
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13 years 1 month ago #42291 by Catti1era
but I thought landscape had to be wide.


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13 years 1 month ago #42292 by crystal
They don't have to be, it's just looks better. But in reality any focal length is fine if it suits your needs. You may see a scene to shoot in the distance, but it would take a long time to get there. So that is when a zoom lens can come in handy.
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13 years 1 month ago #42311 by Baydream
There have been numerous articles published recently touting the tele-zoom as a great tool for landscape. You may want to bypass some close by clutter and focus on that beautiful snow-capped mountain top or that quaint little farmhouse in the valley.

Shoot, learn and share. It will make you a better photographer.
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13 years 1 month ago #42321 by CanonKid
You won't get as wide of a zoom as you would with a 12-24mm, but it will work just fine. Leave it at 70mm and fire away.

Canon 7D, 15-85mm, 18-55mm, 70-200mm, 100mm Macro, Sigma 120-300mm, Speedlite 430EX II

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13 years 1 month ago #42326 by Scotty
You'd be surprised how many pros shoot long instead of wide for their landscapes.

When the last candle has been blown out
and the last glass of champagne has been drunk
All that you are left with are the memories and the images-David Cooke.

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13 years 1 month ago #42336 by Joves

Catti1era wrote: but I thought landscape had to be wide.

Depends on the scene you want. Lets say you are shooting a barn on a prarie and there are mountains in the distance, with a wide lens the mountains will be ver distant, if you use a zoom or 100mm or greater you can make the mountains come in closer and appear to be very close. This is why you will want to also stop the lens down or use higher f-stops. Also if say the moon is rising over the plain or prarie then using the higher end of the zoom and f-stop will increase the moon size. You use wide lenses when you want to convey expanse or emptiness. Also zooms are good for isolating areas if the scene is in an area where they are thing you dont want seen in the image.


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13 years 1 month ago #42349 by Scotty

Joves wrote:

Catti1era wrote: but I thought landscape had to be wide.

Depends on the scene you want. Lets say you are shooting a barn on a prarie and there are mountains in the distance, with a wide lens the mountains will be ver distant, if you use a zoom or 100mm or greater you can make the mountains come in closer and appear to be very close. This is why you will want to also stop the lens down or use higher f-stops. Also if say the moon is rising over the plain or prarie then using the higher end of the zoom and f-stop will increase the moon size. You use wide lenses when you want to convey expanse or emptiness. Also zooms are good for isolating areas if the scene is in an area where they are thing you dont want seen in the image.


I agree, it's all about distortion. Compressing the image, or distorting it so the closest object is bigger and the farthest is smaller.

When the last candle has been blown out
and the last glass of champagne has been drunk
All that you are left with are the memories and the images-David Cooke.

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13 years 1 month ago #42374 by Foggy

Scotty wrote: You'd be surprised how many pros shoot long instead of wide for their landscapes.


:agree: so true, it's all about vision and knowing how to angle, compose and work the scene.


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13 years 1 month ago #42378 by KVRNut
There are times when I see a shot and either it's too dangerous or too inacessible to get in close to take the shot so out comes the zoom lens and I get the shot that way. I'll use a 28-105 mm or 70-300 mm lens with or without a doubler, depending on the shot being taken.


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13 years 1 month ago #42414 by Hamtastic

KVRNut wrote: There are times when I see a shot and either it's too dangerous or too inacessible to get in close to take the shot so out comes the zoom lens and I get the shot that way. I'll use a 28-105 mm or 70-300 mm lens with or without a doubler, depending on the shot being taken.


I do that too, if it doesn't look like I can safely get the shot with a wide angle, I will just step back a little further and toss on a zoom lens.


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