3 Essential Lenses for Landscape Photography
- A Firecrest UltraSlim Polarizing Filter, which cuts down glare, reduces haze, and improves contrast in the sky.
- A Firecrest 6-Stop Neutral Density Filter for creating gorgeous daytime long exposures that accentuate the movement of clouds and water.
- A Firecrest 2-Stop Soft Edge Graduated Neutral Density Filter for darkening bright skies and evening out the dynamic range between the sky and the landscape.
- A Firecrest 2-Stop Reverse Graduated Neutral Density Filter for taking improved photos at sunrise and sunset.
The great thing about being a landscape photographer these days is that there are simply so many lenses that you can use to take great photos.
And while all that selection is nice, picking between them can be a tough task...Thankfully, Nigel Danson is to the rescue with his three favorite landscape photography lenses.
While you might not be able to purchase all three lenses, you can bet that any one of them will be well-suited to landscape photography.
Have a look at his side-by-side-by-side comparison above, and for more details about each, check out the quick review below.
Editor's Tip: Need a good prime lens for your Nikon camera? Don't buy a thing until you've investigated the top prime lenses for Nikon.
Best Landscape Lens: 16-35mm f/4G ED VR II
On the wide-angle end, the 16-35mm f/4G ED VR II from Nikon is an excellent choice for a Nikon shooter's landscape photography kit.
Though the f/4 aperture isn't particularly wide, a massive aperture opening isn't needed for shooting typical daytime photos of landscapes.
This lens is outfitted with Nikon's vibration reduction technology, so you can more confidently hand hold the camera without as much worry about camera shake.
That feature comes in handy when you need to work quickly and don't have time to set up a tripod for each and every shot.
This lens's performance is outstanding as well.
Its optical design includes two extra-low dispersion elements and three aspherical elements which give you improved image quality due to reduced aberrations and distortion.
Not only does that improve sharpness, but combined with a nano crystal coating, this lens also has reduced flare and ghosting, improved color accuracy, and better contrast as well.
The wide-angle range of 16-35mm is also perfect for capturing sweeping landscapes in greater totality.
For more details on this lens, consult the video above by Nikon Europe.
Must-Have Landscape Lens: Sigma 50mm f/1.4 ART
Sigma has come a long way in recent years and has quickly become a fantastic lensmaker, particularly when it comes to their ART line of lenses.
The 50mm f/1.4 ART lens by Sigma is a fantastic choice for landscape photography for a number of reasons.
First, this lens is lightning-fast with a f/1.4 aperture that allows you to get clean shots at dawn, dusk, and even in the middle of the night thanks to all the light that the f/1.4 aperture can collect.
Second, this lens is supremely sharp from corner to corner. There is little in the way of distortion or chromatic aberration, either.
The 50mm focal length on a full frame camera offers a beautiful representation of the landscape in standard view. On an APS-C camera, the effective focal length jumps into short telephoto territory, so you can more effectively capture distant elements or create more intimate landscapes.
Either way, this is one heck of a lens that offers top-notch performance. It's available for Canon and Sony cameras as well. It's on the pricey side, but if you buy pre-owned, you can find great deals that allow you to stretch your budget a little further.
Get more details on this lens by viewing the video above by DigitalRev TV.
Editor's Tip: In the market for a new camera? Learn why upgrading your lens is a better choice.
Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8
When you consider the best lenses for landscape photography, you have to include a telephoto lens in the bunch.
The Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 gives you the extra-long focal length needed to take photos of very distant subjects and wildlife.
But this lens also has a large f/2.8 maximum aperture, which allows it to collect more light and gives you more possibilities for when you take photos.
Granted, it's not going to compete with the aforementioned Sigma 50mm f/1.4 in a low-light shooting competition, but f/2.8 is nothing to thumb your nose at!
What's more, this variation of this lens is smaller and lighter weight than its predecessor, so even though it's a big lens, you don't feel like you're bogged down by it.
Its performance is excellent, too.
The autofocus performs well in situations in which you need to fire off quick shots, and with Nikon's Vibration Reduction, you can shoot handheld in a vast majority of situations without worrying as much about camera shake.
It's a sharp lens as well, particularly in the center of the frame. There is some fall off to the sides, but that's to be expected. It's nothing that should deter you from thinking about buying this lens! Learn more about this lens in the video above by LensProToGo.
No matter which of these Nikon landscape lenses you buy, it'll be a great addition to your kit.
And even if they're prohibitively expensive brand new, remember that you can find great deals on pre-owned lenses, so before you commit to buying a new lens, see if you can find a quality used one instead!
A Must-Have Lens Accessory: A Good Filter Kit
You can shop for the best landscape photography lenses, but even if you buy good glass, you should take it a step further to maximize the quality of the images that your lenses can capture.
You can do that with a good filter kit.
Like lenses, filter kits - the good ones, anyway - can be pricey, but they're worth it.
And for my money, it doesn't get much better than the Colby Brown Signature Edition Landscape Photography Filter Kit by Formatt-Hitech.
I know that Photoshop and Lightroom can do amazing things, but when it comes to achieving the look of a good ND filter, grad ND, or polarizer, using the actual thing is still a much better option.
There's a lot of reasons for that - the high-quality construction among them - but perhaps more importantly, this kit has everything you need to rock out awesome landscape photos:
In other words, no matter what sort of landscape you want to photograph, this kit has the filters you need!
You also get a 100mm filter holder, step rings and adaptor rings, pouches to carry your filters, and a Colby Brown booklet to get your creative juices flowing.
Not bad, right?
