Looking for advice

[tnlacombe]

I am new to photography, have bought a Nikon D5000 and I prefer to take pictures of landscapes, with that in mind if you could have only one lens what would it be ?

[SwissJon]

Easy.. 17-35 f/2.8

[Elmo]

For landscapes I am not convinced f:2.8 is needed for landscapes. I would go toward something with more range like a 17 to 50 and give up some lens speed. The other side of the token is the additional lens speed is great for many other photo ops. It turns out my favorite general landscape lens is a 2.8 with a wider range (Tamron 17-50 f:2.8). This is also the lens I use 90 percent of the time on my reduced sensor camera, no matter what the subject..

[DanielLane]

my advice is:




Don't eat the yellow snow!


oh and as for lenses... hmmm... well, it kind of matters as to what kind of landscape photography you want to do. You could go with an ultra-wide lens and just do sweeping landscapes. I like my Tokina 11-16mm 2.8 for those. but thats not much of a range for anything else.

[SwissJon]

Hey.. He asked what I'd get, not what I thought Elmo would get

The reason I chose the 17-35 is because the IQ is supposed to have almost as the 14-24. And let's face it, at 17mm, the Hyperfocal distance is 5.15m at f/2.8 so you can use that speed for a landscape, meaning that you can possibly hand hold in light that you probably wouldn't with a slower lens.. I know I've been places without my tripod and wished I'd had it.

[Doug Sundseth]

Only one lens? 18-200.

With VR, the only time I've had trouble hand-holding a landscape shot was in the mountains on a moonless night when it was as black as the inside of a coal mine. The 18mm end is wide enough for most shots I want (and a pano will do most of the rest) and the 200mm end lets me get details that I can't (or can't be bothered to) hike close to.

You give up some image quality with a super-zoom, but you also don't have to change lenses (and risk sensor dust) and you don't have to carry a lens bag, either. This wouldn't be the choice for everyone, but it works well for me.

[tnlacombe]

Thanks, you all have been a great help !