Landscape Lens

[Esmolloyd]

Hi, I'm new to this digital workd and I'm wondering which is the best lens for landscape photography. I have a Canon D5 Mk11, any suggestions would be a great help, thanks.

[RichardTaylor]

It all depends on your style of shooting, and budget.

If you like wide;
Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0 L USM
or
Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8 L II USM

For general purpose;
I use my Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM a lot.

For long.
Canon EF 70-200mm f/4.0 L IS USM (I have the non IS version.

For maximum control of DOF

One of the Tilt-shift lenses
Example.
Canon TS-E 17mm f/4 L Tilt-Shift Lens

[Esmolloyd]

Hi Richard,
Thanks a million I really appreciate you advice, I"ll take it on board. I have and EF 28-135 is USM lens that I'm using at the moment, but I'll definitely have to get one of those L type lens.Thanks again,

[inkista]

Assuming you want to shoot wider for landscapes, I'd stay away from the 16-35L and go for the 17-40L instead. The complaints about the 16-35L II being soft below 24mm are legion, and you don't really need the f/2.8 if you're shooting landscapes. And the cost difference is substantial. The 17-40 is one of the few Ls under four figures, and used copies abound for this reason. Canon's wide angle glass is just not up to a par with Nikon's 14-24.

If you want to go really really really wide, there's the Sigma 14-24, which does indeed work on a full-frame, unlike most of the ultrawides out there. If you're nuts and still shooting with a crop body as well, you could get the Tokina 11-16/2.8. It vignettes on full frame up until about 15mm, so you essentially use it as a 16mm prime on full frame.

In manual focus lens land, there are a ton of choices, if you can put up with no autofocus, being limited to M and Av modes, and stop-down metering. There's the $400 manual focus Samyang/Rokinon/Vivitar/etc. 14mm f/2.8 prime lens, which has funky mustache distortion but is incredibly sharp. There's the really expensive ($1800) Zeiss ZE Distagon 21/2.8. The Olympus OM 18mm f/3.5 (also about $1000 on the used market and very rare), and the OM 24/2.8 (plentiful and cheapish around $200). I have the Contax/Yashica Zeiss 28mm f/2.8, but I'm having problems with mirror clearance when the lens is focused at infinity.

The ultimate is probably to get the 16:9 Nikon G-mount adapter and just use the Nikon 14-24, but the wait is usually about six to nine months to get the adapter and it costs $300 all on its own. Add in the cost of the 14-24, and the PITAness of shooting manual with it, and that's more than most folks want to take on. Might be better just to get a D700 to go with it.

[EOBeav]

Couple a 17-40mm f/4 L to that 5D and you should have no problems. Canon also has a wider angle zoom coming out soon, so it will be interesting to see the kind of images it produces.

[OsmosisStudios]

Or go off the reservation and adapt a Nikon 14-24 or 16-35.

[Batista]

A lens is what your camera uses to focus on a scene. Lenses can be cheap or expensive and big or small. If you have been researching what kind of lens you will need for what you are going to use your camera for I'm sure you have already discovered that there is a huge variety of lenses available for just about any situation possible. There are wide-angle, midrange, zoom, telephoto, and fixed lenses.

[LoveDSLR]

Originally Posted by Esmolloyd

...which is the best lens for landscape photography. I have a Canon D5 Mk11.

The best lens? My personal choice for my 5D Mk II is converting my Nikon 14-24 f/2.8 with a 16-9.net adapter.

I did check out the Canon 16-35 L & 17-40 L and they aren't that good comparing with the Nikon 14-24. However, I'm sure Canon will refresh these two lenses in the future.

[gturner]

there is a version II of the 16-35, so that is not going to get an update soon.

I have a 5Dii and 17-40 and am pretty happy, but not completely satisfied. It is a "cheaper" option and I don't do a massive amount of landscapes.

I am going to look around for a used 14mm L .... find a struggling pro that needs to pay the rent and kick him whilst he is down LOL!