If you are looking to get more into landscape photography but want to avoid primes, this is the list for you
Landscape photography is an interesting niche of photography, an excellent one for the hobbyist photographers of the world. There is little money in landscape photography, so you donât have people getting into the field chasing dreams of making it big or getting rich. You have a different sort of individual: a photographer interested in the art of the medium, the beauty of our world, and with documenting the natural beauty around us that so many take for granted. But it is also a niche where many people are ignorant to what you need to capture those amazing images we see in those travel magazines.
If you are one of those ignorant people who want to get better with their landscape photography one place you should start is with setting up a versatile landscape photography kit. Step one for that, assuming you already have a camera, is to choose a lens (or lenses if you have the budget). Landscape photography is also interesting in that the age-old adage âzoom with your feetâ doesnât really work â at least not in the spirit of that saying.
In portrait photography, street photography, and many other niches a photographer can somewhat easily change their frame by moving forward or backward with a prime lens, allowing the photographer to save on space and on weight. But in landscape photography, often times the landscapes â an epic mountain range for example â are a great distance away and while you could technically walk or drive closer (or further away) it is generally not as simple as walking 10 feet forward or backward, but rather hiking an additional 10 miles or more.
For obvious reasons, this is not ideal. So many landscape photographers find themselves leaning towards the use of zoom lenses. These allow a photographer to significantly change their framing without needing to hike another half day hoping to find a better vantage point closer or farther away from the desired subject. So, if you are coming from a mostly prime lens workflow, you may be wondering what zoom lenses you should be looking into for your landscape photography.
Today we are here to share with you our favorite zoom lenses for landscape photography, for both full frame and crop sensor systems.
Full Frame Zoom Lenses for Landscape Photography
For full-frame shooters, there are really 2-3 zoom lenses that we really feel fit great into the workflow of a landscape photographer. The 24-70mm, the 24-105mm, and the 70-200mm. Depending on the subject being shot, sometimes a lens like a 100-400mm could also be an excellent option if you are trying to shoot something that is a good distance away or trying to isolate something youâre closer to.
Another great benefit to shooting landscapes is that often you are shooting these during hours of the day with good light and often you want more depth of field so you arenât shackled to having to shell out a ton of money on the fastest lenses you can buy. Here are some of our favorite zoom lens options for landscape photographers with a full frame camera:
- Sony/Zeiss 24-70mm F4 ZA OSS – [amazon_textlink asin=’B00FSB79FU’ text=’Buy One’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’thephobl-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’1496381f-6a7f-11e8-bce5-0727019eda1e’] (Read our Review)
- Canon 24-70mm F4 L IS – [amazon_textlink asin=’B01LWNGDX4′ text=’Buy One’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’thephobl-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’9e824b92-6a7f-11e8-8923-53a4ddb68317′] (Read our Review)
- Tamron SP 24-70mm F2.8 Di VC USD – [amazon_textlink asin=’B075TXGRP7′ text=’Buy One’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’thephobl-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’c6663ce6-6a7f-11e8-af2f-ffd876094224′] (Read our Review)
- Sony 24-105mm F4G OSS – [amazon_textlink asin=’B07BYW7XNY’ text=’Buy One’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’thephobl-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’048d0967-6a80-11e8-bcae-1b9db423c67f’] (Read our Reivew)
- Canon 24-105mm f4 L IS USM II – [amazon_textlink asin=’B07954J9ZH’ text=’Buy One’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’thephobl-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’3348fef8-6a80-11e8-b891-33ab1951c65f’] (Read our Review)
- Tokina 70-200mm F4 AT-X Pro FX VCMS – [amazon_textlink asin=’B00KD34F3W’ text=’Buy One’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’thephobl-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’709d866a-6a80-11e8-bf5d-f510e27baaa3′] (Read our Review)
Crop Zoom Lenses for Landscape Photography
Honestly, the lenses that you âneedâ when shooting landscape photography on a crop sensor camera donât change all that much from full frame, itâs just a matter of the system you are using and if you tend to shoot tighter frames or wider frames. If you are shooting wider then you could do well with something like a 16-35mm, or a 24-70mm which both give you some good reach still too without needing to get something like a 50-140mm.
- Sony/Zeiss 16-35mm F4 – [amazon_textlink asin=’B00NGTN25C’ text=’Buy One’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’thephobl-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’437f1f91-6a81-11e8-aaa1-c1d1cf0a0ad3′] (Read our Review)
- Tamron 15-30mm F2.8 – [amazon_textlink asin=’B01IIKJ6EE’ text=’Buy One’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’thephobl-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’6bf231ad-6a81-11e8-947e-bf766ba54de0′] (Read our Review)
- Fujifilm 16-55mm F2.8 – [amazon_textlink asin=’B00RSQTDMA’ text=’Buy One’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’thephobl-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’8f0f7341-6a81-11e8-8708-77d1c0fc6b18′] (Read our Review)
- Panasonic 12-35mm F2.8 – [amazon_textlink asin=’B01MR9JA46′ text=’Buy One’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’thephobl-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’d709345c-6a81-11e8-a29f-3ba76ff31db6′] (Read our Review)
- Fujifilm 50-140mm F2.8 – [amazon_textlink asin=’B00NGFLO74′ text=’Buy One’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’thephobl-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’26db9e63-6a82-11e8-9baa-33f042c6a128′] (Read our Review)
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So there you have it, some of our favorite zoom lens options for full frame and crop sensor shooter who are looking for good landscape photography options. If you have any other suggestions or thoughts on this list go ahead and join the discussion in the comments below.
