3 must-have lenses for a versatile landscape photography kit

 

 

Photographer Nigel Danson has captured a lot of landscape photos. With that experience comes knowledge not only about how to get the most out of his gear, but also which gear he values the most as part of his landscape photography kit. In the video below, Danson shares three landscape lenses he loves.

For Danson, he shoots with a full-frame Nikon DSLR and also an APS-C Fujifilm X Series camera. While his lenses are a bit different between the two kits, they all can be placed into groups. A super wide lens is a great choice for landscape photography. While it can sometimes be easy to go too wide, you still want the option to capture a huge scene in a single shot. For Danson, this means the Nikon 16-35mm f/4 and the Fujifilm 10-24mm f/4. 

Another important type of lens is the "nifty fifty." On full-frame, that's a Sigma 50mm f/1.4 Art lens. On an APS-C camera, it's actually a 35mm lens that offers a similar field of view. Danson went with the Fujifilm XF 35mm f/2 for his Fujifilm kit.

Although not as commonly-considered a "landscape lens," a long zoom is a great choice for capturing distinct landscape shots. Sometimes the best scene is actually within the scene and you need to zoom in to capture it. Danson goes with a 70-200mm f/2.8 on Nikon and Fujifilm's 50-140mm f/2.8 zoom for APS-C.

I'd like to add that my most-used landscape lens in my Nikon full-frame kit is not a super wide lens, but instead my 24-70mm f/2.8G lens, which I often shoot between 24mm and 40mm. There have definitely been times when I've gone for a telephoto zoom lens as well though, and my 14-24mm f/2.8 has seen plenty of use.

Readers, what are your favorite types of lenses for landscape photography? Let us know in the comments below. To see more videos like this, head over to Nigel Danson's YouTube channel.

(Via Nigel Danson)