Lens suggestions

Hi, I'm very interested in landscape photography (no animals and minimal flowers). I really like clouds, landscapes and cityscapes. The 300d kit lens doesn't seem to give me the sharpness I need (or I just don't know how to shoot). I would eventually like to sell some pics. I need some input on which lenses will give me those dramatic, sharp and beautiful pictures. I'm not rich. L-glass is out of the question. I like the grand landscapes as well as the simple. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Tim

Tim said:

Hi, I'm very interested in landscape photography (no animals and
minimal flowers). I really like clouds, landscapes and cityscapes.
The 300d kit lens doesn't seem to give me the sharpness I need (or
I just don't know how to shoot). I would eventually like to sell
some pics. I need some input on which lenses will give me those
dramatic, sharp and beautiful pictures. I'm not rich. L-glass is
out of the question. I like the grand landscapes as well as the
simple. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Tim

Click to expand...

The 50mm f1.8 prime willl take nice landscape pictures. You may need to learn to stitch images together to make panoramas, but the 1.8 is supposed to be just as sharp as the 50mm 1.4 only made out of plastic and for under $100.

I would try a prime like the Canon or Sigma 24 f2.8 or 28 f2.8. They are much sharper than a consumer zoom (especially if stopped down a bit) and won't empty your wallet like an L lens.

Tim said:

Hi, I'm very interested in landscape photography (no animals and
minimal flowers). I really like clouds, landscapes and cityscapes.
The 300d kit lens doesn't seem to give me the sharpness I need (or
I just don't know how to shoot). I would eventually like to sell
some pics. I need some input on which lenses will give me those
dramatic, sharp and beautiful pictures. I'm not rich. L-glass is
out of the question. I like the grand landscapes as well as the
simple. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Tim

Click to expand...

To get dramatic results, you need zoom lens. If you want to spend around $400 on lens, Canon EF 28-135IS is a good choice, and I saw many good landscape pics out of that lens with/without the polarizer. Here is one that I took without polarizer: http://www.pbase.com/image/27098904

If you can spend $600, then Canon EF 70-200mm/f4L is a wonderful lens. It has great color contrast, and most of all, it is amazingly sharp.

---wuchou

Tim said:

Hi, I'm very interested in landscape photography (no animals and
minimal flowers). I really like clouds, landscapes and cityscapes.
The 300d kit lens doesn't seem to give me the sharpness I need (or
I just don't know how to shoot). I would eventually like to sell
some pics. I need some input on which lenses will give me those
dramatic, sharp and beautiful pictures. I'm not rich. L-glass is
out of the question. I like the grand landscapes as well as the
simple. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Tim

Click to expand...

You could also consider Manual focus primes. There are a lot of quality M42 lenses out there going very cheaply and for landscapes the lack for autofocus and auto settings would not be a problem.

M42 to EOS adapters are readily available and many people are using them.

Generally though, wide angle are recomended for landscapes along with small apatures to get everything in focus.

That said there are always exceptions to the rules (before anyone points it out).

What the heck are you talking about? You are flat wrong - zooms are NOT inherently superior to primes, and at the same price point a prime is usually sharper than a zoom at the same focal length. Good zooms are wonderful tools - but a good prime is very hard to beat.

wu chou said:

If you can spend $600, then Canon EF 70-200mm/f4L is a wonderful
lens. It has great color contrast, and most of all, it is amazingly
sharp.

---wuchou

Tim said:

Hi, I'm very interested in landscape photography (no animals and
minimal flowers). I really like clouds, landscapes and cityscapes.
The 300d kit lens doesn't seem to give me the sharpness I need (or
I just don't know how to shoot). I would eventually like to sell
some pics. I need some input on which lenses will give me those
dramatic, sharp and beautiful pictures. I'm not rich. L-glass is
out of the question. I like the grand landscapes as well as the
simple. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Tim

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

I think we are talking about different things. The assumption in my email is to create some dramatic shots, and I find zoom lens is very good for that. It is not saying that zoom is superior to primes. Primes can definitely be better than zooms, but it is not that flexible unless you carry a bag of primes and have a quick hand to inter-change them for the best shots.

If you buy multiple prime lenses to cover all interesting focal lengths of a zoom, I think the price point will change. Some of my friends are buying multiple good prime lenses, even some excellent optical ones with just manual focusing (no auto focusing). But it is at a different investiment point and skill level.

If the skill is up to that level with deep pocket resources, strong shoulder, and commitment, you are absolutely right that a bag of best primes is better than a zoom lens.

---wuchou

billybob_jcv said:

wu chou said:

If you can spend $600, then Canon EF 70-200mm/f4L is a wonderful
lens. It has great color contrast, and most of all, it is amazingly
sharp.

---wuchou

Tim said:

Hi, I'm very interested in landscape photography (no animals and
minimal flowers). I really like clouds, landscapes and cityscapes.
The 300d kit lens doesn't seem to give me the sharpness I need (or
I just don't know how to shoot). I would eventually like to sell
some pics. I need some input on which lenses will give me those
dramatic, sharp and beautiful pictures. I'm not rich. L-glass is
out of the question. I like the grand landscapes as well as the
simple. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Tim

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Thanks for the info. I'll have to start researching and pricing. I also found this useful link. Tim

http://photonotes.org/articles/beginner-faq/lenses.html