Lens for Landscape and Night Photography

Hello All,

I am currently looking to upgrade my lens Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM to either:

- Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM

- Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM

- Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM

Will be using this lens for Landscape and Night Photography, well basically anytime I go out of town, I shall carry this lens. Currently I try to learn more into Night Photography.

I did try those three lenses and must say, am getting really confused as am happy with all the results. Therefore I would appreciate your advices.

Oh by the way, that EF-S 10-22 was sold last week as I need to add my budget for this upgrade.

Thank you and awaiting feedback.

Full frame or APS-C ? You had the 10-22 so I assume APS-C, in that case Tokina 11-16mm f2.8.

For full frame, Tamron 15-30 f2.8.

The 24-70 mkII is the best lens of the lot that you trued, but it's not exactly a common choice for astrophotography. It's also not very wide on APS-C.

Canon 16-35 f2.8 is way overpriced for what it offers, if you need f2.8 then go with Tamron.

Samyang / Rokinon 14mm f2.8 performs amazingly well for nightsky photography and will leave a lot of cash in your wallet, but you may need an extra UWA zoom for convenience. You'll notice on the Flickr group for the Samyang lens that a lot of those images are about night skies.

So, if I had to sum up my reccomendations list:

a) APS-C -> Tokina 11-16mm

b) Full frame, 1 single lens -> Tamron 15-30mm f2.8

c) Full frame, 2 lenses, good value -> Samyang / Rokinon 14mm f2.8 + Canon 17-40mm

The reason why I consider option C as good value is that the 17-40 is a very old lens and it's very easy to find second hand at really low prices. The newer 16-35 f4 is much better optically, but the price is also much higher and you mentioned that you already liked the results from the 17-40. You can use filters on the 17-40 (as well as the 16-35 f4), which is often helpful for landscapes. The Tamron and Samyang lenses don't take filters.

unefemme wrote:

Hello All,

I am currently looking to upgrade my lens Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM to either:

- Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM

- Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM

- Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM

Will be using this lens for Landscape and Night Photography, well basically anytime I go out of town, I shall carry this lens. Currently I try to learn more into Night Photography.

I did try those three lenses and must say, am getting really confused as am happy with all the results. Therefore I would appreciate your advices.

Oh by the way, that EF-S 10-22 was sold last week as I need to add my budget for this upgrade.

Thank you and awaiting feedback.

It depends on whether you prefer more reach rather than getting a bit wider. If wider than save money and buy 17-40mm f4.0 as for landscapes DOF is a requirement so narrow aperture won't feel like a limitation. 24-70mm is a usual walk around lens giving you an option of shooting some portraits also owing to its reach and wider aperture.

What didn't you like about the 10-22?

Krusty79 wrote:

What didn't you like about the 10-22?

Hello,

The 10-22 EF-S does not fit with my 5D.

TyphoonTW wrote:

Full frame or APS-C ? You had the 10-22 so I assume APS-C, in that case Tokina 11-16mm f2.8.

For full frame, Tamron 15-30 f2.8.

The 24-70 mkII is the best lens of the lot that you trued, but it's not exactly a common choice for astrophotography. It's also not very wide on APS-C.

Hello,

I do own both FF and APS-C however I would like to pair the new lens with my FF camera.

Canon 16-35 f2.8 is way overpriced for what it offers, if you need f2.8 then go with Tamron.

Samyang / Rokinon 14mm f2.8 performs amazingly well for nightsky photography and will leave a lot of cash in your wallet, but you may need an extra UWA zoom for convenience. You'll notice on the Flickr group for the Samyang lens that a lot of those images are about night skies.

Yes Samyang 14mm f2.8 is already in my bag Although up to now I do not have a good chance yet to test it due to ugly weather in our place (grey, foggy, etc..)

So, if I had to sum up my reccomendations list:

a) APS-C -> Tokina 11-16mm

b) Full frame, 1 single lens -> Tamron 15-30mm f2.8

c) Full frame, 2 lenses, good value -> Samyang / Rokinon 14mm f2.8 + Canon 17-40mm

The reason why I consider option C as good value is that the 17-40 is a very old lens and it's very easy to find second hand at really low prices. The newer 16-35 f4 is much better optically, but the price is also much higher and you mentioned that you already liked the results from the 17-40. You can use filters on the 17-40 (as well as the 16-35 f4), which is often helpful for landscapes. The Tamron and Samyang lenses don't take filters.

Looks like I have to rent the Tamron 15-30mm as you suggested to see if this will go with my need.

Many thanks once again for your feedback.

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ajay0612 wrote:

It depends on whether you prefer more reach rather than getting a bit wider. If wider than save money and buy 17-40mm f4.0 as for landscapes DOF is a requirement so narrow aperture won't feel like a limitation. 24-70mm is a usual walk around lens giving you an option of shooting some portraits also owing to its reach and wider aperture.

Yeah that is indeed true.

I rented the 24-70mm last time and took a picture of a landmark building, which is located across the river. I did shot with 41mm which in this case, the wide angle lens would not be sufficient.

No problem!

My Samyang has the same problems as yours: waiting for the end of the rain season!

Yes I do have Samyang 14mm f2.8, however my mistake that I did not further explain earlier. What I am searching for is a lens that enable me to shot the city with lightings.

Many thanks

unefemme wrote:

Yes I do have Samyang 14mm f2.8, however my mistake that I did not further explain earlier. What I am searching for is a lens that enable me to shot the city with lightings.

Many thanks

Do you use a tripod or do you shoot hand-held? For tripod+city any lens would do as you will stop down anyway. In such case a lens should be judged by resistance to flare (matters more at night than during the day) and the quality of the star effect as you stop down.

For hand-held shooting a F1.4 lens can give you 4x shorter exposures or 4x more light, compared to f/2.8. Or you may like IS instead.

As you have the 14mm Samyang are you looking for something less wide?

Edit: do you mean lightning? Then you would need a less wide lens and not one with a bulbous front element which catches rain drops. The wider you would shoot the more upward tilted and the more chance of rain. Probably 28mm or 35mm/40mm are better for this use  (I used EF 28mm f/2.8 and 50mm f/1.8 for this, with lens hoods).

oscarvdvelde wrote:

unefemme wrote:

Yes I do have Samyang 14mm f2.8, however my mistake that I did not further explain earlier. What I am searching for is a lens that enable me to shot the city with lightings.

Many thanks

Do you use a tripod or do you shoot hand-held? For tripod+city any lens would do as you will stop down anyway. In such case a lens should be judged by resistance to flare (matters more at night than during the day) and the quality of the star effect as you stop down.

Hi, I do use a tripod.

For hand-held shooting a F1.4 lens can give you 4x shorter exposures or 4x more light, compared to f/2.8. Or you may like IS instead.

As you have the 14mm Samyang are you looking for something less wide?

That is the thing, I try to make a backup so basically f1.4mm lens will go with one camera and the zoom one will be with another one. At home I can always compare and decide which one I like more. (I know.. I make things complicated LOL)

Edit: do you mean lightning? Then you would need a less wide lens and not one with a bulbous front element which catches rain drops. The wider you would shoot the more upward tilted and the more chance of rain. Probably 28mm or 35mm/40mm are better for this use (I used EF 28mm f/2.8 and 50mm f/1.8 for this, with lens hoods).

No, I mean the lighting. Like this one below, how I love the effect coming out from the lights. This was taken with 24-70mm f2-8

Am wondering if 17-40 and 16-35 give out the same quality? (Perhaps a silly question, but I just start to learn Night Photography)

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