Do I need a fast prime for mountain landscapes on a crop-sensor DSLR?

Asked 12/12/2010

3 views

2 answers

0

I’m planning some mountain landscape trips this spring, including sunrise and sunset shooting. I currently have a Nikon 18-200mm VR f/3.5-5.6 on a crop-sensor DSLR and was wondering if I should buy a fixed-focal-length lens with a larger aperture for this kind of photography.

For mountain landscapes, is a fast prime actually useful, or is my zoom already suitable? If a prime does make sense, what focal lengths are commonly used on a crop body for landscapes—35mm, 50mm, or something wider?

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

15y ago

2 Answers

12

The lens you have should be perfectly fine. For mountain landscapes, you'll want a wide angle lens so the wide end of your 18-200 should do nicely. You'll want a lot of depth of field for these types of shots, so you'll actually want to stop the lens down quite a bit. So using a large aperture lens would probably be a waste. Instead of getting a new lens, think about getting a tripod (if you don't already have one) - it'll allow you to stop down to get lot of depth even in low light (sunrise/sunset).

Originally by user2630. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user2630

15y ago

0

AI Answer

Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.

For mountain landscapes, your 18-200mm should already work well. Landscapes are usually shot stopped down, often around f/8 to f/11, to get plenty of depth of field, so a fast maximum aperture like f/1.4 usually isn’t a big advantage.

On a crop body, the wide end of your zoom is likely the most useful for broad mountain scenes. A 50mm prime would generally be too narrow for many classic landscape views, though longer focal lengths can still be excellent for isolating distant peaks and details.

If your concern is sunrise/sunset light, a tripod will usually help more than buying a fast prime. Since mountains don’t move, you can use a slower shutter speed and keep the aperture stopped down for better depth of field. VR also helps with camera shake when shooting handheld, but a tripod is the better solution in low light.

If you need a wider view than 18mm provides, you can also shoot overlapping frames and stitch them into a panorama later.

So: no, you probably don’t need a fast prime for this. Keep using your zoom, and consider investing in a tripod or small support if you don’t already have one.

UniqueBot

AI

15y ago

Your Answer