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Author Topic: Lenses for Mountain Photography  (Read 12830 times)

Graham Clark

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Re: Lenses for Mountain Photography
« Reply #20 on: February 26, 2013, 02:29:41 am »

Does shooting the mountains involve trekking or climbing mountains? If so, my favorite lenses include:

  • Canon 17-40 F4
  • Nikkor 16-35 F4
  • Canon 70-200 F4/IS

Out of these top three, I prefer the Canon EF 17-40mm F/4 L. Not only is the Canon 17-40mm F/4 Canon’s lightest L lens (1.1 lbs / 475g) but it’s also the smallest L zoom lens. The one-stop advantage with the 16-35mm has virtually no impact for me, so I tend take the 17-40 over the 16-35 when there's a backpack involved.

With a complete range in mind, I like to take:

  • Canon 17-40mm L
  • Canon 40mm 2.8
  • Canon 70-200mm F4/IS L

Hope this helps! : )

Graham
« Last Edit: February 26, 2013, 02:33:42 am by Graham Clark »
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Graham Clark  |  grahamclarkphoto.com

KT

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Re: Lenses for Mountain Photography
« Reply #21 on: February 27, 2013, 12:26:53 am »

Does shooting the mountains involve trekking or climbing mountains?

Yes.  Typically I'm carrying 5-9 days of food plus backpacking and climbing gear. I typically don't use base camps, but rather move everyday with all of my gear, often on trail-less high traverses.  Put camera gear and a tripod in there and weight becomes important.

I'd like to see more unconventional lenses developed for landscape photography with weight in mind. These full frame lenses would have top notch optical quality worthy of a D800 for instance, but would sacrifice speed for weight.  Examples might include a light weight 35-70mm f4, maybe something like a 90-180mm f4 that might be a lighter and better quality lens as a 2x zoom than the 3x 70-200mm f4's are.  There are lots of ideas to consider.  For instance, if you're really concerned about weight while covering a broad focal length range, then leaving gaps in your focal lengths makes more sense than seamlessly joining them.  Instead of 14-24, 24-70 and 70-200 zooms which leave no gaps and are somewhat redundant at their extreme ends, consider making a series like 14-24, 35-70 and 90-180.  Such a series would cover very similar shooting preferences with less weight and quite possibly, better optical quality due to a 2x zoom design as opposed to 3x zooms.

Thanks for all your comments.
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Fine_Art

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Re: Lenses for Mountain Photography
« Reply #22 on: February 27, 2013, 04:59:29 pm »

I would replace the 50f1.8 by a macro lens to add this capability.

My personnal favorite is the Zeiss 50mm f2.0, but the Nikkor 60mm f2.8 is also a good option except it does have too much light fall off to be a perfect stitching lens.

Cheers,
Bernard


I normally use a 50 macro on 1.5 crop sensor. Sometimes a 100 macro for areas I can't get close to.

Having admired Bernard's mountain shots I recently did a set with a 180 Tamron macro. The image is not as good as the Minolta/Sony macros at range. I'd say it is more of a dedicated up close macro. I will buy a new lens to continue copying the 180 technique. Maybe a new 135 apodizing lens which I have always wanted.

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DaveCurtis

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Re: Lenses for Mountain Photography
« Reply #23 on: February 28, 2013, 02:31:33 am »

I think it really depends on the type of mountaineering/hiking you are doing.

I know down here in NZ with long multiday hikes in extreme weather sometime one pro weather sealed body and a 24-105 or more extreme zoom keeps the weight down and you get the shot. I find IS rather useful too.

For easier hikes I might take my favourite Zeiss primes or a long lens for wildlife as well.
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William Walker

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Re: Lenses for Mountain Photography
« Reply #24 on: March 02, 2013, 01:49:33 am »

I would replace the 50f1.8 by a macro lens to add this capability.

My personnal favorite is the Zeiss 50mm f2.0,

Cheers,
Bernard


Hi Bernard - it that the Makro Planar?

William
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BernardLanguillier

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Re: Lenses for Mountain Photography
« Reply #25 on: March 02, 2013, 07:44:40 am »

Hi Bernard - it that the Makro Planar?

William

Yes.

DaveCurtis

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Re: Lenses for Mountain Photography
« Reply #26 on: March 04, 2013, 02:12:18 am »

The Makro Planar is brilliant.

Here are a couple of shots with the 50MP
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