Settings for landscapes using my 18-55mm kit lens

nayan

Hi @Moose - I got my Canon T2i camera last month and it's been overwhelming at times. I have the 18-55mm kit lens, the 55-250mm zoom lens and the 50mm f/1.8 lens. For portraits and close-ups, I use my 50mm prime lens and for landscapes I use the kit lens and zoom lens occasionally.

I mostly shoot in Av mode. My first question is, which settings should I use to get the maximum out of my kit lens while taking landscape shots in full sunlight and under cloudy conditions.

I have gone through your discussions and found it very helpful. Will search through your forum though to see if some of my questions were already answered. Thanks - Nayan

t2iski

Av and Tv are common shooting modes when you want to get a quick shot. When you have time to set up and get all settings the way you want them, then M mode is the way to go.

When I first started with my T2i, I would go into the yard and find a subject and take many pics with different settings in M mode.

You will soon find that M mode will teach you a lot about which setting to use as far as shutter, aperture, f/stop and ISO. Just keep taking a lot of pics and have fun.

PBked

Hi @nayan - Another point to look out for is your white balance. Auto white balance is pretty good, but sometimes it is better to set it to one of the presets...daylight for sunny conditions and cloudy for dull days or in partial shade. Regards - PBked

t2iski

@PBKed is right about white balance. It is very important to learn and use the proper WB when shooting. Shoot in RAW and this becomes less of a problem (you can fix in post-processing). I uploaded Magic Lantern and use many of the ML functions.

nayan

@t2iski & @PBKed - Thanks for the advice. I have experimented with M mode, but for most of my shots I use Av mode since I'm not very fast with M mode yet (will hopefully get better with time).

Any advice on taking good landscapes with my kit lens for now. The picture I took isn't very sharp. I live in an Amish county in PA which is beatiful around spring. I dont want to miss the chance of taking some cool pics. :)

Is there some good third party wide angle lens for around $300. I dont have the budget now to go for an expensive lens.

Moose

Howdy @nayan - When it comes to landscapes, I highly recommend getting used to shooting with a tripod. 99% of the time, blurriness is caused by camera shake when photographing landscapes. Here are some settings I'd start with...

1. Mount your T2i to a tripod and attach your 18-55mm or 55-250mm lens
2. Turn off Image Stabilization on your lens
3. Enable Aperture priority (Av)
4. Set the aperture f-number between f/8 to f/16
5. Set your ISO to 100
6. Adjust your focus mode to One Shot
7. Enable the Self-timer or use a remote like the Canon RS-60E3 (see here)

With these settings in place, focus on the landscape by half-pressing the shutter. If all looks good, fully press the shutter. With the self-timer enabled (or using a remote), you'll be able to get your hands off the camera...thus preventing any chance of camera shake stealing the sharpness out of your shots.

As for third party landscape lenses, I would try to find a used Tamron 10-24mm (see here) or Sigma 10-20mm (see here). Both lenses will give you an extremely wide field of view for capturing sweeping landscapes, cityscapes, interiors, etc...

Hope that helps and happy shooting! :)

nayan

@moose - Thanks! Will get a tripod quickly and probably the extra lenses few months later.

nayan

@moose - How do u rate the cannon 24mm and 28mm prime lens as a wide angle lens compared to the lenses u mentioned above?