Landscape lens

Dennisanthonyblabla

Hi, I'm still new to photography, but I'm still confused about the different lenses. Mostly I shoot landscape, but I'm having a difficult time deciding what lens should I buy. Should I be using a prime lens or zoom lens?

PBked

For the best results, use a prime. Many people are satisfied with the results they get from their 18-55mm kit lens, but if you invested in a 35mm prime you would definitely see an improvement in quality.
No doubt the Nikon owners on this site will soon provide you with some suitable recommendations.
PBked

Dennisanthonyblabla

Thanks a lot @PBKED. I'm actually confused about what mm I should buy, but your comment helped me decide which lens I should be buying.

bruto

For landscape, tastes differ, but generally speaking, a wider angle (shorter focal length) is preferred. Exactly which length or lengths you prefer is probably best determined by using the 18-55mm kit lens first, and keeping track of what zoom settings you find most useful. If you're always down at 18mm and wishing for wider, then you need a wide angle. If you're most often in the middle, you may well be satisfied with the 35mm, which is a "normal" perspective. If the 35mm suits you, you're in luck, because it's a bargain.

In the DX format, 18mm is a wide angle, but not super-wide. In 35mm format, my favorite wide angle lens was 24mm, and I occasionally use a 20mm. In DX format, that would be about 16mm and 13mm. If you look at photos on the web, you will see a lot of shots made at the very wide perspective, and although they can be quite dramatic when done right, it's also pretty easy to come up with a cliche. For my own part, I always found 24mm in 35mm (DX = 16) a width that gives you very wide perspective, without looking radically peculiar.

When shooting very wide angles, a couple of things should be kept in mind. First and best is that you will have extreme depth of field without much effort. Focusing will be relatively non critical. Second, whether you like it or not, your shot will include a lot of everything, and that means you must account for foreground in your composition. Unless you're shooting a skyscape, the ground in front of you will be an integral part of your picture, and if it's dull, so is your picture. Grass, branches, wires, and other distractions around the edge will be there. Don't forget to keep track of what's in the edges or you'll have to crop it out later.

I can't make any particular recommendation on lenses, but in general, a prime will give you the best quality image for the least money. A prime lens is less complicated inside, and easier to correct for the best linearity, contrast and so forth, so if you find the focal length you like, a prime will give you the best bang for the buck. There are short focus zooms as well, which are said to give a very good image, some equal to or better than the primes, but they can be very pricey.

I should also mention that one rather nice alternative these days for wide angles on DX is panoramic shooting. Microsoft makes a free stitching program that allows you to make panoramas quite easily and works very well. If you want the occasional very wide horizon, it's well worth looking at.