Best lens for your digital SLR camera
The kit lens is a good start for anyone, as this allows photographers to match different lenses to different shooting situations. Digital SLR lenses come in all manner of shapes and sizes, and vary massively in price. How does one choose a lens from the myriad of offerings from original equipment manufacturers (OEM) and third party ones?
The most important thing when really looking at lenses is to look at the camera first. If your camera is slow, you don’t need a fast lens etc… Even more important: depending on the picture angle, the exact same lens may produce completely different pictures on different SLR’s due to the different sizes of the image sensor!
A very important point to take into consideration is the type of photography you want to do and consequently the overall weight and transportability of your system. There’s no point in having an array of beautiful lenses if you can’t carry them to the beautiful places you want to take pictures of.
Lenses for Canon digital SLR camera’s
Listed below are the one’s considered as being the best Canon and Nikon landscape lenses. It’s important that you also check to make sure the lens you choose is compatible with your digitial SLR model.
• Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM (ultra wide angle zoom lens)
The Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM lens is by far, a favorite all round lens. If you’re out on a photography trip and only have room for one lens, this is the one to take. This is a good all purpose lens that goes from ultra wide 17mm, all the way to a normal focal length of 85mm. It’s also not too large and heavy to carry and is priced around $520 USD at the time of writing this article. Another advantage is its image stabilization system that makes taking hand-held shots easier. Fantastic for those photographers who are just starting out and don’t want to spend a fortune, yet still need good quality photographs. You’ll notice many landscape photo’s found throughout this website are taken with Canon EF-S 17-85mm IS USM lens.
If there were to be a disadvantage of this lens, it would have to be the fact that it’s not too easy to achieve a blurred background. At f/4-5.6 aperture, you do need to be close to the subject with your lens zoomed out to 85mm focal length, while the objects behind it, need to be a good distance away to achieve any type of blurred background. However, once this is achieved, the blur is nice and round as you can see by the image below.
• Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM (wide angle zoom lens)
This landscape lens is for Canons more professional end of the market. It also goes from one wide angle extreme (24mm) to a higher 105mm focal length. It’s currently priced at $1046 USD. Similar to the one above, it also has the option of image stabilization.
• Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0 L USM (ultra wide angle zoom lens)
Because it is a very high quality but moderately-priced ultra wide angle zoom lens, the Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0 L USM Lens is one of Canon’s best selling lenses. If you see a Canon lens with a red circle around the tip, you know it’s considered better quality (sharper images) than those without the ring. This one is currently priced at $674 USD. However, you do need to take into consideration that this particular wide angle lens doesn’t zoom in as far (40 mm) as the other two listed above.
Lenses for Nikon digital SLR (DSLR) camera’s
Nikon 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 G ED-IF AF-S VR DX (ultra wide angle zoom lens)
The Nikon AF Zoom Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED-IF AF-S DX VR II is an all-in-one 11.1x zoom lens, ideal for dedicated amateurs and (semi-) professionals to use for countless situations and occasions, such as landscape, architecture, portrait, wedding, wildlife, holidays, expeditions and general travel photography. It is also ideal for news- and press photographers. This lens features the improved VR II (Vibration Reduction) system that allows handheld telephoto zoom shooting even in poorly lit conditions. The VR system minimizes image blur caused by camera shake, and offers the equivalent of shooting at a shutter speed 4 stops faster.
• Nikon 18mm - 70mm f/3.5-4.5G ED IF AF-S DX (ultra wide angle zoom lens)
The AF-S DX 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G IF-ED covers a very popular focal length range (equivalent to 27-105mm in 35mm format), and offers a selection of Nikon’s highly regarded technologies such as Silent Wave motor (AF-S) for super fast and quiet autofocus operation, Extra-Low Dispersion glass (ED) for minimized chromatic aberrations, and Internal Focusing (IF) for convenient and balanced handling.
• Nikon 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6G ED-IF AF-S DX Nikkor Lens (ultra wide angle zoom lens)
You can purchase this one for only a few dollars more at $294 USD. The advantage being the extra focal length at the normal end of the scale being 135mm. Reviews seem to be mixed on this one. Some like it, some don’t.
