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Landscape Newbie

Posted 07/11/2012 - 19:50 Link
Guys

Ive always photography birds and general nature from day one (http://www.flickr.com/photos/awprentice/) but lately I have tried my shutter at Landscape work and am absolutely hooked!

My ailing k-x is getting it tough at the moment changing from 150 500 - to the kit 18-55 so at some stage I want to get a wider lens one more suited to this style of snapping.

Can anyone recommend me the best lens for the job from Pentax - also interested in hearing from Sigma 10-20 users because thats the one thats floating my boat right now

Ta
Learn how to live and you'll know how to die; learn how to die, and you'll know how to live.

Check out ones photographs on Flickr!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/awprentice/
Snootchies
Posted 07/11/2012 - 19:55 Link
I would certainly recommend the Siggy 10-20. It forms part of my 'core' kit - that is, lenses I will not part with.

In fact just to give you an idea of how much I love this lens, and what you can achieve with it:

Comment Image


Seriously it's a corker. There is a newer and more expensive HSM version but really, why do you need silent focusing with a wide angle lens? Grab a great value used version of this lens for around £200- £250 and be very happy!
Bob

My website (Hadfield Photography)

Pentax Gallery Artist page:link

Flickr Photostream: link
Edited by Snootchies: 07/11/2012 - 20:01
Gwyn
Posted 07/11/2012 - 20:03 Link
I don't like an ultra wide angle for landscapes. Rather than giving you a sweeping landscape view it gives you a squashed up view. UWAs have their place yes, but for landscapes it is better to not go so wide, and if you really want a sweeping view then take two or three photos and make a panorama from them.
I have the Pentax 17-70 and find that plenty wide enough for landscape. I had a 10-20 but didn't like it for landscapes so it went.
Blythman
Posted 07/11/2012 - 20:07 Link
Is 18mm wide enough for you Alistair?

If so then standard wide range zooms include Pentax 16-45 (which you'll probably only get second hand, the Pentax 17-70, or the Tamron 17-50. All are excellent.

Going wider there is the Pentax 12-24, the Sigma 10-20 and the Sigma 8-16. I've just bought a 12-24 for its reputation, but haven't used it much yet. You've seen my photostream on flickr. Nearly all my seascapes are with the 10-20. Also used it for wildlife (squirrel shots)
Alan


PPG
Flickr
Edited by Blythman: 07/11/2012 - 20:08
Posted 07/11/2012 - 20:15 Link
Thanks guys - smoochy? That photo is class

Your right Gwyn I might now even like that wide until i have a go woth one. Alan? I noticed you got that new lens and look forward to seeing more - in fact I am going to go back and start looking at your old stuff!
Learn how to live and you'll know how to die; learn how to die, and you'll know how to live.

Check out ones photographs on Flickr!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/awprentice/
bwlchmawr
Posted 07/11/2012 - 20:18 Link
Gwyn wrote:
I don't like an ultra wide angle for landscapes. Rather than giving you a sweeping landscape view it gives you a squashed up view. UWAs have their place yes, but for landscapes it is better to not go so wide, and if you really want a sweeping view then take two or three photos and make a panorama from them.
I have the Pentax 17-70 and find that plenty wide enough for landscape. I had a 10-20 but didn't like it for landscapes so it went.

Couldn't agree more with this. With ultra-wides you get an imposing, if sometimes exaggerated, foreground but can lose to obscurity, for example, a middle distance tree or distant mountain.

In old money, 28mm is just about right, with the occasional use of a 24mm. So I find 18mm or 16mm with a cropped sensor cover 98% of my landscape stuff which is all I do, really. Because you're rarely shooting things which move, you can set the lens at moderate aperatures where they work best, thus your kit lens, at f8, should yield very pleasing results.

For a different, squashed-up perspective, a moderate telezoom, say 70-200, can be quite fun.

But I bet there'll be lots of posts following this which say the opposite...
Best wishes,

Andrew

"These places mean something and it's the job of a photographer to figure-out what the hell it is."
Robert Adams
"The camera doesn't make a bit of difference.  All of them can record what you are seeing.  But, you have to SEE."
Ernst Hass
My website: http://www.ephotozine.com/user/bwlchmawr-199050 http://s927.photobucket.com/home/ADC3440/index
https://www.flickr.com/photos/78898196@N05
Blythman
Posted 07/11/2012 - 20:27 Link
But just because it can shoot at 10mm, doesn't make it compulsory
Alan


PPG
Flickr
Gwyn
Posted 07/11/2012 - 20:37 Link
Blythman wrote:
But just because it can shoot at 10mm, doesn't make it compulsory

True - but if you aren't using it that wide you are better off getting different lens with better IQ. Just imho of course.
Blythman
Posted 07/11/2012 - 20:45 Link
Gwyn wrote:
Blythman wrote:
But just because it can shoot at 10mm, doesn't make it compulsory

True - but if you aren't using it that wide you are better off getting different lens with better IQ. Just imho of course.

Its there to use. Just not compulsory . I did also mention the 16-45, 17-70 and Tamron 17-50
Alan


PPG
Flickr
darkskies
Posted 07/11/2012 - 21:15 Link
Here's my 2 centimes worth........

Zooms are rarely at their best at the very short or very long ends of their range. I know this to be the case with 2 of the zooms that I own/owned, including the 17-70.

I found that I was wanting to take many shots at 17, or as wide as the 17-70 can go, and so I decided to sell the 17-70 and buy a Sigma 10-20, to use mainly in the range 14-17, I reckon. I say, I reckon, because I can't tell you yet how I got on as i don't get my hands on the lens until next week.

And yet i still would like to try, every now and again, shots like smoochy's with a big foreground and real fade. Why not?

But I also have a 28mm lens to complement it.
This space deliberately left blank.
Posted 07/11/2012 - 21:49 Link
i think I'd best shoot at 18 for a while to be sure
Learn how to live and you'll know how to die; learn how to die, and you'll know how to live.

Check out ones photographs on Flickr!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/awprentice/
davidstorm
Posted 07/11/2012 - 22:05 Link
I have the 16-45 Alistair and it's rarely off my K-5 for landscape work. I agree with the comments above that you don't need ultra-wide, in fact most of my favourite shots are in the 24-35mm range. I also love my old Pentax-M 28mm F3.5. The 16-45 can be picked up for around £140; at that price it's a cracking piece of glass and the Pentax-M 28mm F3.5 will cost around £40 if you can find one.

The 18-55 is also perfectly capable for landscape shots and I used this lens almost exclusively until I bought the 16-45 (which is a better lens BTW). The 18-55 suffers a little from a lack of edge sharpness, but nothing too drastic and the 18-55WR is a great lens for taking out in the drizzle, but you would need to replace the K-x if you're planning shoots in inclement weather!

Regards
David
Flickr

Nicola's Apartments, Kassiopi, Corfu

Some cameras, some lenses, some bits 'n' bobs
simonkit
Posted 07/11/2012 - 22:25 Link
I'm with Gwyn on this one. Despite owning the excellent DA12-24 I find that I still shoot the vast majority of my landscapes using the DA17-70 which is another excellent lens, it certainly compares well to most Pentax primes I've seen/tried.

My recommendation would be before spending any cash go out with the 18-55 and so how you get on

Simon
Edited by simonkit: 07/11/2012 - 22:26
Snootchies
Posted 07/11/2012 - 22:26 Link
To support what others have said here, absolutely - I never use the 10-20 for genuine landscape shots. Perhaps I've indulged myself a little in terms of what I tend to use this lens for - urban or abstract shots and ignored what the OP stated: for landscapes. 18-55/17-50/16-45 - all ideal lenses for landscape shots rather than the 10-20.
Bob

My website (Hadfield Photography)

Pentax Gallery Artist page:link

Flickr Photostream: link
Mannesty
Posted 07/11/2012 - 22:50 Link
The DA 16-45mm 1:4 or DA* 16-50mm 1:2.8 lenses are good choice for landscapes and general walkabout lens.
Peter E Smith - flickr Photostream
Edited by Mannesty: 07/11/2012 - 22:50

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