Advice on a great Landscape Lens for my (old) Rebel T1i

[JamesHongKong]

Hi everyone,

I have a Canon Rebel T1i which has seen intermittent use over the years if I'm honest.

I now plan to focus on some landscape photography and I am totally confused by the lens options that would be best for this. My Rebel came with the standard 18-55mm lense and I have the nifty 50 too.

However, I cannot for the life of my figure out what would work best for landscape work - think wide rolling vistas, glaciers, mountains, beaches (I'm going to Iceland soon). I have read great things about the following: 15-85mm, 24-105mm, 10-22mm but understand I may end up with crossover with my current lenses and I really just want the best value, landscape recommondation you guys may have. Doesn't have to be brand Canon either necessarily.

Any help would be genuinely appreciated!

Many thanks

James

[Waddizzle]

Wide angle lenses are good for landscape shots.  The trick to using them well is to level the camera when taking shots.

"The Canon EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM Lens is a wide-angle zoom lens designed specifically for EOS APS-C DSLRs, where it provides a 35mm-equivalent focal length range of 16-28.8mm. "

Another technique for landscape shots is to mount your camera on a tripod, turn it to portrait orientation, and create a panorama.

[EDIT]  You can use your "nifty fifty" to shoot a panorama, as I described above.  Also, the 10-22mm is an excellent lens, one which has image quality that nearly rivals my "L" lenses. 

BTW, I think having a little overlap in the range of your zoom lenses is a good thing.  You won't ever find yourself "stuck between clubs" like a golfer.

[ebiggs1]

James,

" My Rebel came with the standard 18-55mm lense ..."

That lens will do landscapes just fine.  There are better lenses for sure. The EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM Lens or the EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM Lens are great choices, too. But your kit lens will work.

The real key is how you post edit your shots.  Great photos are made in post, not in the camera.  Look at getting and learning how to use a post editor.  My preference is Phptoshop.  But a cheaper version is Photoshop Elements and is more aimed at the consumer, amateur and advance enthusiast person.  Check it out.

[Waddizzle]

"The real key is how you post edit your shots.  Great photos are made in post, not in the camera."

Food for thought.  Those panoramas that I mentioned, the images are gathered and processed in post to build the final image.  BTW, buying post processing software, and a good tripod, is far less expensive than a lens. 

I really like Adobe Lightroom.  I think Ernie has expressed his preference for Adobe Photoshop.  What's the main difference? 

Photoshop is great for diving into a photo to make minor or major alterations to the image: i.e. such as removing a stray tourist from a landscape photo.  PS requires some degree of artistic talent, but is really not required for most edits. It also has some powerful export features, too.

Lightroom is very much like Canon's Digital Photo Professional software that comes with the DSLRs.  It helps you to organize your photos.  More importantly, LR functions as a digital darkroom, converting RAW image files into JPEGs.  For me, LR is the first stop when images are downloaded from the camera.  Only if I am doing something special do I find myself needing PS.  LR can assemble panorama images, also.

The following panorama was shot with an 85mm lens on a full frame, which is roughly equivalent to a 50mm on your Rebel.

The shot is comprised of five separate images, each of which was shot with the camera rotated into a portrait position on a tripod.  I used LR to create the panorama.  I used PS to remove the light streaks of aircraft from the sky.

[JamesHongKong]

Many thanks for your replies - it seems I may be able to use the current equipment as a starting point and just try some different techniques and post processing to achieve good landscape results. I have Photoshop Elements and will look at Lightroom - thank you for the suggestions.

I am still considering a wide angle lens as I don't necessarily want all panoramas - it seems like the 10-22mm could be a good shout - I'll see if I can pick up a bargain here in Hong Kong. It looks like a grey import is around $460 US - not sure if that's good. The 10-18mm is about half the price - realistically, what difference could I expect to see between the two for the price would you say?

Appreciate all your help

James

[Waddizzle]

"The 10-18mm is about half the price - realistically, what difference could I expect to see between the two for the price would you say?"

I haven't used a 10-18mm, but here is a sample of the 10-22mm with a T5 .... under near ideal condtions.

[JamesHongKong]

Looks good - I think I will experiment a bit with the current lenses I have before deciding to spend on a wide angle lens specifically. Perhaps I can post some of my shots here once I'm back in late August for you to see! I'll be very much a newbie though.

Thanks again

[Waddizzle]

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@JamesHongKong wrote:

Looks good - I think I will experiment a bit with the current lenses I have before deciding to spend on a wide angle lens specifically. Perhaps I can post some of my shots here once I'm back in late August for you to see! I'll be very much a newbie though.

Thanks again

---

Check this out.  Take a good look at the top left window.  See something orange?

It's the philanthropist who oversaw the 20+ year restoration project on the lighthouse museum.

[ebiggs1]

James,

" I have Photoshop Elements and will look at Lightroom ..."

Then you don't need LR.  LR does way less than PSE does.

My choice WA zoom for you is the Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM Lens for a UWA zoom.  But I like very much the Sigma 8-16mm f/4.5-5.6 DC HSM Ultra-Wide Zoom Lens. It is truly impressive.  Perhaps my personal very favorite lens in this catagory is the Canon EF 8-15mm f/4L Fisheye USM Lens.  This is one of my favorite lens to use and play with.  It offers more WA than any of the others.  It isn't cheap but greatness rarely is.

[JamesHongKong]

Thank you for those suggestions - I think if I go for a lens it's going to be the 10-22mm. I'm going to see what I can achieve with what I have on my next trip with the aim to add a lens for the future after that. Perhaps I can report back with some photos once I'm back!

Thanks all

James