Landscape photography: how to choose the right lenses?

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In order to choose the right equipment for landscape photography, as with any type of photography, knowledge of your subject is essential! What do you want to photograph? What results do you want to achieve? What interests you about the type of photo chosen? From isolating miniature subjects to capturing the immensity of a panorama, there's a world of possibilities and just as many lens options to achieve it. Answering these questions allows you to orient yourself towards options that meet YOUR needs among all the fixed focal lengths or zooms available on the market.

So, what are these options?

Justine Labranche
Sony a7 III + FE 24-105mm f/4 G OSS, at 24mm
1/100  |  f/5.6  |  ISO 640

Given my passion for travel, it's important that my system is relatively lightweight and compact. So, I opted for zoom lenses and the FE 50mm f/1.4 GM in prime time in case I challenge myself to only shoot with a single focal length during the day. Moreover, abroad, it is preferable to always have your equipment with you at all times to avoid being a victim of theft.  Therefore, it is wise to take into consideration our tolerance for carrying a bag and its weight when choosing our lenses.

It is fundamental to understand that the shorter the focal length is (written in millimeters), the greater the angle of view will be. Conversely, the greater the focal length, the more the angle of view is reduced. This is what makes the difference between wide angle, standard, telephoto and super telephoto lenses.

The wide-angle is a focal range allowing us to have a wider angle of view in order to capture as much context as possible around our subject. On a camera with a full frame sensor, it often starts around 12mm up to 35mm. For me it is essential when I photograph a grandiose landscape like a very large lake or very large mountains whose magnitude I want to show. It is also a popular lens for astrophotography, since it allows you to show a silhouette of the landscape, in addition to the starry sky. During a sunset for example, it will capture a larger part of the sky which will change color over time. The FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM II and its more affordable variant, the FE 16-25mm f/2.8 G, are two lenses that will capture the full breadth of landscapes. 

Justine Labranche
Sony a7R V + FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM, at 18mm
1/60  |  f/8  |  ISO 1000

As for the standard focal range, it starts at around 40mm and stops at 60mm. It is the one that visually represents what the human eye perceives in terms of distance, distortions and image compression. On a full-frame camera, this lens will, most of the time, be a fixed 50mm. You can also access it with a more versatile lens like the FE 24-70mm f/2.8 GM II or the FE 24-105mm f/4 G OSS.

Generally speaking, we are talking about telephoto lenses between 80mm and 200mm. We therefore often find the famous FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS, prized for its quality in portraits, sports, pets and for isolating elements in a landscape such as a mountain peak, a tree of a different color, a small house in the middle of a field, etc. It is also from there that we can see compression in the different planes of the image. We will also have the impression that the background is much closer to the subject than in reality. This is personally a lens that is always in my backpack. I love this focal length and I create a lot with it.

Other options are available if you want to experiment without necessarily bringing a lot of lenses and saving money. One of these is the FE 24-240mm f/3.5-6.3 OSS. It allows you to experiment with both wide-angle, standard and telephoto lenses. Obviously, we can't get as much light input as with a fixed focal length lens or a smaller zoom, but it allows you to have fun and discover your preferences before making a bigger purchase!

The last focal range to look at is the super telephoto. It starts from 400mm. Lenses used for landscape in this option are rather rare. In fact, we mainly find the FE 100-400MM F/4.5-5.6 GM OSS, the FE 200-600mm F 5.6/6.3 G OSS as well as fixed lenses, which are used by professional sports and animal photographers. I recently replaced the 70-200mm and 200-600mm combo in my backpack on a trip to go with a 100-400mm. This allowed me to save weight and space in my bag. I loved my hikes and the long days walking to visit even more. When the opportunity presented itself, he allowed me to photograph some of the animals in their natural habitat and, as a wilderness enthusiast, I really enjoyed it!

If you're interested in taking close-up shots of certain subjects, like flowers, textures, etc., check the minimum focusing distance of the lenses you're interested in. Some of them, such as macro lenses, allow you to get as close as 10cm to your target, while others force you to keep the subject more than a meter away. Others offer a very reasonable proximity of focus, are more versatile, and allow a more varied use. Finally, if you have a Gosselin Photo Video store nearby, I strongly advise you to rent the equipment that catches your eye for a few days! This allows you to test the equipment before making your purchase and ensure that it actually suits your needs. After all that, all you have to do is have fun!