CO

The new Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8 VR lens would cover landscapes and portraits. It's expensive but they have now added VR which is great for hand held shots.

John Howard Loc: SW Florida and Blue Ridge Mountains of NC.

I will be doing some open door help and small plane shooting in January. Do you think the 18-300 is sharp enough to get an epic landscape from the air? Not sure it is wide enough. But my wider lenses may not be long enough.

dcampbell52 Loc: Clearwater Fl

The 18-300 is a crop sensor lens, so I am guessing that you are using it on a crop sensor camera (it doesn't really make a difference as it will automatically crop on a FF Nikon) but, it makes it similar to a 27-450 mm full frame as far as reach. It should work fine from a plane for both telephoto and wide shots. The full frame equivalent from Nikon is a 28-300 lens (also an acceptable all-in-one lens for about $1000 US). I have used the 18-300 on a D7100 as a walk around when I was testing it for Nikon and found that it gave very good results across the reach. My shots on wide angle shooting straight down a railroad track next to a moving train showed good blur for the moving train but did NOT show any distortion from front to back of the train cars and was reasonably fast in good light. ( the lens is not a great low light hand held lens as it will force you to use higher ISO if your camera is not a good high ISO camera). I also was able to take some excellent shots of a helicopter flying over and was able to take some shots blurring the blades and some freezing the blades. Again, these shots were between 4 - 6 pm on a cloudless day in decent light. It is a 3.5-5.6 f/stop lens, so it is okay for long shots but a little slow in the 35-70mm where other lenses might have better f/stop. Having said that, the lens has good reach and I highly recommend it for people that want one all-in-one walk around lens and don't mind the weight. As I explained to several, while it is fairly heavy for a 35-50mm lens it is much lighter than carrying 2 or 3 lenses to cover the same range and you don't have to constantly stop shooting to change lenses. So, choose your poison.

jsmangis Loc: Peoria, IL

James, I use my AFS 24-70 f2.8 in my studio for portraits with my D610. I use an old Soligar 30mm f2.8 for landscapes. If I was going to buy a new lens for portraits on a Nikon ff body, I would recommend the 85mm f1.8 though.

Kmgw9v Loc: Miami, Florida

There are many good lenses for these purposes, but,
Portraits: 70-200mm 2.8. Landscapes: 14-24mm 2.8.

drmarty Loc: Pine City, NY

For a walk-around-lens I love my 24-120 F4. For portraits I use my 105 F2.8 micro. My favorite landscape lens is my 14-24 F2.8.

queencitysanta Loc: Charlotte, North Carolina

I find the 28-300 a little spft for photos i like the 85 and 125

John Howard Loc: SW Florida and Blue Ridge Mountains of NC.

Oops, typo sorry. I meant in response to your prior post the 28-300. I use full frame Nikons and typically the holy trinity of Zooms. I am frequently caught with the 24-70 lens and need to change to the 70-200 to get the 100+ length. I have heard on the open door flights they limit your gear due to the wind, so no changing lenses. This am looking to cover about 24 -200 with one lens that is sharp. The 28-300 and 24-120 are about equal in sharpness. Both have distortions issues but that can be corrected. If I want the epic shot that I can print large then I need the sharpest lens that gives flexibility in focal length. Thanks for your feedback.

camerapapi Loc: Miami, Fl.

If I had to buy now a lens for portraits and landscapes it would be the 24-120 f4. I have seen the results of using that lens and the images are breathtaking.
If primes are your choice then the 85mm f1.8 is excellent and a 35 or 28mm focal length should do for landscapes. The convenience of a zoom is that those focal lengths are already incorporated in it and no change of lenses is required.
The f4 aperture of the zoom could be limiting for some but in my case I usually shoot portraits at around f5.6-f8 and keep the subject away from the background. No sweat for environmental portraits, just use a small lens opening that will work also well for groups.

Picdude Loc: Ohio

I don't know what kind of landscapes you shoot, but...

I just came back from a short vacation in the Smokey Mountains. I have a crop frame D5200 w/18-55mm and 55-300mm zooms. Found myself switching lenses frequently but rarely zoomed out past 200mm. If I would have had the 18-200mm lens it would have probably never left my camera. Having said all that, I would suggest taking a look at the AF-S 28-300mm for landscapes. May not cover everything, but would be a great start with reasonable wide angle and decent reach when needed.

MtnMan Loc: ID

f2.8 isn't needed for landscape where you will use f16 and higher. The 16-35 is fabulous and much less expensive.

Another less expensive option is the 28-85. I recently bought a used one in new condition for under $400 for my D800. It rapidly became the one used most. Not quite as wide as the above but OK for portraits at 85mm...esp if you use DX pic area.

Both are FX lenses.

par4fore Loc: Bay Shore N.Y.

IMO a 36MP camera deserves "primes" as a consideration. For landscapes, I like the Zeiss 21mm and the Voigtlander 40mm. I like the Nikon 55mm AI-S for macro. I don't take portraits but would use the Nikon 85mm f/1.8 and Zeiss 135mm F/2.

Mac Loc: Pittsburgh, Philadelphia now Hernando Co. Fl.

I don't understand why so many people are recommending zoom lenses when you can get two outstanding primes, one for landscapes and one for portraits, for less than half the cost of one wide angle zoom.

MtnMan Loc: ID

Much more expensive than the 16-35 which is as good and also has VR. You don't need f2.8 for landscapes which are usually at f16 or higher. But the VR is useful because of the need for high f-stop when you can't use a tripod.

There is a use for f2.8...but landscape isn't it.

Leitz Loc: Solms

Your choice of focal length depends upon the camera's format and your desired angle of view. Here are some tips:

http://www.thephoblographer.com/2013/05/24/five-lenses-for-the-discerning-landscape-photographer/#.VM_CR_8tGM8

http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/how-to-use-ultra-wide-lenses.htm

Edit: For FX format, 85 to 105 are generally the most useful focal lengths.