Ultra-Wide Angle Landscape Photography? I primarily do landscapes and mostly use focal lengths in the 70mm to 200mm range. I am considering the purchase of the Canon RF 18-30mm...

Prof M Loc: Corvallis. OR

I primarily do landscapes and mostly use focal lengths in the 70mm to 200mm range. I am considering the purchase of the Canon RF 18-30mm f/4.5-6.3 lens for my EOS R. What are your thoughts about (or examples of) wide-angle landscapes? Thank you!

Toment Loc: FL, IL

See Mads Peter Iverson. Just did an Iceland shoot with wide angle lens

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

My zoom goes down to "18", yes I use 18 a lot for landscapes, but obviously it depends on the field of view I want for a particular landscape. (But it's APS-C so it's really only a 28. )

Nigel7 Loc: Worcestershire. UK.

My photography goes back to the 60s when landscape wide angle was 35mm. That then came down to 28mm, then 24mm. One local photographer made a name for himself using 17mm. He always included interest close to the camera to give his pictures depth. These days most of us do this with our 24/28mm lenses by getting down low to take the shots. Telephoto are fine for compressing distance but in my view wide angle lenses are most widely used for landscape. As well as the angle they give you greater depth of field, so sharper from close up to infinity. My above figures refer to 35mm film cameras and full frame digital.

Ourspolair

I use a 14mm Samyang quite a bit. Otherwise 28mm and stitch panorama.

PoppieJ Loc: North Georgia

Prof M wrote:

I primarily do landscapes and mostly use focal lengths in the 70mm to 200mm range. I am considering the purchase of the Canon RF 18-30mm f/4.5-6.3 lens for my EOS R. What are your thoughts about (or examples of) wide-angle landscapes? Thank you!

i also like to use the 70-200 but it really depends on what you want to say with the picture that you are trying to make. If you go ultra wide then the foreground distorts and you have to learn how to compensate for that plus the background really diminishes. Most of my wide shots are in the 35 range unless I am doing a closeup composition

Delderby Loc: Derby UK

Prof M wrote:

I primarily do landscapes and mostly use focal lengths in the 70mm to 200mm range. I am considering the purchase of the Canon RF 18-30mm f/4.5-6.3 lens for my EOS R. What are your thoughts about (or examples of) wide-angle landscapes? Thank you!

I'm a committed M4/3 (14 years) photographer. Landscapes are a big part of my photography. I use only two lenses,
14-45 and 35-100 (28-90 and 70-200 FF). On odd occasions, something wider might have been useful, but not often enough to warrant purchasing. A work-around has usually been possible.
I have a landscaper friend who has wider primes, but then ends up cropping!

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

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joehel2 Loc: Cherry Hill, NJ

I acquired a 17mm for shooting the Aurora and landscapes and am super happy with the results. However, in-camera processing advances and software advances for stitching together a pano with shots taken with any focal length make me keep my 28-70mm on the camera more often.

jaymatt Loc: Alexandria, Indiana

I go down to 18 a lot with my landscapes.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

jaymatt wrote:

I go down to 18 a lot with my landscapes.

Nice to be able to choose what one wants to do and not be restricted by any "convention" or opinion, eh?

camerapapi Loc: Miami, Fl.

I use Nikon and Olympus cameras and lenses. I use 18mm (equivalent to 28mm with full frame) most often in my landscape photography. 24mm seems to be my standard for full frame. 12mm for my M43 uses.
Each of us is different so we use different lenses.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

camerapapi wrote:

I use Nikon and Olympus cameras and lenses. I use 18mm (equivalent to 28mm with full frame) most often in my landscape photography. 24mm seems to be my standard for full frame. 12mm for my M43 uses.
Each of us is different so we use different lenses.

Wanderer2 Loc: Colorado Rocky Mountains

Prof M wrote:

I primarily do landscapes and mostly use focal lengths in the 70mm to 200mm range. I am considering the purchase of the Canon RF 18-30mm f/4.5-6.3 lens for my EOS R. What are your thoughts about (or examples of) wide-angle landscapes? Thank you!

Most of my landscapes are of mountains so I don't often use a wide angle. But, when I do need one I have to have it, an example being of a slot canyon. So it depends on the type of landscape photography you do but I would suspect that sooner or later you will need that wide angle.

R.G. Loc: Scotland

Nigel7 wrote:

.....He always included interest close to the camera to give his pictures depth....

That is when a wide angle lens will show its strength best. You can include things like flowers as a close-up shot in the foreground without having to compromise sharpness or DOF elsewhere. You'll have depth aplenty because a wide angle lens makes the background more distant.

If you were in a scenario where you were torn between getting a close-up of something in the foreground or getting a scenic shot of more distant stuff, a wide angle lens would be perfect. It's ideal for times when the shot will be about the foreground and the background in equal amounts.