Originally posted by interested_observer I have been lucky and carefully acquiring a lens setup aimed at landscapes. 10-17 FE, 12-24, 16-45, Contax 28, 31 Ltd, A 50, and another Contax 85 - all for landscapes, and I stitch with all of them - even the 55-300.
Rico has laid out the problem very well. At times there is a foreground that makes the shot - so go wide. Other times the foreground is garbage, but a great distant landscape shot, so you need to reach across the foreground - 50 and 85, and probably stitch a panorama together.
I will say, that the Contax 28 is a wonderful MANUAL equivalent to the 31 limited at 1/3 the price new, or 1/2 the price used.
So, I would suggest to pick you way through this list looking for lens suggestions that are high in quality, with reasonable costs, that could possibly be stitched...
Nice summary and agreed on all points... Well said. Let me add some amplifications here. The part about wide for good foreground, less so where foreground is not so good, and be prepared to stitch...
One of the most pure players that meets all of the criteria admirably really is the 16-45mm. Others have noted that it stitches well. This is true.
I own Sigma 8-16mm, DA 15mm, DA 16-45mm, F28mm, 28-75mm, FA50mm f/1.7, etc.
Point is, I have a lot of overlap right around 16mm.
There is a reason for that. I keep thinking I'll get rid of the 16-45mm, but when I do not KNOW what I am going to come across, it is ALWAYS in the bag. That is often. So it meets these three criteria...
Criteria 4. It
is inexpensive. Far out of proportion to it's usefulness and quality. It has netted me several ribbons in juried shows, and one Monthly here. Since we are talking about stitching I'll trot this out again. DA 16-45 @ 16mm
Also, I agree with the assertion that 28mm is a very nice FL. I do a lot of Architecture. While you would imagine wide is essential, my best architecture shots are at 28mm. What they are is detail shots. Details of the architecture with a enough context to show or hint at the larger picture. This can be exceedingly effective in landscape as well. I have been meaning to bear down on just that.
Hope this helps.