When you think of landscape and cityscape photography, you likely think of wide angle lenses designed to maximize the amount of the scene you can fit in the frame. And while these are the first choice of many photographers, this video makes a great case for why you should also carry along a telephoto lens.
Coming to you from Michael Breitung, this great video shows how a telephoto lens can really expand your repertoire of landscape and cityscape shots while also solving some of the problems of wide angle lenses. I'll be the first to admit that I'm guilty of heading out without a lens above 70mm, and it definitely skews my creative vision in the long run if I forget to bring a telephoto. The nice thing is that for this sort of work, you really don't need the mammoth 70-200mm f/2.8 lenses with image stabilization and large price tags. In fact, Canon makes a wonderful 70-200mm f/4L lens for only $599 (it might just be the cheapest L lens I can think of). It's sharp, light, and exactly what a landscape, cityscape, or travel photographer needs. Most other manufacturers have their own versions as well.
I feel like this where Canon has traditionally shined in the past. They always seem to offer a lens just a *smidge* less impressive than the most expensive lens in each focal length. That's starting to diminish a bit since the 3rd party lenses are becoming more available for various platforms and a lot of them have really good optics. Very helpful video. Thanks!
Glad you liked it! And I definitely agree. You can get some quality glass from them, and since landscape shooters generally use narrow apertures, the image quality difference really closes.
For some reason I can't see your photo, but I wish I could! I also like to bring my 70-200 along when I go out, I end up using it a lot depending the environment. Once in a while, I'll even bring the big gun, my 150-600, and it's pretty cool when you're on something high like a rooftop or a hill/mountain.
The Canon 70-200 L was my first 70-200 lens, and I liked it a lot. I got it used for cheap, and sold it without lost after I got my Tamron 70-200 G2 for events stuff. Super useful lenses.
Once in a while, I bring my 150-600 with me, when I know I'll have access to an eagle nest. A lot of the photos end up being taken either at around 300mm or 600mm (then usually cropped), which prompts me to think a 70-300mm lens might be even more useful than a 70-200 for travel and landscape, since it has more range, is usually pretty compact, and we don't need as fast a lens.
The FD 70-210 f/4? I still own that lens!
I used to own the 28-135 that complemented that lens. I wish I still had it.
That's a lovely shot!! The bird soaring in the corner really adds to the scope. Yeah, I actually really miss that lens; I always liked it much more than my 24-105. Was it the mixed signals from the stable image and the physical shaking that gave you motion sickness?
Oh duh. I was wondering what kind of bird had such a wingspan. I don't know it, but it looks incredible! I'll have to pull out Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and give it a watch.
I was wondering what film it was; the blue is so vivid, but the greens made it clear it wasn't Fuji. It works really well for the colors in that shot.
That's really interesting about the IS; I've never had issues with it, but I did a shoot on a merry-go-round yesterday, and keeping my eye to the viewfinder for a few minutes while we were whirling around was enough to make me feel a little queasy afterward.
I never liked those wide angle landscapes. They are too chaotic for my taste.
It depends on the composition.
I did my entire trip in Poland with a 70-200 f/4 and the 40mm 2.8, got great results and didn't kill my back. the 70-200 is now with me at all times, love that lens.
Article makes a great point.
For those of you who are younger, make a point of looking for images by Jay Maisel or Ernst Hass. Both can be considered as some of the greatest colour photographers who ever lived (I think Maisel is still alive).
During the seventies into the eighties Jay Maisel was producing some spectacular cityscapes, mostly shot with 200mm, 300mm or longer lenses. As for Ernst Haas, if you can find it in a library, check out his masterpiece "The Creation". Very little of it was shot with wide or normal lenses.
Enjoy.
With fuji for landscape you only need two lenses
10-24 and 55-200
I would recommend an sigma 18-35(DX) or 24-70 f/4 (FF) paired with the 70-200 f/4. For any person starting out in landscape. (Canon)
This is why a 14-140mm forms the core of my Micro Four Thirds travel kit. Also, less lens swapping.
Indeed. It's the equivalent of 28-280 on a 35mm-format camera. This lens is one of the better 10x zooms you can buy, surprisingly sharp and even across the frame wide open at all focal lengths. I already had 12-35 & 35-100 f2.8 zooms, but got sick of lens swapping on photo walks. Best $600 I've spent in a long time.
I agree with this article, and the video. When I do cityscapes, I use a 70-200/2,8, with or yithout the ultiplier x1,7. And I can't imagine doing otherwise. With some luck or research, I find a high point of view. I think the telelens allows to grab what you really see from the scenery and offers the oppotunity to develop a more personal style than a wide-angle.
Some very good points made in this video. However, I really don't understand why he's showing all his photos with slow panning around parts of each image... Isn't the point of this really about the unique compositions that you can achieve, so why not just show a static of the whole composition??
I found without movement the video looked to static ;-) The zoom shots, which I show after the panning show nearly the whole aspect ratio. So you can refer to those as showing the composition.
But thanks for the suggestion. For future videos I'll make sure to also include a showcase of the complete image as I do in many of my other videos. cheers