50mm for Landscape?

[wmc1117]

I was just curious if its impractical to use the 50mm f/1.8 for landscape shots. I know it is primarily used for close ups and portraits but just wondering what peoples thoughts are? If not let me know what people do find themselves using it for the most?

 

[redtippmann]

its good if you don't use a f/stop of 1.8 you shouldn't go that low because only a small portion of your image will be in the DOF.

I use mine for low light situations

 

[musicaleCA]

I use my 50mm f/1.4 for low-light and portraits, but with portraits I usually stick to around 2.5 as my low point. That 1.4 is just for really low light.

What I'm confused about is, why would you want to uses a normal focal length for landscapes? You can get a whole lot more landscape with a wide-angle or ultra-wide-angle focal length like 24mm or even 17mm.

 

[kundalini]

The 50mm can be a fantastic lanscape use, given the right scene. It's sharpest at f/4, but very good to f/8. With a "vista" type of shot, this should not be an issue.

 

[kundalini]

What I'm confused about is, why would you want to uses a normal focal length for landscapes? You can get a whole lot more landscape with a wide-angle or ultra-wide-angle focal length like 24mm or even 17mm.

Those focal lengths may not be in his bag. :er:

 

[musicaleCA]

Point, I wasn't trying to knock the 50mm for landscapes. Prime lenses are damn sharp, I just really prefer to have a wider-angle lens to take in more of the scene. It can let you easily place stuff in the foreground too to add some interest. Just my $0.025 though (that's right, two and a half cents, just to be devious ).

 

[Dao]

To OP:

Of course, you can use 50mm lens to take landscape shot. Or you can even use telephoto lens.

A lot of people use wide or ultra wide angle lens for it, but there are some great landscape photos I saw in the past were taken with longer focal length lens.

I remember I read a book (forgot which one) demonstrate how, in some case, the composition of a landscape scene is better with a telephoto than a wide angle lens.

 

[LarryD]

A 50mm is fine for landscapes if you are positioned properly..

Typically, on today's cameras, the 50mm lens will give you a smaller field of view than it might have with film cameras....something along the lines of what an 80mm lens would have.. This means that your landscaped will reflect that difference.

 

[DScience]

Point, I wasn't trying to knock the 50mm for landscapes. Prime lenses are damn sharp, I just really prefer to have a wider-angle lens to take in more of the scene. It can let you easily place stuff in the foreground too to add some interest. Just my $0.025 though (that's right, two and a half cents, just to be devious ).

Well your suggesting lenses that he (or she) probably does not have which is why the OP are asking if a 50mm will work. He was not asking what's the 'best' lens or a 'better' lens for taking landscape shots.

However, to the OP: I have a 50mm 1.4 and I think it has potential to take great landscape shots, as I have taken several that I was very pleased with.

 

[kundalini]

This was a dicussion of 50mm f/1.4 vs f/1.8 but check out post #16 by Sw1tchFX.

Clicky

 

[musicaleCA]

Typically, on today's cameras, the 50mm lens will give you a smaller field of view than it might have with film cameras....something along the lines of what an 80mm lens would have.. This means that your landscaped will reflect that difference.

I believe you're refering to crop sensor frames, and in that case it only applies if the lens was designed for a full frame sensor and you're sticking on a crop frame body. If the lens was designed for a crop frame (like Canon's EF-S lenses, say on a 40D or Rebel) then there is no crop factor, and thus the FoV is the same at equal focal lengths on a full frame body with lenses designed for full frame sensors (say, and EF lens on a 1D).

 

[manaheim]

I use a Sigma 10-20mm 4/5.6 for my landscapes on my crop-sensor camera. I find it gives me the best overall shots and an appropriately wide angle to really capture the "vista". I often find that a tighter zoom doesn't really capture the feel... but that depends on what you want to focus on.

Another trick to keep in the bag is that you can take multiple overlapping shots with the 50mm and stitch them together. This is a bit more work, but gives you an INCREDIBLY sharp image which is also appropriately wide to meet your landscape needs (and also has a lot of pixels if you want to print an image the size of a grayhound bus with crazy level of detail)

 

[musicaleCA]

Another trick to keep in the bag is that you can take multiple overlapping shots with the 50mm and stitch them together. This is a bit more work, but gives you an INCREDIBLY sharp image which is also appropriately wide to meet your landscape needs (and also has a lot of pixels if you want to print an image the size of a grayhound bus with crazy level of detail)

D'oh! Why did I think of that right away? Not exactly practical for long exposures though; I had a hell of a time getting two shots stitched together that were 4min exposures (though that had much to do with having to take the camera off my tripod and replacing the battery in between shots). Took a bit of fixing to the darn thing print-ready.

 

[gsgary]

Of coarse you can, i have shot sort of landscape with my 300mmF2.8L

 

[Battou]

It can be done just fine as long as you stop it down. Any lens will work for landscapes as long as you know what you are looking to achieve.

Broken (reprocessed) by Battou - Photo Lucidity - Shot with 50mm 1.4 on full film frame

Untitled #1 by Battou - Photo Lucidity - Shot with 50mm 1.4 on full film frame (note High rezolution, I need to resize that one, if the image is too big just refresh the page)

Incarceration by Battou - Photo Lucidity - Shot with 50mm 1.4 on full film frame (note High rezolution, I need to resize that one, if the image is too big just refresh the page)

Around the bend by Battou - Photo Lucidity - Shot with 85mm 1.8 on full film frame

I also have a few landscape shots taken with a 400mm 5.6