Landscape photography is an art that not only tests the photographer's compositional skills, but also relies on the choice of lens. When faced with a vast and spectacular natural landscape, different lenses are able to capture very different perspectives and emotions. In this article, we'll explore the use cases of 14-24mm ultra-wide-angle lenses and 70-200mm telephoto lenses in landscape photography, as well as their respective advantages and disadvantages, to help you make a choice that best suits your personal style and needs.
14-24mm ultra-wide-angle lens: wide field of view and stunning perspective
Advantage:
Wide Viewing Angles: The 14-24mm lens captures an extremely wide range of landscapes, making it ideal for capturing magnificent mountains, vast grasslands, or stretching coastlines, allowing you to capture the vast expanse of nature in its entirety.
Strong perspective: The ultra-wide-angle lens emphasizes the distance between the foreground and the background, making the foreground elements appear larger and the background more far-reaching, creating a strong sense of depth and visual impact.
Starry Sky Photography: A 14-24mm lens is able to capture a wider night sky when shooting the Milky Way or starry sky at night, thanks to the wide-angle lens being able to take in more light, showing a spectacular view of the stars.
Locality:
Distortion: While post-correctable can be made, ultra-wide-angle lenses are prone to barrel distortion at extreme angles, especially when objects at the edges of the frame may appear distorted.
Close-up limitations: Due to the short focal length, 14-24mm lenses may experience focusing difficulties when shooting at close range, making it impossible to achieve the shallow depth-of-field effect of 70-200mm lenses.
70-200mm telephoto lens: detail and compression
Advantage:
Detail Capture: Telephoto lenses allow you to capture details from a distance, making them ideal for capturing distant mountain peaks, isolated trees, or specific cloud shapes, making every element of the landscape visible.
Compression: When shooting with a 70-200mm lens, distant objects appear closer together, creating an effect of compressing space, bringing elements closer together in the frame and creating an atmosphere that is different from a wide-angle lens.
Shallow depth of field: Telephoto lenses can easily achieve a shallow depth of field effect, highlighting the subject, blurring the background, and making a part of the landscape the focal point.
Locality:
Narrow angle of view: Compared to wide-angle lenses, 70-200mm lenses have a narrow angle of view and may not be able to fully capture the grand landscape panorama.
Light requirements: When used in low-light environments, telephoto lenses may require higher ISOs or longer exposure times, which may introduce noise or increase the risk of blurring.
Select Recommendations
When choosing a lens, you should consider the visual language you want to convey and the context in which you want to shoot. If your goal is to capture a wide field of view, emphasizing the scale and depth of the scene, then a 14-24mm ultra-wide-angle lens will be your go-to. Conversely, if you're more inclined to depict fine details, want to highlight specific landscape elements, or look for a clear subject in a crowded environment, then a 70-200mm telephoto lens will be more suitable for your needs.
Ultimately, the best lens choice depends on the individual's shooting style and the needs of the specific scene. Ideally, having a lens library that covers a wide range of focal lengths will give you the most flexibility to find the right perspective to tell your story, whether it's in a vast natural landscape or a detailed local scene.