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Discover the best lenses for landscapes so you can shoot anything from stunning seascapes to enchanting forests Good Mtf Lens
With the best lenses for landscapes, you can capture incredible sweeping scenes in pin-sharp detail. We've picked out the absolute best landscape lenses you can buy, but not just the pricey ones, as we know not everyone has an unlimited budget. So, on this list you'll find a mix of top-shelf optics, mid-range choices and cheap but high-quality options.
1. Best RF lens 2. Best for DX format 3. Best for Nikon DSLR 4. Best for Nikon mirrorless 5. Best for APS-C users 6. Best for Fujifilm X-mount 7. Best for Micro Four Thirds 8. Best affordable Sony 9. Best ultra-wide for APS-C 10. Best lightweight Sony
In most cases, the best lens for landscape is going to be a wide-angle zoom. Having a little zoom flexibility is good for landscapes as it lets you fine-tune your composition without having to hike over hills, while a wide angle lets you fit a lot of the landscape into the frame.
Top-end zooms will generally have a maximum aperture of f/2.8 through the zoom range – while this is good to have, especially when light gets low, it's less important in landscape than it is in other disciplines, as you'll likely be stopping down to get a large depth of field. Therefore, you may want to opt for an f/4 lens, which will be both cheaper and more lightweight to carry.
We've picked out options for a range of different mounts, manufacturers and sensor sizes, so no matter what camera system you use, there should be plenty of options here for you. We've split the list up by popular manufacturers, to make it easier for you to find the right landscape lens for your photography.
Best RF lens The best Canon RF lens for landscape you can buy to date. Read more below
Best for DX-format Great for Nikon DX users to unleash great landscapes from their DX cameras. Read more below
Best for Nikon DSLR
Best for Nikon DSLR If you want to get new life out of your Nikon DSLR, this will be the best landscape lens. Read more below
Best for Nikon mirrorless
Best for Nikon mirrorless This wide focal range offers the best that the Z line has to offer at a great price. Read more below
Best for APS-C users
Best for APS-C users If you love your APS-C camera this is the best lens for landscapes offering great build and image quality. Read more below
Best for Fujifilm X-Mount
Best for Fujifilm X-Mount Designed for X-mount this 'home brand' lens offers great versatility for landscapes without compromising image quality. Read more below
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A weighty proposition for Canon’s EOS R-series mirrorless cameras at 840g, this ‘fast’ f/2.8 lens is nevertheless only about the same size and a little heavier than most f/4 wide-angle zooms for full-frame SLRs. Speaking of which, it has similarly high-end L-series build quality as Canon’s EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM lens for SLRs, with weather-seals and fluorine coatings on the front and rear elements.
It also shares the same ‘IS USM’ credentials but the image stabilizer is even more effective, rated at 5-stops instead of 4-stops, and the autofocus is ‘Nano Ultrasonic’ which is even faster more silent, while adding the bonus of smooth autofocus transitions during movie capture.
Unusually for such a wide-angle f/2.8 zoom, it has a filter attachment thread and separate hood. The only real downside is the steep selling price. See our full Canon RF 15-35mm F2.8L IS USM review.
Nikon currently markets a low-budget AF-P DX 10-20mm f/4.5-5.6G VR wide-angle zoom for its APS-C format SLRs, as well as more up-market (and much older) 10-24mm and 12-24mm DX lenses.
The Tamron occupies the middle ground in terms of selling price but beats all the Nikon lenses for image quality, especially in terms of corner-to-corner sharpness. It has a solid build, incorporating weather seals and a fluorine coating on the front element.
Key features include a highly efficient 4-stop optical stabilizer, a fast and virtually silent HLD (High/Low toque-modulated Drive) autofocus system and an electromagnetically controlled aperture.
However, this makes aperture adjustment unavailable when using older Nikon SLRs including the D3000 and D5000. See our full Tamron 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5 Di II VC HLD review.
Although fairly weighty for an f/4 wide-angle zoom, this Nikon 16-35mm is nevertheless only about two-thirds the weight of most f/2.8 editions. It certainly feels very solid and comes complete with a weather seal on the mounting plate.
The up-market optical design includes two ED (Extra-low Dispersion) elements to enhance sharpness and contrast while minimizing color fringing, plus Nano Crystal Coat to reduce ghosting and flare.
There’s a typically fast and whisper-quiet ring-type ultrasonic autofocus system, with the usual full-time manual override. The VR (Vibration Reduction) system is a bonus, although it only gives a relatively meager 2.5-stop advantage in beating camera shake.
See our full Nikkor AF-S 16-35mm f/4G ED VR review.
This Nikon is refreshingly compact and lightweight for a full-frame compatible wide-angle zoom. Designed for full-frame mirrorless Z-mount cameras, it’s only about the same size and weight as the Tamron 10-24mm zoom for DX format SLRs.
It nevertheless packs a lot into its diminutive and weather-sealed build, including four aspherical elements, four ED (Extra-low Dispersion) elements, Nano Crystal Coat, and a fluorine coating on the front element.
There’s a fast and virtually silent stepping motor-based autofocus system but, as usual with Nikon Z lenses, this comes without a physical focus distance scale. There’s no optical image stabilizer either but that’s no problem because Z 6 and Z 7 cameras have built-in, sensor-shift stabilization.
Typical of Nikon’s Z-mount full-frame compatible lenses, image quality is exceptional with incredible corner-to-corner sharpness. See our full Nikon Z 14-30mm f/4 S review.
Lenses with a constant f/2.8 aperture are generally thought of as being reserved for professionals, simply due to cost, but this affordable zoom by Tokina comes at a very reasonable price indeed.
This is a refresh of a lens that's been around for quite some time – and the Nikon-mount version has finally gained an autofocus motor, which was previously only on the Canon version.
Sharpness is excellent in the center of the frame, as we discovered in our lab testing of the lens, though we did also notice some minor color fringing and barrel distortion, especially at the wide end.
Overall though, the lens performs very well, and if you don't mind a slightly restrictive zoom range, this is a highly impressive f/2.8 lens to get for the price. Be aware though – it's APS-C (DX format) only. You can mostly only pick them up secondhand now but the plus side of that is you can save yourself even more!
Fairly hefty for an APS-C format wide-angle zoom, the XF-10-24mm combines a generous zoom range with a constant f/4 aperture rating. It’s impeccably turned out and the high-end construction looks and feels fabulous.
As signified by the ‘R OIS’ lettering in its title, the lens has a physical aperture ring to enhance handling and an Optical Image Stabilizer, albeit with a slightly mediocre 3-stop effectiveness.
There’s nothing mediocre about the optical path, which includes four aspherical elements and four ED (Extra-low Dispersion) elements and delivers exceptional sharpness in the short half of the zoom range, even when shooting wide-open.
At longer zoom settings, it pays to narrow the aperture by an f/stop for real bite. See our full Fujifilm XF 10-24mm f/4 R OIS review.
Ultra-wide-angle lenses represent a real challenge for the Micro Four Thirds system, due to its 2x crop factor doubling the ‘effective’ focal length. Even so, there are high-performance zooms to choose from, including the Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 7–14mm f/2.8 PRO.
Unlike that lens, the Panasonic has a separate hood and comes complete with a filter attachment thread, while nearly matching the Olympus for maximum angle of view. Further landscape photography credentials include a tough, weather-sealed and freeze-proof construction.
C Mount Lenses The lens lives up to its Leica billing with excellent image quality, thanks to an exotic optical path that includes three aspherical elements, two ED (Extra-low Dispersion) elements, one aspherical ED element and a UHR (Ultra High Refractive index) element.