Doreatha Kjellsen: primes are generally better for photo quality but a zoom offers some diversity in composition when you cant move to an area because of terrain, time and other factors. its a give and take only you can decide.
Leif Andreason: 1
Coleman Senn: For the night shots a wide aperture 24mm may be better as you can use faster shutter speeds in low light, but as you may (read should) be using a tripod for your landscapes its less of an issue, but it will still auto focus better, with smaller aperture lenses in low light don't let through enough light for the auto focus to function.A prime normally beats a zoom as distortions can be designed out of a single focal length lens easier than a zoom, they should have better colour contrast and have zero vignetting. The 'flat field' should be better too which means the lens should focus right into the corners of the image and be the same exposure.With landscapes the wider angle offered by the 12mm focal length! end of the zoom will be useful.Chris...Show more
Michal Semple: With the zoom lens you won't have to run around so much.
Cedric Grimstead: My choice would be the 12-24mm zoom because of the 1.5 "crop factor" of the Nikon sensor. 12mm thus becomes an 18mm equivalent while 24mm becomes a 36mm equivalent. Obviously 18mm will give you far more coverage.Here are my tips for good landscape photography:1) Use a tripod. This allows you to keep the camera perfectly level.2) Use your camera's highest resolution setting.3) Use ISO 100 or lower.4) Use Aperture Priority.5) Use f16. With the camera on a tripod the shutter speed the camera selects is irrelevant unless its a windy day.6) Use a remote or the camera's self-timer to release the shutter.Why do I suggest f16? Check out the Depth of Field (DOF) with a 12mm lens focused to 5' at f16 by going to http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html where you'll find a handy DOF Calculator which you can use to compute DOF for any combin! ation of focal length, subject distance and f-stop imaginable,! based on your camera. There is also an informative article about DOF.12mm @ f16 focused to 5' DOF is from 1'-2" to infinity. So everything from 3'-10'' in front of your subject to as far as you can see (infinity) will be in focus.I have used the FotoSharp ( http://www.fotosharp.com ) Day & Night Exposure Guide for years when shooting night pictures without flash.Here are a few examples:Scene 45 minutes after sunset; Indoor sports, circus - floodlit; Brightly lit street cornersISO 100f5.6 @ 1/4 sec.f8 @ 1/2 sec.f11 @ 1 sec.f16 @ 2 sec.Floodlit buildings, fountains; Outdoor Christmas lights; Candlelight close-upsISO 100f2.8 @ 1/2 sec.f4 @ 1 sec.f5.6 @ 2 sec.f8 @ 4 sec.f11 @ 8 sec.f16 @ 15 sec.City skyline in distanceISO 100f5.6 @ 15 sec.f8 @ 30 sec.f11 @ 1 min.f16 @ 2 min. As you can easily see there is no need to use a high ISO or a large f-stop (f1.4, f1.8) for your night landscape/scenic photography. If your tripod lacks a built-in level you can make one yourself. Just fi! nd an old (dead) flash unit and remove the foot (the part that slides into the camera's hot shoe). Make sure any metal that might contact the shoe is removed. Now buy a "plate level" and a tube of super glue at your local hardware store. Glue the plate level to the top of the salvaged flash foot, slide it into the hotshoe and you can always have a level camera. If memory serves I spent about $4.00 to make mine. (A "plate level" is usually round with a circle in the center. Just get the bubble in the circle and your camera is level). Of course you can always spend $35 to $40 for a level but I'd rather have the extra money for other things....Show more
Tana Dumoulin: Prime lenses are generally faster and sharper but considering you have a camera with an APS-C sized sensor you only have two choices for a real wide angle lens on your camera.14mm F2.8 $1,72012-24mm F4 $900Any of the other Nikon wide angles wont be wide enough on your camera. The 12-24mm in my opinion would! be your best option....Show more
Truman Biby: 2
Sheron Per! rez: I would not use a APS-C camera for landscape.If I am making images that I plan to print then I only use primes. Better acuity, contrast and color.
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