whats better a telephoto and zoom lens for landscape/nature photography?

Question

and maybe some sports photography too, I need a lens that is very flexible and has very high quality in a variety of environments please help!

Answer 1

Usually you want a wide-angle for landscapes, something equivalent to a 24mm or 28mm on a 35mm film camera. If your "crop factor" is 1.6 a 15mm would be 24mm, an 18mm would be 27mm, a 20mm would be 32mm. Any of those, 15mm, 18mm or 20mm would be fine.

For nature and sports you'll want at least a 300mm lens as fast as you can afford. A 400mm would be even better.

For extreme close-ups you'll want a true macro lens of 60mm to 70mm (96mm to 112mm, equivalent) which will give you a good working distance from bees and other insects.

Answer 2

There is no "better." The best lens is the one that fits the application.

If you want nice, panoramic views of a wide open space, then a telephoto will limit you, severely. If you need a relative closeup of an interesting tree, then a telephoto is essential.

A serious photographer will change lenses as the subject demands. Even film photogaphers learn to advance the film and "waste" a frame or two on either side of the lens switch. A digital camera make this switch even easier.

If you HAVE to limit yourself to one lens, then, clearly, get a zoom lens with a big a range of focal length as you can. This will give you the most versatility. But, keep in mind that you will have to make compromises. A zoom lens with extremely high magnification will lose capability at the other, wider angle end.

Answer 3

I understand you have the Nikon F5 and the N75 - but next time please specify for what camera so I don't have to look around your profile to see if there's any information about your camera.

Flexibility is often being compromised in a lens because it will affect the overall quality and weight of the lens itself so many photographers brought more than one lens in one occassion.

If you have the budget, you probably want to look a 70-200 f2.8D G-AFS ED-IF or since you want to shoot landscape (you don't need large aperture, except if you want to count that sports photography in) you probably want to look at the 80-400 f4.5-5.6D ED with VR. Both costs more than a thousand bucks but I think they are pretty flexible and I don't have doubt on Nikon's build quality.

Anything with stronger zoom than that, you'll have to stuck with a fixed focal point lens with price for several thousands of dollars.

Answer 4

I use a fixed focal length lenses.

All you need are three different lengths for the three main areas of photography. Macro about 120mm, which will also do a lot of general photography as well. A medium length about 150 - 200mm and then a very long focal length such as 300mm - 500mm.

Fixed focal length lenses generally give better quality images to zoom lenses. If its quality you're after do as I do.