The GetDPI Photography Forum

Great to see you here. Join our insightful photographic forum today and start tapping into a huge wealth of photographic knowledge. Completing our simple registration process will allow you to gain access to exclusive content, add your own topics and posts, share your work and connect with other members through your own private inbox! And don’t forget to say hi!

Landscape Lenses

jfirneno

Member
I'm going to ask the ultimate dumb question. I'll preface it with my defense. I'm almost completely unfamiliar with the non-Minolta legacy lenses that can now be accommodated by adapters to a NEX camera (e.g. rangefinder, Nikon, Canon, Pentax, etc.). My question to the general audience is what is in your opinion the sharpest landscape lens available. I guess you can take that to mean across the whole lens. Feel free to qualify this if you have a favorite landscape lens that may not be the absolute best on sharpness but has some other combination of compelling characteristics (color, linearity, cost, etc.) that screams out for inclusion for landscape shooting.

Thanks in advance for your patience on this question,
John
 

alphaman

New member
I think you have got to look at Carl Zeiss or Leica lenses. They are both excellent as far as sharpness goes.

If using the NEX 7, you'll need to look for non symmetrical wide angles and if another NEX this isn't an issue, otherwise almost any of them will be good choices.

I use a 35/2 and 90/2.8 Carl Zeiss lenses intended originaly for the Contax G camera.

Good luck!
 

philber

Member
John, it depends on which NEX you have in mind, and on how you shoot landscape.
For ultimate sharpness, I submit you can't beat the Contax G 45mm, now nicknamed Frankenzeiss, because it is scary sharp. If it is not wide enough for your landscapes, just do stitching and panos.
If you like your landscape lens to be wide, on the NEX 5N you can't do better than the Zeiss ZM 18.
Unfortunately, the NEX 7, while a better camera IMHO, is very restrictive as to which lenses perform without colour fringing and corner issues. So far, I have found 2 suitable WAs, both of the very sharp: the Leica R 19mm, and the Leica M WATE, or Tri Elmar.
Whichever way you go, have fun!
 

waardij

New member
For wide angel, I think the Sigma 8-16 to be very good. 8mm is already nice, but at 12 it is a really great landscape lens. corner to corner sharpness. and even f11, with some extra sharpening, is very usable.
another wide zoom I tried is the Tokina 11-16. My copy was a bit of a disappointment. especially CA is bothersome (and not completely correctable). things like branches against a light sky are hopeless.
I also tried the CZ16-35, but find it lacking, on the 7. field curvature and general not really sharp. It does have great contrast.
In the middle range the CZ24-70 is great. The resolution is incredible and from corner to corner.

These lenses are rather heavy and not necessarily the first one would think of for a 7, but for landscape use they are great.
 

jfirneno

Member
Folks:
Thanks for the feedback. I'm currently following a few Contax G 45's and 21's as they wend their way through various ebay auctions. Thanks again for the help.

John
 
Top