Very Excited and New to Landscape Photography- Tips for the new guy....

Remember when this Digital Photography was very new to you?.............. That's were I'm at today!

Just wanted to say hello and thank you to the fine people on this POTN forums for their advise, patience over this short period of shopping, and finally deciding on my first camera / lens combo. My new (to me) gear has arrived, and I have plans of jumping right into giving a real go at Landscape, and eventually Sports. To this point I've acquired a Very good 40d w/5900 actuations, and for my first two lenses I spent a bit more and went with the Canon 10-18 STM, and Canon 50 1.8 STM. Beyond that I purchase a backpack style bag and a hood for each lens.... So now I pose this question to y'all...... Best options for Tripod ($ 100.00 budget)?.... Best filter options within a new guys budget?? Again Thank you for having me. Hope to be posting soon and learning every day.

Heya,

I'm going to save you some money in the long run.

Don't buy a cheap set of legs.

Don't buy a cheap filter.

Just don't. You will end up re-buying something later. And then again. And ultimately spend more than you originally would have had you just gotten a good set early on. I wish I had listened to this very advice that was given to me here. I didn't. And I went through several sets of legs and filters. I wasted time & money. I should have listened and got a good set of legs and ballhead and good filters the first time. But, we all live and learn in our own silly way. So, if nothing else, I will pass on this lesson that I had to learn the hard way. Wait. Save up. Get something good.

There's actually a ton of good legs out there and good ballheads. And there are end-game setups too. But I would not limit this to $100. I would expand that. To get the ball rolling, maybe look at the MeFOTO Road Trip (Aluminum). Not expensive. Quite good for what it is. Otherwise you can mix things, like a good set of Benro or Induro legs (same thing, great quality, good price) and a separate ballhead, like a Sirui k20x. End game setup.

As for filters, it really just depends on what you want to do. Filters really are not necessary anymore in the digital age. The only real filters to consider would be a good quality CPL (polarized) like a Marumi or B&W CPL, and maybe ND filters of various strengths for the purpose of long exposure duration in day light. That's it. And if you go that route, you don't need a full set of ND filters, really just need one or two and that's it. Like a 3 stop filter and a 10 stop filter, or a 6 stop filter and a 10 stop filter. Again, B&W, Hoya, etc, make great filters. I will however throw a recommendation for BreakThrough Photography too here, they are costly, but pretty much zero color cast, quite nice filters. Again, these are not cheap. None of these are. But you will regret a cheap filter. Don't waste your money on cheap filters. You will regret it. I would recommend a single 6 stop filter as a good starting point. Or, just go ahead and get a 10 stop (B&W or Hoya or Breakthrough Photography) if long exposure is where you want to go.

Very best,

I'm going to say don't buy a cheap filter, assuming we are talking polarizers here. Too cheap and you get a color cast on the photos, and you'll lose a little bit of sharpness. If you can't afford a good one (B&W for instance), hold off until you can afford a good one.

Agreed on not limiting yourself too much, since you'll just end up rebuying stuff later. I've been very happy with my Breakthrough ND 3-stop; I just bought a 6-stop and their new CPL to go with it. Haven't gotten those yet, but I did find that 3 stops wasn't enough to make most exposures that much longer (was thinking more of wide-open daylight portraiture with that one anyway). I do like my B+W Kaesmann Polarizer, I just expect to like the Breakthrough better.

As far as tripods go, I agree that you shouldn't cheap out too much. Get a ballhead that's rated for a lot more weight than you expect to put on it. That said, I've been pretty happy with a relatively inexpensive ($150, I think) Oben kit that I got from B&H. The first ballhead I got wore out quickly and after a year couldn't support a 7D + 17-55 without drooping; I called them and told them, and they replaced it with a better one for no cost. Apparently it was a common issue and they discontinued that particular ballhead, so I have some confidence in them as a manufacturer standing behind their product. I also feel like the legs I got are very simple, but they're a bombproof aluminum job that holds even a 7D + 70-200 f/2.8 very steady in strong winds, which is all I ask from legs.

So I'll echo the sentiments of the others who have posted regarding filters & tripod.

Think of it this way: your tripod is the foundation and if you have a wimpy foundation, the results are less than desirable! What I would recommend is to hold off on buying a CP and tripod for a while until you have a bit more $$ in the budget. During the interim, get to know the operation of your camera. Learn how to shoot Av / Tv / Manual, adjust ISO, etc. so that you get to know what / how / why for your camera. Shooting handheld is a great tool for novices, as it begins to instill patience (which is rather important in landscape photography).

Begin shooting in RAW out of the gate, so you understand the histogram and what it means when you adjust f-stop, ISO, shutter speed.

Here is a list of tripod/ball-head combo's that support 13-17 lbs and are under $300

BH Tripod list

CP filters are another where I'd not waste good money on bad filters. Look for a CP that are MRC / Kaesemann, such as these at B&H Photo Video

I have a 77mm Marumi CPL listed here - https://photography-on-the.net …showthread.php?​p=17807042. Includes a 72mm step up ring. Only reason selling is that I switched systems and no longer use 77mm filters. Loved the Marumi though, will definitely get another one. Great bang for the buck.

EDIT: I don't claim to be a landscape photographer! The samples in the above thread were just me taking advantage of work sending me to some nice places

I'll leave the gear tips to others. My advice is learn about light. The best composed images fail when they are taken in bad light. So plan on being out before sunrise and being late for dinner. The middle of the day is often the worst light. So plan your shots in advance and then wait for conditions to be right then create the shot.

I can only echo the comments on tripods and ball head. You do not want to sacrifice the quality of your images to undue savings on your tripod. In terms of filters - UV filter, in my opinion does not need to be expensive. Others may challenge that opinion. Circular polarizer research a bit before you buy. I have done ok with mid range priced polarizers.

General advice - look at lots of pictures. Find what you like, and try to figure out what it is about them that you like. Learn about light, learn about composition, learn about exposure. Take pictures, and review them critically on your own, and then let others review them critically. I have found the advice and suggestions on this forum to be very constructive. The greatest advantage to digital photography is the turn around time from taking the image to reviewing the results. This increases the speed at which you can learn from your mistakes. I think you will find many top notch images on this forum, due to the number of top notch photographers I have seen here. In no time you will be submitting your share of great images.

Moto4SK wrote in post #17806616
Remember when this Digital Photography was very new to you?.............. That's were I'm at today!

Great! But, well, you joined this forum over 4 years ago, and wrote this post over 3 1/2 years ago:

Moto4SK wrote in post #13955835
Thank to each of y'all. Once again this forum is very kind to those of us just starting out in DP. I get my bonus on 3/6 so I'm doing my homework now. I was set on a 1D MkII...however many members have made excellent points about the 40D as my first body. Landscaped and Motocross / Supercross are my passions, and were I've been lurking for some time. Budget? I'm set pretty good at $ 1100.00 to get started. Again the 40D is seems priced right and should get me very good results with a learning curve of course. The other monies will be spent on Glass, Tripod, bag, cards. That being said; I have options. I will pick up my landscape glass first, and focus on a 70/200 f4 in a few months. Thanks again everyone. I'll do some research on reviews for the glass each of y'all suggested....SK

I am glad you followed up on the 40D. Having owned and used both bodies extensively, I think that is a slightly better choice than the 1D2 would have been (for landscapes), but not nearly as good as a choice as the 1D2 for your other interest, motorsports.

Since you are on a budget, I would forego a filter at this time (a worthwhile polarizer is upwards of $100........I think mine was $179). I never use filters anymore anyway - I hate what they do to images.

I think an adequate tripod can be had for $100 (your stated budget) because you are currently using very light, small lenses. It really doesn't take much to support small "landscape glass". If in the future you buy much longer lenses that are heavy, then a tripod upgrade would be in order at that time.

If I were you I would buy the latest version of the EF=S 55-250 IS.
http://www.bhphotovide​o.com …&InitialSearch=​yes&sts=pi
It would be really, really difficult for me to shoot landscapes with nothing longer than 50mm, and the 55-250 IS is one heck of a lot of lens for a tiny bit of money.

"Great! But, well, you joined this forum over 4 years ago, and wrote this post over 3 1/2 years ago:"

Hi Tom... Wow has it really been four years? A true indicator of my best intentions being met by life happens. My thoughts were get a decent lens for landscape first.... and I believe for the money the 10-18STM will get me heading in the right direction. The 50 1.8 will be for shooting portraits of the kids and such. Thank god for this forum and Youtube as they both have got me off to a more informed start.


"I think an adequate tripod can be had for $100 (your stated budget) because you are currently using very light, small lenses. It really doesn't take much to support small "landscape glass". If in the future you buy much longer lenses that are heavy, then a tripod upgrade would be in order at that time."

I agree and thought the same based on the fact that I'm still working towards something like a 70-200. I'll do more research and follow some of the excellent advise I've been given from this post.

"If I were you I would buy the latest version of the EF=S 55-250 IS. http://www.bhphotovide​o.com ...&InitialSearch=yes&​sts=piIt would be really, really difficult for me to shoot landscapes with nothing longer than 50mm, and the 55-250 IS is one heck of a lot of lens for a tiny bit of money."

I'll definitely check this lens out Tom.

As always thanks to everyone for giving me some direction and great advise. No lack of good people on this forum.

Oh BTW... My first attempt at replying with Multi quotes.

Stephen