LocalNavy433 Photography

Hello and how the hell are you?  If this is your first time here thanks for stopping by.  In this blog we are going to talk about what the perfect Landscape Photography setup is going to be.  The perfect setup is going to consist of three lenses and a camera body that is easily obtained at a price point that is less than the top of the line bodies on the market today.  You have to know that this was not easy to come up with but if you want the perfect setup for around $1000 dollars then continue reading my friends.  

The first thing that you are going to need is a body that is the core of the setup and the main thing that you need to have if you want to shoot.  The body in question is the Canon 6D this is the best all around shooter that you can get for Landscape photography.  The compactness of the body is the key feature that stands out to me.  I love the light weightness of the body for the long hiking that you are going to be doing.  The ergonomics of this body are so good that the buttons just fall in the right place for your fingers.  They worked so hard on making this just work with you in the middle of the night.  The ease of hitting the right button when you cannot see is crucial when shooting a Milky Way image.  

The battery life on this entry level body is just killer you can actually shoot for days on one batter and not worry if it is going to last.  Going out on location and camping for days the worry about if your batteries are going to last is something that I have always worried about but with this bad boy you don’t have to worry about that at all.  I have shot for days on the same battery and not once did I think about if the battery was going to last.   

The actual cost of this body if you shop around is only going to set you back $250 dollars.  Which in the grand scheme of things is a drop in the bucket.  What you get for the amount of money you spend on the 6D is going to be so much more.  The same level of body in todays camera world starts out at $1500 dollars and with that you get so much more of a camera I will admit that.  For a fraction of the cost you can get the best all around shooter for landscape photography because you really don’t need all the bells and whistle that you get for that $1500 dollars. 

The first least that we are going to talk about is the long lens the Sigma 100-300 APO f4.  Yes this is an older lens but you get a consistent f4 throughout the range and wow is all that I can say about this lens.  The darn thing is so sharp and just stands the test of time.  The down side to shooting with this lens is there is no image stabilization to it at all.  So you will have to set the iso higher to make sure that the image is sharp and the putting it on the 6D I have no worry about that at all due to the noise control that you get with the body.  The reach that you get with this lens is better than a 70-200 at a fraction of the cost of that lens.  

The next lens that you are going to get for this is the Canon 17-40 f4 which is not the sharpest lens but it will get the job done.  Yes the corners are soft at 17mm but if you shoot at 20-24mm the lens is really sharp all the way through it.  I love the range that I get with this ultra wide lens and the fact that it just gets the images that I want out of it.  The only downside to shooting with this lens is that it is so old.  The fact that they have replaced it so many times means that you can find this for dirt cheap.  I got my copy for $180 dollars and the images that I have gotten with it are some of the best that I have ever shot.  

The most used lens for me is the general purpose walk around lens and that lens has to be good if you want to keep shooting with it.  The Tamron 28-75 f2.8 is the best bang for your buck lens that you could get for landscape photography.  I love this lens so much and have used it for years on several different bodies.  I was always feeling less than when on location at a popular spot and seeing the top of the line lenses but I knew that I was getting just as good of images because of this lens.  Yes this lens is that sharp that it rivals the Canon 24-70 f2.8 for IQ.  Now with all that being said this is the best lens that I have ever used on a full frame camera body for shooting the night skies.  The corners are so good and the coma is under control a lot.  Yes there are better lenses out there but at the low price of $250 dollars you are never going to find a better setup.  

I write these blogs not to brag about the amount of money that I spend I write them to let people know that there is gear out there that will rival the top of the line gear for a fraction of the cost.  Photography doesn’t have to break you financially in order to get the images that you want.  I will probably never be able to afford the higher end gear so I have been on the search for cost effective gear that still produces images that rival the $6000 dollar camera body.  I love finding gems that get the results that I am after without spending an arm and a leg.  Enjoy from St Johns AZ y’all