Landscaping with 24mm CZ

[Poki]

I still have no time for a photographic journey, but the summer looks promising. However, I can't just sit at home and dream of a photo journey, so I decided to go again on a long walk with my NEX-5 and the 24mm lens.

The longer I use this lens, the more reasons I find to love it. First, the big, smooth focus ring is much better than the ones from the cheaper E-Mount lenses, which is very important for video use. Second, the size and build quality are ideal and feel just perfect when using the camera. And third, it's image quality is simply amazing. Sharp from corner to corner (although not clinically sharp as some expensive, slowish wide angle lenses - but not much falloff from center to borders), nice color and especially micro contrast rendering.

The motto of this tour was "Every landscape has thousand faces". I think I got some of them from this place.

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Oh, and one I shot while waiting till the sun had the right position, shot with an iPhone 4, to show how my setup looked like.

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[Bimjo]

Stunning scenery. Love the light flares in both shots. If it were me, I'd crop most of the bottom off the second shot, right to where the ice ends in the ditch. The foreground adds nothing to the pic in this case.

 

[Poki]

Thanks for the answer, Bimjo! I thought pretty long how to crop both pics, and in the end I had two versions of both. I decided for the standard 3:2 landscape orientation 'cos I simply prefer it when it's printed. However, here are the alternative crops (click for bigger view):

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[Dioptrick]

Oh wow, Poki!
Both pics are absolutely majestic!! The second shot reminds me of an Ansel Adams "Yosemite" print. I love the sunrays!

I actually like the ditch... it guides my eye from the foreground and leads my attention to the background and back again so that I can almost hear and feel the trickling of that cold water from melted snow

That 24mm CZ is mint!

 

[Poki]

Thanks, Dioptrick! Especially for comparing my shot with Ansel Adams! That's too much honor for me right now. I'm happy to finally see some improvements in my shots after years of studying photography.

And as far as the ditch is concerned: I got Bimjo wrong - I meant he thought the foreground in the first photo. I never would cut away the foreground in the second shot - it's what the composition is all about. After all the goal in landscape photography has to be to guide the viewer over the photo. There's no point in making a photo without a point of interest of any kind.

 

[lillefot]

Those are the best landscapes I've seen taken with the CZ24mm. Inspirational!

 

[lapdog99]

Agree, the ice also suggests temps in the low 30s F., and cutting out the foreground would have put the full sun right at the camera. Nice place for a long walk. Would love to have seen the same shots with Sigma 30 for comparison.

 

[Poki]

Thank you for your kind feedback! Like I said the 24mm CZ is close to perfection for really any type of photography.

@lapdog99: I don't have the 30mm Sigma, but judging from the samples I've seen so far I'd say the only thing it is a bit worse is the outstanding micro contrast rendering, but sharpness and CA should be on par as you stop down anyways in landscape shooting. And of course you shouldn't forget that, while 24mm (36mm eq) isn't exactly wide, 30mm (45mm eq) is pretty long for many types of landscapes, so better throw the Sigma 19mm in as well.

 

[lapdog99]

Yeah, still waiting for a Sony e short, wide tele in 2.8

 

[lowincash]

Very nice shots! Stunning indeed. I don't even know where to go in my neck of the woods to get these kind of photos lol

 

[Dioptrick]

Thanks, Dioptrick! Especially for comparing my shot with Ansel Adams! That's too much honor for me right now.

Haha... ok ok, modesty is a good thing. However, I can't give the credit to mother-nature because she makes paintings like that every single second of everyday somewhere in the world but it was you who got out of bed and put yourself in that spot, with the right equipment in all the right settings, and pressed the shutter at the right moment. You've earned it.

Those back-lit clouds against mountain peaks gives the environment that "signature feel of an Adams," that just lifts the human spirit for some reason (well, mine anyway ).

Well done! Aaaahhhhhhhhhhh...

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[hodad66]

nothing like that here in Florida.... majestic & well executed!

 

[Poki]

@Dioptrick: Thanks again for the credit! Of course you're right, it's just that not "perfect" enough if compared to some of the masters landscapes. But I'm learning fast and maybe somedays I'll make a landscape exhibition... *just dreaming *

@hodad66: That's one of the biggest challenges in landscape photography, if not the biggest. I don't know if I'm allowed to speak open 'cos I'm into landscape photography for just about two years now, but the sum of all I learned (and I used MANY free hours for studying photography) is that the single most important thing to landscape photography is to find the beautiful spots everywhere. They're really all around us. You just don't have to look at the whole thing, but rather use some hours to conquer the fields and look for details, angles and colors you just get from that one exact spot. No one of my landscapes I shot so far looked too beautiful viewed in reality from a random point, but with some patience, endurance and - more important - previsualization, it's possible to get the best out of every place.

And thank you too for the credit! I'm happy to see you like my work.