Great photo equipment for landscape photo is D750 and Nikkor AF-S 20mm f/1,8G ED (27.01.2016)

I used Nikon’s full frame D750 and Nikkor 20mm f/1.8 lens in front of it for a week. Using a fixed focal lenght lens may create different opinions – some people are pro and some are against it. Like with many other things in this world. 

For me, this kind of choice is a challange but I like challanges. Firstly because so far, I have mostly been using Canon and I have not been familiar with Nikon. Yet, the set-up of Nikon D750 buttons is so logical that I learned everything important quite quickly.

Secondly, I am used to using zoomable wide angle lenses when taking landscape photos – these give me an opportunity to change the focal lenght when necessary. This turns out to be quite necessary when photographing landscape because I might find an interesting foreground and then I need a wider angle to fit it in the frame. Also there might be a need to leave less information in the frame and get the subject closer.

Today I would like to focus on the lens not the body. Nikkor 20mm f/1.8 has enough optical power to create great advantages when photographing landscape and the starry night. 20mm is a wide enough angle to capture a big part of the sky on the photo as well. That is why, I did not use an open aperture which is considered as an advantage of this lens. I used a closed aperture and put this lens in a totally different situation.

Nikkor was a very positive surprise. When photographing with a 20mm fixed lens at the beach I realised that I cannot say that there isn’t enough room. On a vertical photo, with an old tree in the foreground, there was enough room for having a colourful sky on the photo as well. I tried the aperture range of f/11 – f/14. It seems that the f/11 produced the sharpest photo.

Every lens distorts at 20mm to a certain extent. This was more of an issue when I was photographing people from very close and they were in the corner of the photo. When photographing landscape, the distortion is practically not noticeable.

In addion, I liked the fact that this lens enables to photograph from quite close, the shortest distance to still get the subject in focus, is 20 cm.

To sum up, I would say that Nikon D750 and Nikkor 20mm are the perfect kit. The body is small and lightweight for a full frame. Nikkor 20mm is also very compact. That is a huge advantage of fixed lenses. These are a lot smaller than zoom lenses and weigh less. The weight of the camera equipment is something that I have to consider because when I go into the forest, it rather becomes a longer photographing hike than a  short trip by car. I often ride a bike and spend many days in the forest. So, in addition to the camera bag,  I also carry along  a hiking bag and all these together tend to be quite heavy.

Text and photos: Hans Markus Antson

Hans-Markus Antson
is a young nature enthusiast, studying “ecology and wildlife protection“ at Tartu University. He spends most of his free time in the nature. He went to study ecology because he wanted to broaden his knowledge about the nature and bring it closer to people through his photos. He considers it important that photos talk to people and that people learn to notice the nature more.

He has been taking nature photos for more than 2 years. He loves to photograph wild animals but photographing landscapes and the starry night are also important to him.

On December 10th 2015, the first place at the Fjällräven Polar competition ensured him a place at the 300km expedition held in April. This dream of his came true thanks to Estonian people who intensively voted fo him and he got 56 854 votes.

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