I have a film SLR lens question.

I'm going to be taking a road trip out to the west coast this winter. I'd like to shoot some landscapes in black and white. What would be the best type of lens to use? Fixed focus? Zoom? Wide angle? It's all sort of greek to me, so type slowly. :)

What I have now is a 35-70 lens (Nikon AF). I also have a skylight filter, so I'll take filter suggestions, too.

Thanks in advance.

For most landscape photography, you're going to want a minor wide angle lens. I personally use a 20-35mm lens that works great for almost everything. You'll probably want to have a zoom lens in your bag as well, because there will invariably be a handful of shots that you'll want to be tighter on. I have a 70-210 that covers about 90% of my zooming needs :) I have a half-dozen lenses, but these two combined with my cameras stock 35-85 cover just about everything I need. I bought a 14mm wide angle for landscape photography, and I've used it exactly once. I also bought an 800mm zoom that's been out of its case all of three times (a godawful waste of money...that's an expensive lens).

As for filters: Everyone should have a neutral density and polarizer in their bag. A split neutral density filter can help fix contrast issues when shooting into the sunlight or in areas with uneven lighting, but they take a little practice to get right. You may also want to bring along a yellow, orange, and red filter, depending on how you like your skies. A red filter will turn the sky nearly black on BW film, giving a dramatic effect. The yellow will bring out cloud detail and prevent it from turning into a muddy grey mass on bright days. The orange is somewhere in the middle. Do NOT use more than one at once, or your photo will come out looking like a night scene if taken under full sun, and won't come out at all under dimmer light.

For color shots, I personally also like to have a medium warming filter in my bag. The worst photos tend to be taken mid-day because noontime light is too harsh. A warming filter creates a bit of a morning glow in your shots and makes them look much more appealing. Again, experiment before you take your trip to figure out when it should, and shouldn't be used.

Since it sounds like you may be new to this, let me also point out that film quality is just as, if not more, important than lens for high-quality landscape photos. For color, I won't use anything cheaper than Fuji Reala, and I've actually taken a liking to Fuji professional portrait films lately (NPC). I don't do much black and white, but I have a few rolls of Ilford Delta 100 in the freezer for the times that I do. A high quality film is often the difference between a "nice" photo that sits in your scrapbook, and an "awesome" photo that you blow up to 8x10 and hang in your hallway.

I think I will be going lens and filter shopping soon. :)

I think I've tried every film out there lol. Imo, Fuji Superia 200 speed is a great inexpensive film. Sometimes I use Fuji Neopan. For b&w I love Ilford. It has a nice even tone that I can easily add grain to with filters if I want. I have experimented quite a bit with b&w. I'll post some shots with different films if you like.

I carry 3 lens everywhere-a 70-210, a 35-70, and a 28 (my wide angle lens). I use my 210 for almost everything, lanscapes and portraits. The only time I've changed it recently was to a macro to take the spider pic I entered in the contest this month. I carry a ton of filters too, but really only use a polarizer or neutral density or sometimes a yellow or red w/b&w.

I've heard too much really good stuff about them. Thanks for the suggestions. :)

I shoot a lot of Superia (I have about 40 rolls of 200 and 400 Superia in my freezer right now), but I've never liked it all that much for landscape photography. It always struck me as too "green"...almost like the green is oversaturated or something. For landscape photos, I've always thought that the Fuji Reala line did a much better job at accurately representing the greens so they don't "overpower" the photo. Do you have a trick for reducing the green saturation with Superia, or do you actually prefer your photos that way?

and I haven't tried Reala so I can't compare. I like the vivid color of Superia though. I just shot a roll of one of the new pro Kodak's and it's so washed out looking. (As a matter of fact the only Kodak I like is Portra VC.)

Look at these and tell me what you think of the color. Maybe I'm just not seeing something, and now I'm curious lol.

With Superia







I think I used a blue gradient on this one..





This is that new Kodak. I was so disapointed when I got these prints back. They're all washed out looking.







Edited to add, with those Fuji photos I used my 35-55 lens and it has a filter on it that's supposed to cool down the tone. The other photos were taken with a xoom lens and a uv filter. (I used 3 different lens and 2 different flashes on that roll of film. It was still awful.) Anyway, the filter on the 55 should cut down a too green look.

It would give you a bit wider than you have now.

It's not perfect, but it's pretty nice at the price.

For some sample shots with this lens (on a D70), look here: http://www.pbase.com/dlcmh/28200_walkaround

You should be able to pick it up from B&H or a similar dealer for about $299 or so.

Not a Nikon...but a decent lens anyway. It should be here tomorrow.

I think I'll get a fixed-focus 28mm next. But that will have to wait until I am employed again. :D