flyguy
Active member
I shoot landscapes and seascapes about 90% of the time. Back in the day I was happy with my D7100 and Nikkor 18-200 DX VR lens, the two were inseparable. Then I went full frame. I have photographed the Grand Canyon, Mt Rainier 3 times, MSHNVM 4 times, the Left Coast 6 times and Puget Sound twice. I thought I "needed" something wide angle so I got a Nikkor 20mm f/1.8 prime and headed to the Hummock Trail area at MSHNVM; was I ever disappointed. Yeah, I got lots of stuff in the foreground but the mountain was so far off you could barely make out the face of the crater. The 20mm was on a D850 that day. Fortunately I had my D7100 as a back up and had a Nikkor 24-70 f/2.8 mounted on it; it saved me. Exactly a year ago I spent 5 full days on the Left Coast, from Brookings to Astoria, one whole day at Mt Rainier and another at MSHNVM hiking its Boundary Trail. What I discovered about my favorite pics from that entire week, after checking data at home, those pics were taken mostly between 50mm and 70mm. The challenges of shooting the Left Coast for me...weather, the tides, and depending, getting salt spray on my gear. I got chased by sneaker and rogue waves daily, especially shooting video!!! At this time I have a Nikkor 24-70 f/2.8 FX mounted on the D7100 and will be doing testing. The other test project, I have a Nikkor 70-200 f/2.8 on a D780 and will test it for stills and video and time lapse. If I ever get the opportunity to shoot the night sky I will rent a wide angle for a week. While I like that old 18-200 DX lens it can be annoying because, when the lens is pointing downward, it creeps and I mean CREEPS! I am constantly having to rein it in to take the next shot.