What is the best focal length for landscapes?
For landscapes, 24 mm on full frame is the most used wide focal length, 16 mm suits dramatic foregrounds, and 70 mm or longer picks out distant hills and layers. On APS-C, 16 mm frames like 24 mm, and on Micro Four Thirds, 12 mm.
Recommended focal lengths by sensor size
Each row starts with a full-frame focal length, followed by the lens that frames about the same on each smaller sensor. Where a common lens is close, it's named, with what it frames like on full frame if that differs.
| Full frame 1x | Best for | APS-C 1.5x | Canon APS-C 1.6x | Micro Four Thirds 2x |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 mm | Wide views with a foreground | 16 mm | 16 mm frames like 26 mm | 12 mm |
| 16 mm | Dramatic foregrounds and big skies | 10 mm frames like 15 mm | 10 mm | 8 mm |
| 35 mm | A calmer view, close to how you see | 23 mm | 23 mm frames like 37 mm | 17 mm frames like 34 mm |
| 70 mm | Distant hills, layers and details | 50 mm frames like 75 mm | 44 mm | 35 mm |
Why these focal lengths
24 mm fits a wide view, 73.7° across, without pushing the horizon far away. Put something interesting near the camera, and it leads the eye into the picture.
16 mm, 96.7° across, stretches distance: a rock 1 m away looks big and the mountains behind it look small. It's great with a strong foreground and empty without one.
A longer lens does the opposite. At 100 m, 70 mm covers a strip about 51 m wide and 200 mm about 18 m, so you can pick out one hill, one tree or the layers of a far ridge. That's why many landscape photographers carry a 16-35 mm and a 70-200 mm zoom.
To try these focal lengths where you actually shoot, Prospekt (Lens Simulator: Prospekt on the App Store) turns your iPhone into a viewfinder for your camera body: pick the body and a focal length from 14 to 300 mm, and the screen frames what that lens would. iPhone app, $3.99 once, no subscription.
Questions
Is 24 mm wide enough for landscapes?
For most scenes, yes. It covers 73.7° horizontally on full frame. Go to 16 mm (96.7°) when you want a big foreground or a whole sky, and you can stand close to it.
What focal length is best for landscapes on APS-C?
About 16 mm for the 24 mm look and 10 mm for 16 mm. On Micro Four Thirds, 12 mm and 8 mm. Kit zooms that start at 18 mm on APS-C frame like 27 mm at the wide end, which isn't very wide.
Do I need a telephoto lens for landscapes?
Not to start, but it helps. A wide lens makes distant things small: at 100 m, 24 mm covers a strip about 150 m wide and 200 mm about 18 m, so a far peak fills much more of the frame.