8 Lenses and Accessories for Landscape Photographers on a Budget

Landscape photographers, these are lenses and accessories that will help you capture your best images yet while on a budget.

Can you believe Summer is already drawing to a close? 

Pretty soon, the sun will set earlier, and the landscapes around us will undergo a beautiful transformation. 

It’s this time of year that excites me more than any other simply due to how gorgeous the world becomes. Trees are filled with vibrant colors, sunsets and sunrises take on another life, and of course, the lower temperature make it a joy to be outside. 

If you want to capture the beauty of Fall though, you need to have the right gear. 

After the break, we will take a quick look at some lenses and accessories that will help all landscape photographers create their best landscape images yet.

Captured with the Rokinon 12mm f2 and the Fujifilm X-T3

We have said it a thousand times, and we will say it a thousand more; you don’t have to spend a fortune to acquire quality lenses and accessories. There are plenty of lenses, bags, tripods, and filter systems that can do a top job for low prices. For landscape photographers, the choices are vast when it comes to these items. Here, we have rounded up eight of our favorite affordable items that will help you excel at this genre.

Rokinon 12mm f2

Here are the pros and cons from our full review:

Pros

Great colors

Small build

Lightweight

Nice aperture clicks

Sharp

Cons

There are lenses with better bokeh for sure

IRIX 15mm f2.4 FireFly

Here are the pros and cons from our full review:

Pros

Weather sealing

Fairly lightweight

Accurate focusing depth of field markers

Sharp optics

Innovative features like the ability to lock the focus with a separate ring

Cons

Focusing communication with a Sony FE camera via a Metabones adapter wasn’t the absolute best

Sigma 14-24mm f2.8 DG DN ART

Here are the pros and cons from our full review:

Pros

Weather sealed

Fast to focus

Sharp image quality: some of the best we’ve seen in a wide-angle zoom actually

Solid build quality

Cons

Sigma proves to us that they still have yet to figure out how to make a small zoom lens for mirrorless cameras

It’s big

Pro Tip: Landscape photography may look easy, but a fair amount of skill and patience is required to get the perfect shot. 

You need to be able to find the perfect composition, wait for the right light, shoot manual so that your exposure is perfect, and you have to know how to edit the image to make it look its best. 

If you’re new to landscape photography, and you want to learn all the ins and outs of the genre, this guide will walk you through every step of the process and help you create images that stun viewers. The best part is it’s only $29—what a bargain.

Tamron SP 15-30mm f2.8 Di VC USD G2

Here are the pros and cons from our full review:

Pros

Fast maximum aperture of f2.8

Durable construction

Ultra-wide focal length range suitable for everything from architecture, real estate, landscape, street, and travel photography

Includes vibration compensation, Tamron’s name for their optical stabilization tech

Moisture-resistant construction

Canon version includes an integrated filter holder on the lens mount side

Cons

Considerably heavy

Chunky in size

Noticeable distortion (although correctible during post)

Traditional filters aren’t supported, the front of the lens lacks filter threads and the front element is also convex and protrudes significantly

Haida Red-Diamond 10 Stop ND 100x100mm Filter

Here are the pros and cons from our full review:

Pros

Cuts down a lot of light, making daytime long exposure photography possible

No discernible color cast

Industry standard filter size – can be used with most filter holders on the market

Nano-coating on both sides keeps the filter waterproofs and minimizes reflections and scratches.

Cons

Honestly none with the filter itself: the storage case could be more robust though (it scuffs pretty easily)

Breakthrough X4 Circular Polarizer

Here are the pros and cons from our full review:

Pros

High build quality

Nano Coating for dust resistance, water repellency, and therefore ease of cleaning

Weather resistance, said to be designed specifically to resist salt water

25 year guarantee

Greater light transmission is beneficial for stopping motion (in sports or wildlife photography, for example)

Cons

Difficult to remove

Greater light transmission is detrimental for blurring motion

Captured by Paul Ip while using the Haida Red-Diamond 10 stop ND filter

Pro Tip: The lenses listed here are great, but not all of them are weather sealed. If you would like to take these lenses out when the weather gets rough, we highly recommend this affordable yet incredibly protective weatherproof camera and lens cover. Slip one of these over your gear and you will be good to go. They are a must-have for all landscape photographers.

Promaster Jasper Halfpack

Here are the pros and cons from our full review:

Pros

Very comfortable

Durable feeling

The laptop section is towards the front of the bag, and so it’s better on your back

Lots of pockets

Good gear padding

Tripod straps on the bottom

Holds a lot of gear

Cons

Access to your equipment only through the back

No waist straps or chest strap

Not a roll-top

Vanguard VEO2 235CB Tripod

Here are the pros and cons from our full review:

Pros

Solid build quality

The rubber sections for the legs feel really good

If you’re on the sand, they will keep dust and dirt from getting into the legs

Pretty much all the versatility that most photographers will need providing they adjust carefully

Lightweight

Fits onto the side of most backpacks

Cons

We wish there was a hook at the bottom to weigh the tripod down