5 Lightweight Lenses for Landscape Photography

Ora Sawyers

If you’ve ever had to hike up a mountain, you probably really appreciated the challenge of climbing with a camera around you. Besides having the right shoes, having less weight also means a huge difference. But when you finally get to the top, you should have the right camera gear to document it. Most lenses for landscape photography tend to be a bit heavier. But we’ve tested the best lightweight lenses for landscape photography. Here’s a selection of lenses we really adore.

How We Chose These Lenses for Landscape Photography

5 Lightweight Lenses for Landscape Photography

If you’re looking for the best lenses for landscape photography, here’s some info on how to use this guide:

  • We’d never recommend anything to you that we haven’t tested ourselves. To that end, all the product photos and sample images were shot by our staff. Further, each section contains links to our fuller reviews of each of the best lenses for landscape photography. 
  • Some OM SYSTEM (formerly Olympus) cameras have a cool feature called Live ND. It means that you can shoot at f4 (the equivalent of f8) and not need to stop the lens down further. It also means that you might not need to bring an ND filter with you.
  • Want to shoot astrophotography? OM SYSTEM cameras are, hands down, some of the best for it. You can use the Live Composite feature and work a whole lot less in post-production. Couple it with one of our recommended for the best lightweight lenses for landscape photography for best results.
  • All these lenses boast some incredible weather resistance. With that said, note that these lenses aren’t waterproof. Instead, they’ll survive being used in the snow, rain, or even on the beach.
  • With full-frame cameras, you’ll be hauling around a lot more weight. But these are designed so that your back won’t hurt at the end of a long hike up the mountains.

M.Zuiko Digital ED 7-14mm F2.8 PRO

Lighter Lenses for Everyone

Being the equivalent of a 14-28mm F2.8 in full-frame, the M.Zuiko 7-14mm F2.8 PRO is also nowhere as heavy as many full-frame options on the market. Better yet, it’s incredibly lightweight at just over 1lb of weight. What’s more, it boasts weather-resistance to take on the toughest locations in the world.

How’s the Image Quality?

In our review, we state:

“The M.Zuiko 7-14mm F2.8 PRO lens is a stellar one when it comes to image quality. Quite obviously, it’s designed for wide-angle shooting: which means landscapes, architecture, interiors, and at the longer end you can probably squeeze in a portrait or two if you don’t put the subject near the edges.”

Buy Now: Adorama or Amazon

M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-45mm F4 PRO

Lighter Lenses for Everyone

This lens weighs in at 254 grams. That’s apparently around 1/900th of a cubic meter of snow. I mean, isn’t it cool to say that a lens is as light as snow? The M.Zuiko 12-45mm F4 PRO indeed is. What’s more, we’re recommending it as one of the best lightweight lenses for landscape photography for good reason. At F4, the depth of field is around F8 in full-frame equivalence, but you’re getting F4’s light-gathering ability. Cool, huh?

How’s the Image Quality?

In our review, we state:

“The image quality from the M.Zuiko 12-45mm F4 PRO is solid overall. The best quality comes when using high res shot mode at least when we’re talking about sharpness. But otherwise, I don’t have much to complain about with this lens. Of course, I wish it had a faster aperture. But it also focuses closely if you want bokeh”

Buy Now: Adorama or Amazon

M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-40mm F2.8 PRO II

Lighter Lenses for Everyone

Being a tad heavier than a can of soup at 385 grams, the M.Zuiko 12-40mm F2.8 PRO II is a very invaluable lens. Not only is it weather-resistant, but it also has some of the best image quality we’ve seen from a zoom lens.

How’s the Durability?

In our preview, we state:

“The new M.Zuiko 12-40mm F2.8 PRO II lens is surely weather resistant. We paired it with the OM SYSTEM OM-1  for this product shoot. Specifically, this lens and the camera both are IP53 durability rated and OM Digital Solutions is saying this publicly.”

Buy Now: Adorama or Amazon

M.Zuiko Digital ED 40-150mm F4 PRO

Lighter Lenses for Everyone

At just 382 grams, the M.Zuiko 40-150mm F4 PRO is plenty capable. It delivers an 80-300mm field of view, which is fantastic for zooming in on the details of a landscape. This wouldn’t be a list of the best lenses for landscape photography without some sort of good telephoto option. And this is the most versatile!

How’s the Image Quality?

In our review, we state:

“OM SYSTEM says this lens uses the same fundamental structure as the M.Zuiko 40-150mm F2.8 PRO, with 15 elements in 9 groups, with a narrower aperture and a lighter, more compact design. I found this lens plenty sharp with a good handle on fighting off aberrations and imperfections”

Buy Now: Adorama or Amazon

M.Zuiko Digital ED 8-25mm F4 PRO

Lighter Lenses for Everyone

With a 16-50mm equivalent field of view, there’s no reason to not like the M.Zuiko 8-25mm F4 PRO. You can go from ultra-wide-angle one moment to normal in the next moment. What’s more, with an f8 depth of field, you may not even need to stop the lens down. Combine this with features on OM SYSTEM cameras like the Live ND function, and you’ll be really happy with all that’s possible.

How’s the Image Quality?

In our review, we state:

“At the tele end, the M.Zuiko 8-25mm F4 PRO delivers near edge-to-edge sharpness and, with close-focusing capabilities, soft, bokeh-filled backgrounds.”

Buy Now: Adorama or Amazon

The Phoblographer’s various product round-up features are done in-house. Our philosophy is simple: you wouldn’t get a Wagyu beef steak review from a lifelong vegetarian. And you wouldn’t get photography advice from someone who doesn’t touch the product. We only recommend gear we’ve fully reviewed. If you’re wondering why your favorite product didn’t make the cut, there’s a chance it’s on another list. If we haven’t reviewed it, we won’t recommend it. This method keeps our lists packed with industry-leading knowledge. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

This piece is presented in partnership with OM SYSTEM. We’ve independently and ethically reviewed all the products in this post already without sponsorship. And we worked with them to recommend a few key gems to you.



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