When to Use This Cheat Sheet
Grab these settings when you are standing in front of a scene with a tripod or handheld and need a sharp starting point. Landscapes reward precision; these baselines save you fumbling in fading light.
Quick Settings Reference
The settings table covers nine common landscape conditions. Start at f/8 — f/11 for maximum sharpness across the frame, then adjust shutter and ISO to match the light.
Key Principles
- f/8 — f/11 is the sweet spot. Most lenses peak in sharpness here. Going past f/16 introduces diffraction softness.
- Base ISO always. Landscapes tolerate slow shutter speeds on a tripod, so keep ISO at 100 to maximize dynamic range.
- Hyperfocal distance maximizes depth of field. Focus roughly one-third into the scene at f/11 and everything from foreground to infinity falls acceptably sharp.
- Bracket exposures for high dynamic range. Shoot -2, 0, +2 EV when the sky is much brighter than the foreground.
- Use a polarizer as a default filter. It darkens skies, kills reflections on water, and saturates foliage.
Adjustment Tips
- Switch to manual focus and use live view magnification for precise focusing.
- Add a 2-second shutter delay or cable release to eliminate tripod vibration.
- In windy conditions, hang your bag from the tripod center column for stability.
- Meter off the sky separately from the ground to decide if you need a graduated ND filter.
Common Traps
- Shooting at f/22 “for more depth of field” and losing sharpness to diffraction.
- Forgetting to remove the polarizer for panoramas, causing uneven sky banding.
- Leaving image stabilization on while on a tripod, which can introduce micro-vibrations.
- Underexposing shadows to “protect highlights” and ending up with noisy foregrounds.
ShutterCoach Connection
Upload your landscape to ShutterCoach for feedback on sharpness, composition balance, and dynamic range.