When capturing landscape images there is not really one category of lens required to form the image. It really depends on where you want to place the emphasis in the images. As an example in the image above, a 14-24mm lens has been used with the main aim to capture the silhouette of the trees against the greying sky with a rainbow in the background.
In general there are many options with lenses in capturing landscape images. I favour wide angles for wide expansive landscapes, however when using wide angle lenses, I like to include some part of the landscape as an object in the foreground of the image.
When using Nikon DX cameras, wide angle lenses in the range 10 to 24mm can be very effective with landscapes, but to get a similar effect with Nikon FX cameras, lenses in the range 14 to 35mm will be required.
When using wide angle lenses of 10 to 35mm a great depth of field can be obtained which helps to keep the whole scene in focus.
Generally when taking landscape images, low aperture lenses are not required as it is better to aim for a wide depth of field to ensure that both the foreground and distance is in focus. I would often use an aperture of around f/8 to f/11 to ensure a satisfactory depth of field in the image when using a wide angle lens.
Rules are meant to be broken and for the image above, I used a long telephoto lens to select just a small part of the landscape, effective images can be obtained by selecting small parts of landscapes. For the above image an aperture of f/13 and a shutter speed of 1/125 second was used at an ISO of 1600.
Very often with mountain scenery a long telephoto lens can be very effectively used, to select a very small part of a scene similar the the way I have with the above image. Bear in mind that using a telephoto lens for landscapes will provide a much narrower depth of field than a wide angle lens, so be very careful in framing the image where there are foreground objects in the image.
When selecting a telephoto lens for landscape images, I would choose a lens in the range 100 to 300mm.
We have extensive reviews of the range of Nikon lenses available and it may be useful to refer to our Nikon Lens Review section to help you choose a suitable lens for your landscape images.
In choosing a lens also think of other applications in which you may also use the lens, for example many landscape photographers also have an interest in nature and animal and bird photography within the landscape.
One very important aspect of landscape photography often neglected is to use a tripod or monopod where possible to help obtain the sharpest image quality.