What exactly is a "landscape / portrait camera?

[Parry Johnson]

There's been a lot of talk here recently about the Z8 / Z9 not being a landscape or portrait camera. In my opinion, ANY decent camera can do a good job in those areas -- it mainly depends on the choice of lenses and whether one needs the extra resolution.

Complaint #1: The camera is too big or too heavy. Solution: buy a smaller camera or a gym membership to beef up. You will notice a bit of top-heaviness with a smaller body but serious landscape shooters will probably be using a monopod or tripod anyway -- and that also means extra bulk weight, so why are they complaining anyway! Okay, portrait shooters sometimes need to move faster with smaller lenses, but the "good glass" is still big and heavy -- you really won't notice much difference here.

Complaint #2: There aren't enough pixels. Do you really want to see every tiny wrinkle? Even the best make-up job leaves some bits of mascara. Unless you're always making huge prints or cropping your own mistakes, 36 or 24MP is more than enough for most work. Why settle for 60MP+ when you're always chasing better (I.e. more expensive) lenses, storage and computer power? The final 8x10 will probably look the same. Okay, I also want more pixels, but I might not always shoot at full resolution.

Complaint #3: It's too expensive. Duh! Any new bells or whistles will cost more. If you need it, get it. If not, look for another good option. If you simply don't have the money, buy the best you can afford (but use it!)

Complaint #4: Why doesn't it have _______? A hammer is great for driving nails, but it's a lousy screwdriver. One camera / lens / photographer can't do it all, but there are many "can do it most" options.

So, please let's quit the complaining about what's wrong with a camera and fully use whatever we do have. If it's a D300 and 50f1.8D, great! If you've got a Z9 and 24-70 S, fantastic! Take as many landscapes and portraits as you like, but please don't say, "I can't do it because I don't have _____." You're just giving up and not using your creativity. There's more than one solution.

(Rant over.)

 

[Michael Firstlight]

Simple - if you hold the camera horizontally, it's landscape. Hold it vertically and it's portrait






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[skyrunr]

Simple - if you hold the camera horizontally, it's landscape. Hold it vertically and it's portrait


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What if I take a vertical panoramic landscape?







--
SkyRunR
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[Ellis Vener]

There's been a lot of talk here recently about the Z8 / Z9 not being a landscape or portrait camera.

when people say that they are referring to those cameras being engineered with the capability to shoot at very high frame rates (fps) with a very responsive autofocus system and deliver relatively noise-free photos at very high ISO settings.

Obviously, they can be used for more sedate forms of work, including landscapes and studio portraits.

In other words, they are blathering. Possibly as a way to publicly justify their lack of desire for a camera with those capabilities.

 

[wilberforce_1]

Many landscape photographers have to hike long distances to get to the target landscapes, so weight is important - of both the camera and the lenses (so high quality but light zoom lenses are ideal - such as the Nikkor Z 14-30), and other accessories. At the same time, the camera ideally has high resolution (for detail) and high dynamic range (for shadows), so something less than full frame can be less than ideal.

A landscape camera, on the other hand, does not need rapid autofocus.

Saying "go to the gym" misses the point. The point is to find the best balance of attributes that makes it an efficient and pleasurable tool.

btw, I have ordered a Z8, and do a lot of landscape hiking with my D850. My solution (i.e., compromise) is usually to take a single light lens, occasionally two, and a light tripod. If I only did landscapes, A Z7 would probably suffice, but there are other reasons I want a Z8. Nevertheless, I do recognize the Z8 does not have the ideal combination of attributes for a strictly landscape camera. I think it is helpful for prospective buyers to recognize this, too.

 

[jiberlin]

Simple - if you hold the camera horizontally, it's landscape. Hold it vertically and it's portrait


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What if I take a vertical panoramic landscape?

Then it is a landscape portrait

 

[john isaacs]

It's a camera that doesn't have good enough AF or fast enough frame rates for wildlife.

 

[Hendrik_nl]

Simple - if you hold the camera horizontally, it's landscape. Hold it vertically and it's portrait


-

What if I take a vertical panoramic landscape?

That’s a hybrid camera, of course.

 

[PHXAZCRAIG]

There's been a lot of talk here recently about the Z8 / Z9 not being a landscape or portrait camera. In my opinion, ANY decent camera can do a good job in those areas -- it mainly depends on the choice of lenses and whether one needs the extra resolution.

Those terms often are meant to be derisory, in that a 'landscape' camera is too slow to be an action/sports camera.

Complaint #1: The camera is too big or too heavy.

Same complaints about the (heavier) D850. Big whoop.

Solution: buy a smaller camera or a gym membership to beef up. You will notice a bit of top-heaviness with a smaller body but serious landscape shooters will probably be using a monopod or tripod anyway -- and that also means extra bulk weight, so why are they complaining anyway! Okay, portrait shooters sometimes need to move faster with smaller lenses, but the "good glass" is still big and heavy -- you really won't notice much difference here.

And there are tripods.

Complaint #2: There aren't enough pixels.

Sigh. I remember when Nikon shocked the world with the 36mp D800. Canon shooters were crying in their beers online about it. Especially because Nikon also undercut the usual price level with the D800. You'd think someone shot their dog.

And now 45mp is ... routine. Also quite enough. Consider diffraction setting in earlier and earlier.

Do you really want to see every tiny wrinkle? Even the best make-up job leaves some bits of mascara. Unless you're always making huge prints or cropping your own mistakes, 36 or 24MP is more than enough for most work. Why settle for 60MP+ when you're always chasing better (I.e. more expensive) lenses, storage and computer power? The final 8x10 will probably look the same. Okay, I also want more pixels, but I might not always shoot at full resolution.

Complaint #3: It's too expensive.

Buy a Z7ii then. You have choices!

Duh! Any new bells or whistles will cost more. If you need it, get it. If not, look for another good option. If you simply don't have the money, buy the best you can afford (but use it!)

Complaint #4: Why doesn't it have _______?

Honestly, the Z8 is lacking not much of anything.

A hammer is great for driving nails, but it's a lousy screwdriver. One camera / lens / photographer can't do it all, but there are many "can do it most" options.

So, please let's quit the complaining about what's wrong with a camera and fully use whatever we do have. If it's a D300 and 50f1.8D, great! If you've got a Z9 and 24-70 S, fantastic! Take as many landscapes and portraits as you like, but please don't say, "I can't do it because I don't have _____." You're just giving up and not using your creativity. There's more than one solution.

(Rant over.)

Well, to be fair, newer cameras should enable us to stretch our photography skills into areas we could not with older cameras. Especially around the time the D3 came out, there was a tremendous push for better dynamic range in sensors, resulting in better high ISO performance. Every time a camera came out that could do another stop better in high ISO opened up more opportunities to do low-light shooting without flash.

High pixel resolution enabled more cropping - sometimes you just cannot get the right lens in the right position, but with high MP you could still come out with a shot you never could before.

Add great video. More new capabilities. The Z8/Z9 are Swiss army knife cameras. They can do it all, that's mostly the point.

 

[Ellis Vener]

Add great video. More new capabilities. The Z8/Z9 are Swiss army knife cameras. They can do it all, that's mostly the point.

indeed, that is the point. Same with the 50mp Sony Alpha 1 and maybe the A7R V.

 

[NickZ2016]

You can use the classic definitions.

A landscape camera has full movements front and back. Is light enough to hike with. Packs relatively small. Supports wide or even better UWA lenses.

A portrait camera OTOH has maybe front rise. The back needs to rotate or at least can be changed orientation. Supports long lenses. Needs to be sturdy to deal with those long lenses. Weight isn't an issue.

The definitions come from a time of specialist cameras. Does it matter today?

 

[areallygrumpyoldsod]

There's been a lot of talk here recently about the Z8 / Z9 not being a landscape or portrait camera. In my opinion, ANY decent camera can do a good job in those areas -- it mainly depends on the choice of lenses and whether one needs the extra resolution.

(Rant over.)

The challenge is the use of labeling rather than simply expressing personal preferences.

Any "argument" or assertion, if you prefer, that is based on labeling that can be disproved with the actuation of a single shutter button is simply pointless and most probably designed to create heat.

As a fat old unhealthy bloke I do fully understand the desire and preference for smaller and lighter gear when this would work best for what I am seeking to do -- sure -- but why is it that folk don't just state "this is their preference". Then go on to say Camera X does not meet their needs. The fact it does not does not make such a camera a BAD camera. Certainly and patently given how many folk with different priorities use the same camera (be this the Z8 (soon) or the Z9) for professional portrait and landscape gigs it is not reasonable to say such a camera is not X or Y -- when it is.

A certain Chelsea -- did a vid review and comparison of the Z9 against the much smaller Canon and Sony "competitors" and concluded it was a bad camera -- well no -- it is just not what she wanted.

The Z8 is not a portrait camera -- with the Z8 we have 2 "new" capabilities that are not in the Z9 and are design to aid portrait/headshot and event shooters - namely "portrait impression balance and skin-softening functions". The former appears to further refine the priority given to Matrix Metering with Face Detection to prioritise the face in the exposure and to fine-tue hue and brightness -- whether it also allows other "currently undisclosed" adjustments to be made we will see. AND then there is skin softening - which can be used for both stills and videos - softens the look of skin while keeping eyes and hair sharp. VERY CLEARLY these 2 capabilities make it clear that Nikon believe the Z8 is "good" for portraits. I know many pstudio portrait shooters who love their Z9 with its Vertical grip -- they shoot vertical almost all the time -- is the Z9 not a portrait camera either.

The Z8 is not a landscape camera - AND then we have landscapes -- Nikon Z8 (and Z9) has both built in HDR (where a single raw file is made from 2 exposures), Exposures Bracketing, Ultra long exposure, timelapses, remote triggering and control via an app, and overlay shooting -- It is unclear to me what precisely folk are looking for in a full frame mirrorless body that would make it a Landscape camera. The FACT is a very few folk seem to want to squeeze at least 61mp in a FF body or more and they want this body to weigh less than a feather. Ansel Adams was something of a landscape shooter and he managed with a large wooden thing and glass plates -- so ......

Well for those how DEMAND at least 61mp first please do read-up on diffraction limits and what these have meant for landscape shooters using the A7RV -- Matt Irwin posted a vid yesterday where he, somewhat clumsily, made this very point - images from Z8 and A7RV when the same 35mm focal length fully closed down (to f/16) are sharper and clearer from the Z8 and these images did not have the diffraction artifacts (halos) that those from the A7RV did. If you want megapixels AND 16-bit tonal depth then use a GFX-100s or a Phase One XT with 150 MP IQ4 otherwise ......... BTW - shooting my X2D-100C at apertures higher than f/20 clearly show image quality reduction. AND that Small Medium Format Sensor is the same size as used in as the GFX-100s so 170% the area of a FF sensor. AND very clearly the fps and other performance is much slower.

The A7RV weighs 723g (25.6oz), the R5 738g and the Z8 weighs 910g (32.1oz) -- with battery and cards -- are folk genuinely saying that 172-187 grammes (6.0-6.5oz) makes so much difference -- REALLY. Look at the vids by the young lady up shooting climbers up a cliff. COME ON be real

"We" know that folk with smaller hands have a better time with smaller bodies. AND folk (like me) with larger hands want to use bodies with larger grips (particularly when shooting with large heavy lenses) -- the Z6/Z7 work best for me when I have attached an L-bracket that extends the grip so my pinky finger is not just dangling.

--
areallygrumpyoldsod
Nikon and Hasselblad shooter -- wildlife and and -- https://www.andymillerphoto.co.uk/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/ajm057/

 

[Fredrik Glckner]

Someone who is purely into landscapes or portraits don't need most of the features from the Z9, but could do with a Z7 (II). The Z9 sensor is made for high end autofocus performance and fast continuous shooting, not really needed for landscapes and portraits.

Nothing wrong with using the Z9 for landscapes and portraits, but you are then paying a lot for features not needed.

 

[Canadianguy]

I agree fully.

Landscapes - usually shooting at F8 or smaller - so no need for expensive large fast lenses, F8 is a great equalizer of lenses

Resolution - very easy these days to get more of it via software or just do panos/stitching processing

DR - very easy to get more of it via HDR / stacking processing

So to me - if one wants to shoot landscapes - one of the cheapest ways to get into photography - other than the costs of access to interesting places to see the Landscapes and costs of a good tripod and head.

There's been a lot of talk here recently about the Z8 / Z9 not being a landscape or portrait camera. In my opinion, ANY decent camera can do a good job in those areas -- it mainly depends on the choice of lenses and whether one needs the extra resolution.

Complaint #1: The camera is too big or too heavy. Solution: buy a smaller camera or a gym membership to beef up. You will notice a bit of top-heaviness with a smaller body but serious landscape shooters will probably be using a monopod or tripod anyway -- and that also means extra bulk weight, so why are they complaining anyway! Okay, portrait shooters sometimes need to move faster with smaller lenses, but the "good glass" is still big and heavy -- you really won't notice much difference here.

Complaint #2: There aren't enough pixels. Do you really want to see every tiny wrinkle? Even the best make-up job leaves some bits of mascara. Unless you're always making huge prints or cropping your own mistakes, 36 or 24MP is more than enough for most work. Why settle for 60MP+ when you're always chasing better (I.e. more expensive) lenses, storage and computer power? The final 8x10 will probably look the same. Okay, I also want more pixels, but I might not always shoot at full resolution.

Complaint #3: It's too expensive. Duh! Any new bells or whistles will cost more. If you need it, get it. If not, look for another good option. If you simply don't have the money, buy the best you can afford (but use it!)

Complaint #4: Why doesn't it have _______? A hammer is great for driving nails, but it's a lousy screwdriver. One camera / lens / photographer can't do it all, but there are many "can do it most" options.

So, please let's quit the complaining about what's wrong with a camera and fully use whatever we do have. If it's a D300 and 50f1.8D, great! If you've got a Z9 and 24-70 S, fantastic! Take as many landscapes and portraits as you like, but please don't say, "I can't do it because I don't have _____." You're just giving up and not using your creativity. There's more than one solution.

(Rant over.)

 

[Nikkor_Man]

What exactly is a landscape/portrait camera?

A Fuji GFX100s.

 

[pcgeekesq]

As the term seems to be used, in the Nikon context, "landscape" seems to have only one feature it needs (hi-res high-DR), and other than that it defined in the negative, by what it doesn't need (fast AF, IBIS, high frame rate, a big battery, toughness, and so on).

Thus, people seem to think the Z8 "isn't a good landscape camera" not because it lacks anything, but because it has too much: too many features, too many menu options, too much weight, too much size, and too much $$$$.

More accurate to say would be "if all you are ever going to take is landscape photos, the Z8 may not be the best option for you." That doesn't mean it isn't a good option, though: if you were in Kauai and it was all you had, you'd be able to take great landscape photos with it.

 

[wildblanket]

A landscape/studio camera is something invented by canon to explain why various cameras' poor focussing was a feature rather than a flaw. I think the pinical of this segmentation from canon was the 5DR which was (reportedly) no use for any sort of action photography.

Nikon have traditionally offered cameras which were all-rounders with lower end models developed as good as they could be at the price. This difference was particularly apparent in comparing the Nikon D600 and canon 6D where one was a cut down version of a higher end camera, whilst the other was deliberately built to a lower spec to avoid impacting sales on the higher end model.

More recently the Nikon Z5 is really not £1000 different to the Z6ii unless you have very specific needs.

 

[BackToNature1]

There's been a lot of talk here recently about the Z8 / Z9 not being a landscape or portrait camera. In my opinion, ANY decent camera can do a good job in those areas -- it mainly depends on the choice of lenses and whether one needs the extra resolution.

But not all of them will give one the Best Resolution.