As the title states , what do you look for in a good landscape camera ? Beyond just megapixels (i.e. 45MP) features such as a FF mirrorless camera , auto bracketing , auto focus shifting , low ISO 64 , +/- 1/3rd stop EV exposure settings , a long self timer , a sensor known for excellent dynamic range , great tonality , etc.
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What Do You Look for in a Landscape Camera ?
- Thread starter chrisD46
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Cherry_F
Senior Member
Lightness. To me, landscape photo means walking - and, in some cases, hiking.
I may accept to carry 4 pounds for 2 hours tops, but I don't want to carry more than 2 pounds during 4 hours :-D
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Photography is so easy, that's what makes it highly difficult - Robert Delpire
I may accept to carry 4 pounds for 2 hours tops, but I don't want to carry more than 2 pounds during 4 hours :-D
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Photography is so easy, that's what makes it highly difficult - Robert Delpire
I believe the only feature my camera matches on your list is a self timer.
It's not full frame, the auto bracketing is not good, the sensor is not known for excellent DR either. It does have a tripod plate though.
Not surprisingly though, it does create some decent landscape photos now and then.
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Quarkcharmed
Senior Member
For landscape specifically, megapixel count and dynamic range are the most important - other features are roughly the same in all modern cameras.
Roughly speaking, dynamic range and pixel count determine the amount of information you get in your shots, do the more the better.
In top end cameras, the dynamic range is roughly the same across major brands, so megapixels may become a decisive factor.
Weight and weather resistance may also be important factors.
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jm10
Senior Member
Almost sounds like you describing my Z7ii 
. I would add a few items. Not sure if you meant the long self timer or a long shutter speed...the latter should indeed be measured in minutes (not in seconds). Modern Fujifilm for example can do up to 15 minutes - useful for night photography.
The screen should tilt both ways for portrait and landscape orientation - big miss on Z7ii...A number of controls and function buttons should be allowed to be customized per your desires and convenience. Menus should be sufficiently easy to understand and number of menu layers should be acceptable to you.
I don't have particular requirements for memory card slots type and number, but many people do...up to you. Memory banks - most cameras seem to have some form of it. I happen to like like the C1, C2, C3 function on Z7ii.
Probably missing some items but hope this helps.
jacob
. I would add a few items. Not sure if you meant the long self timer or a long shutter speed...the latter should indeed be measured in minutes (not in seconds). Modern Fujifilm for example can do up to 15 minutes - useful for night photography.The screen should tilt both ways for portrait and landscape orientation - big miss on Z7ii...A number of controls and function buttons should be allowed to be customized per your desires and convenience. Menus should be sufficiently easy to understand and number of menu layers should be acceptable to you.
I don't have particular requirements for memory card slots type and number, but many people do...up to you. Memory banks - most cameras seem to have some form of it. I happen to like like the C1, C2, C3 function on Z7ii.
Probably missing some items but hope this helps.
jacob
Lens shifting capability would be pretty sweet to have. So I could keep the back level & compose without having trees converge.
There are other workarounds of course... while I save up for that MF system.
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There are other workarounds of course... while I save up for that MF system.
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My thoughts:
You are looking for a good tool.
1) Good resolution
2) Dynamic Range
3) Stong Ergonomics: a) good menus; b) tilt screen, even better, tilt EVF; c) intuitive dials or buttons
4) Wealth Sealing
5) Able to handle long exposures
6) Decent Battery Life
7) Robust build
8) Access to tilt / shift lenses... Not a must.
* AF - not all that important for Landscape work.
I put the top contenders here as the Fuji GFX 50s, 100, and 100 II. They hit every element. If you leave out the tilt EVF, unique to Fuji, then I think the flowing come to mind: x2d and x2d II, Z9 and Z8, Leica M11, a few from Sony and Canon.
Today many modern cameras can fill the Landscape photographer's needs. It starts to come down to the how you interact with the tool.
You are looking for a good tool.
1) Good resolution
2) Dynamic Range
3) Stong Ergonomics: a) good menus; b) tilt screen, even better, tilt EVF; c) intuitive dials or buttons
4) Wealth Sealing
5) Able to handle long exposures
6) Decent Battery Life
7) Robust build
8) Access to tilt / shift lenses... Not a must.
* AF - not all that important for Landscape work.
I put the top contenders here as the Fuji GFX 50s, 100, and 100 II. They hit every element. If you leave out the tilt EVF, unique to Fuji, then I think the flowing come to mind: x2d and x2d II, Z9 and Z8, Leica M11, a few from Sony and Canon.
Today many modern cameras can fill the Landscape photographer's needs. It starts to come down to the how you interact with the tool.
mreynolds767
Senior Member
I would consider many things important:
But Dynamic Range is for me most important.
But Dynamic Range is for me most important.
John Crowe
Veteran Member
Full frame, or larger, and resolution takes greatest priority. The best landscape lenses are made for full frame, and mine cover medium format. Resolution gets more detail in vast landscapes. Now that I have an awesome landscape/architecture camera I would not want to be without; grid, level, various mirror lock-up (on a DSLR), and Low ISO setting. A deep buffer for stitching and focus stacking is also nice. I think every camera has a delayed shutter release, but this too is important, as is the obvious tripod thread. Most cameras have a good magnification system to confirm focus too.
My best landscape lenses are manual focus so automatic focus stacking would not be useful.
Better dynamic range would be awesome but I will wait for a significant increase in resolution before upgrading.
Although I have a telephoto/sports body as well, I expect my landscape/architecture body to be able to do double duty. I recently considered medium format but their frame rates are too slow.
My best landscape lenses are manual focus so automatic focus stacking would not be useful.
Better dynamic range would be awesome but I will wait for a significant increase in resolution before upgrading.
Although I have a telephoto/sports body as well, I expect my landscape/architecture body to be able to do double duty. I recently considered medium format but their frame rates are too slow.
I often, but not always or only, carry a 'tough' camera.
We live in a very rugged mountain region. Smetimes this entails photogaphy in potentially dangerous envronments.
Under these circumstances I want a camera that will survive any environment I can survive. If not I won't venture in and endanger a conventional camera.
Over the years this practice has netted me many photographs I otherwise would not have gotten.
We live in a very rugged mountain region. Smetimes this entails photogaphy in potentially dangerous envronments.
Under these circumstances I want a camera that will survive any environment I can survive. If not I won't venture in and endanger a conventional camera.
Over the years this practice has netted me many photographs I otherwise would not have gotten.
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NowHearThis
Veteran Member
The camera is only half the equation. I can’t think about the camera without thinking about lenses too. In either case, the question: “what can [it] do for me?” Is always a good question I start with. I just barely moved to full frame after a decade of shooting Micro Four Thirds. The Full Frame setup I have suits me for what I want to do now - but if I could afford both systems, I’d have never sold my M43 gear. There is no perfect system and sometimes you have to prioritize one thing over another, even if it’s your most beneficial feature.
For example, the Sony A7RIVa I have now can’t match the Olympus EM1 Mark III for IBIS performance. My EM1.3 is at least 3 stops better. And great IBIS has been my #1 most required feature of anything I purchased since my original EM10. I’m doing more traveling (just got back from 10days in New England) and I’m prioritizing resolution, DR, and a one lens setup more now, so while my EM1.3 wins out in some areas: IBIS, low light focusing, metering, computational modes, weather sealing, etc, the A7RIVa wins out in: Resolution, IQ, DR, tracking AF, video, DRO feature, battery life, noise. Some of those things are why I switched.
I am 90% a landscape photographer, but I also have a very busy life, I mostly need cameras that can give me great results that are as close to perfect SOOC as I can so I spend a minimal amount of time editing.
I have one now, but I have outstanding photos with my former EM1.3, EM1.2, Pen-F cameras because I used great glass and focused on getting my light and composition right.
Never use, if it can’t combine it in camera, it doesn’t suit my workflow, but I’m glad it’s available for others.
I don’t do macro, so this is not needed for me, OMMV.
This is kind of a Nikon thing. I’m satisfied with my ISO50, and ISO100 (which I use most of the time.
Every camera has this
Every camera has this. My camera has a 2, 5, 10 sec timer and that’s fine.
I have that now, it’s definitely a plus, but great images have been made for decades and decades with film and digital cameras that had nowhere near the DR, etc that we have now.
Good pluses for me are:
- Great IQ (and resolution)
- Lenses that let me do what I want (also affordable lenses too - generally $1200 is the most I want to spend on a zoom, and $500 is the most I want to spend on a prime)
- Effective IBIS (let’s me leave the tripod in the car)
- Easy to transfer images to my phone (I have a couple specific reasons for this)
- Plenty of customization.
- Accurate Metering
- Something like DRO on Sony (the jpegs let me get an idea of what I can do in a shot with the RAWs later)
- Some weather-sealing, the more the better
robgendreau
Forum Pro
Landscape is pretty easy for any camera to do.
Megapixels? they don't matter much to me re landscape; whether I need more is a function of whether I'm printing very large images. And I often do panoramas, so even with a low MP camera I get pretty big results once stitched.
Whether it has a mirror doesn't matter at all. My 645Z doesn't have one, nor does my Pentax K-1ii and it's one of the best landscape shooters I've ever used.
I don't auto bracket that often, but most cameras can do exposure brackets. And easy to do that manually. Ditto for focus. ISO 100 is fine for me, and I often use an external timer or just a watch and trigger so again, not needed in the camera, and besides, most do 30 seconds so that's fine. Or I'm using bulb.
What I do like is IBIS. So that when out without a tripod or just catching a short lived cloud or something I can shoot at a lower shutter speed.
I love my K-1ii for night stuff, since it has Astrotracer and night lights. It's a killer feature, basically a short lived astro tracking mount built in.
Dynamic range is nice too. But I've discovered that most cameras have more than I realized, and that the limitation is display, not the sensor. Since switching to using display HDR (NOT HDR stacking) I get much more out of even old shots from old cameras. I wish more cameras, besides phones and the Hasselblad X2Dii, had HDR displays. Makes a HUGE difference to see that extra 4 stops of range.
Weatherproofing is nice for obvious reasons.
And a bright viewfinder, optical or electronic, and a bright rear display. Preferably that flips for low level composing.
I wish more cameras had GPS for this time of work and wildlife and travel, but sigh...no such luck.
I looked really hard at switch from the em1iii to the sony also, which is a great camera body in so many ways and very close in size and weight too, but in the end it was the 12-100 lens that ultimately kept me from making the switch, and now that ai has delivered major break throughs with noise reduction in both Lightroom and Topaz photo ai FF envy has toned down even further. But if I was going to switch it would have been to sony also.
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NowHearThis
Veteran Member
I had both the 8-25/4 and 12-100/4 and believe me, of everything I’ve ever owned, those two were the hardest things to give up. The only thing that keeps me from having regret is just how excellent the 20-70/4 is. It’s GM level great even if it doesn’t get the special red badge.
If I ever get the extra $$$ I’ll have that 12-100 again; I suspect it may be several years down the road though.
mreynolds767
Senior Member
Just curious... as maybe you can change my opinions
I consider the "new" HDR viewing option in LR more of a trick to see what an image may be capable of than actually being useful because it is using an extended histogram which is taking both ends into unprintable ranges. So the images are useless in my opinion for printing if edited based on this as a starting point.
Even for viewing ; if you share the image online it needs to support the HDR format or will not look good and you also need the audience to have an HDR capable screen to see it as intended.
It sounds like you really enjoy the new option so was hoping you might share your thoughts on the negative aspects I mention above; I might not have them correct and I realize if the photos are for your enjoyment on your own HDR monitors and never any other usage it would have advantages.
Quarkcharmed
Senior Member
There are different tools for printing in Lightroom. Still, you can edit HDR and target printing (just enable 'soft proofing').
Lightroom can export HDR as jpeg with gain map. https://community.adobe.com/t5/ligh...-updates-in-apple-sonoma-ios-18/td-p/14872217
Such a jpeg will be displayed properly (expectedly) on SDR displays even though it has HDR data as well.
When you edit, you can enable 'Preview for SDR display' so you can control how your image will look like on SDR and HDR displays.
That option is only enjoyable if you have an HDR display/monitor. Then you can edit in HDR and target both HDR and SDR displays.
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