Help Deciding on Landscape setup

[RumorsofWar]

Hey all, looking for some landscape photography advice. I shoot mostly landscape/fine-art landscapes with lots of long exposures. Budget is **$5,000** for body + lenses. I’m torn between:

* **Nikon Z8 + Nikkor Z 24–120mm f/4**
* **Sony a7 IV + Sony 20–70mm f/4 G + Tamron 70–180mm f/2.8**

***Sony A7RV + 24-105 f4***
***Nikon Z5ii + 14-30 F4 + 24-120 F4 + save $1000***

I’ve been borrowing a friend’s **Sony a7C II + 20–70 f/4** for the past year and really enjoy it, but he’s trading up to an **a7R V**, so it’s time for my own kit.

For long-exposure landscapes, which setup would you pick and why (dynamic range, ergonomics, lens rendering, ecosystem, etc.)? Any must-have alternatives in this price range, or lens pairings you’d swap? Any advice would be much appreciated.

 

[George 68]

Hey all, looking for some landscape photography advice. I shoot mostly landscape/fine-art landscapes with lots of long exposures. Budget is **$5,000** for body + lenses. I’m torn between:

* **Nikon Z8 + Nikkor Z 24–120mm f/4**
* **Sony a7 IV + Sony 20–70mm f/4 G + Tamron 70–180mm f/2.8**

***Sony A7RV + 24-105 f4***
***Nikon Z5ii + 14-30 F4 + 24-120 F4 + save $1000***

I’ve been borrowing a friend’s **Sony a7C II + 20–70 f/4** for the past year and really enjoy it, but he’s trading up to an **a7R V**, so it’s time for my own kit.

For long-exposure landscapes, which setup would you pick and why (dynamic range, ergonomics, lens rendering, ecosystem, etc.)? Any must-have alternatives in this price range, or lens pairings you’d swap? Any advice would be much appreciated.

I have a Z8 and a Z7. I shoot more than landscapes, including some fast moving stuff which the Z8 deals with much better than the Z7. However, for pure landscape and travel, the Z7 is all I need.

If you just shoot landscape, a Z7ii would free up enough budget that you could stretch to the Z7ii, 14-30, 24-120 a bit like your proposed Z5ii but with 45MP resolution.

I can't comment on Nikon vs Sony - the last time I owned a Sony it was a Minolta 700si film camera.

Just an idea.

 

[ZodiacPhoto]

Hey all, looking for some landscape photography advice. I shoot mostly landscape/fine-art landscapes with lots of long exposures. Budget is **$5,000** for body + lenses. I’m torn between:


* **Sony a7 IV + Sony 20–70mm f/4 G + Tamron 70–180mm f/2.8**

***Sony A7RV + 24-105 f4***

I can comment about Sony only.

Forget the A74, it is a camera that does everything very well, but there are better alternatives for landscapes.

Of course, A7R5 is the king, but for landscape, I would go for a previous model, A7R4. The same 60MP sensor and IQ for landscape, but you will save $$$ for some ultra-wide and/or tele- lenses you will need for landscapes beyond 24-105mm.

 

[GinAZ]

Hey all, looking for some landscape photography advice. I shoot mostly landscape/fine-art landscapes with lots of long exposures. Budget is **$5,000** for body + lenses. I’m torn between:

* **Nikon Z8 + Nikkor Z 24–120mm f/4**
* **Sony a7 IV + Sony 20–70mm f/4 G + Tamron 70–180mm f/2.8**

***Sony A7RV + 24-105 f4***
***Nikon Z5ii + 14-30 F4 + 24-120 F4 + save $1000***

I’ve been borrowing a friend’s **Sony a7C II + 20–70 f/4** for the past year and really enjoy it, but he’s trading up to an **a7R V**, so it’s time for my own kit.

For long-exposure landscapes, which setup would you pick and why (dynamic range, ergonomics, lens rendering, ecosystem, etc.)? Any must-have alternatives in this price range, or lens pairings you’d swap? Any advice would be much appreciated.

I've only used Sony, except for 3D, since 2012. I won't comment on best lens choices for your needs. If you decide on the A7RV you may want to consider a used camera. I could never afford a new one but I found a used "Like New" one with-in my budget that really was "Like New". I'm so happy with it!!! This might free up some budget for lenses.

I use a Tamron 28-200 and just purchased a Sony FE PZ 16-35mm F4 G. Arriving today! I've read a number of posts saying these two lenses are their kit too.

 

[ZodiacPhoto]

Hey all, looking for some landscape photography advice. I shoot mostly landscape/fine-art landscapes with lots of long exposures. Budget is **$5,000** for body + lenses. I’m torn between:

* **Nikon Z8 + Nikkor Z 24–120mm f/4**
* **Sony a7 IV + Sony 20–70mm f/4 G + Tamron 70–180mm f/2.8**

***Sony A7RV + 24-105 f4***
***Nikon Z5ii + 14-30 F4 + 24-120 F4 + save $1000***

I’ve been borrowing a friend’s **Sony a7C II + 20–70 f/4** for the past year and really enjoy it, but he’s trading up to an **a7R V**, so it’s time for my own kit.

For long-exposure landscapes, which setup would you pick and why (dynamic range, ergonomics, lens rendering, ecosystem, etc.)? Any must-have alternatives in this price range, or lens pairings you’d swap? Any advice would be much appreciated.

I've only used Sony, except for 3D, since 2012. I won't comment on best lens choices for your needs. If you decide on the A7RV you may want to consider a used camera. I could never afford a new one but I found a used "Like New" one with-in my budget that really was "Like New". I'm so happy with it!!! This might free up some budget for lenses.

I use a Tamron 28-200 and just purchased a Sony FE PZ 16-35mm F4 G. Arriving today! I've read a number of posts saying these two lenses are their kit too.

Agree, I use Tamron 28-200 almost exclusively on my A7CR. I recently added Rokinon 14-24 f/2.8 for wide angle and astro. Makes a very compact and light weight landscape kit.

 

[Reilly Diefenbach]

Hey all, looking for some landscape photography advice. I shoot mostly landscape/fine-art landscapes with lots of long exposures. Budget is **$5,000** for body + lenses. I’m torn between:

* **Nikon Z8 + Nikkor Z 24–120mm f/4**

Good choice. I had the D850 for several years and did some very nice scapes with it.

* **Sony a7 IV + Sony 20–70mm f/4 G + Tamron 70–180mm f/2.8**

Once you've been spoiled with one of the high MP offerings it's tough to go lower ;^)

***Sony A7RV + 24-105 f4***

Great, but the a7r4 has exactly the same image quality (brand new) for $1200 less. The Sony 20-70 goes substantially wider and does a much better job of suppressing lens flare which is a biggie for landscapes.

So $2699 + $1099 =$3798. Almost enough left for a superlative prime lens like the stupendous Sony 35mm GM. Hmmm.

***Nikon Z5ii + 14-30 F4 + 24-120 F4 + save $1000***

Hard to go wrong there.

I’ve been borrowing a friend’s **Sony a7C II + 20–70 f/4** for the past year and really enjoy it, but he’s trading up to an **a7R V**, so it’s time for my own kit.

Yes!

For long-exposure landscapes, which setup would you pick and why (dynamic range, ergonomics, lens rendering, ecosystem, etc.)? Any must-have alternatives in this price range, or lens pairings you’d swap? Any advice would be much appreciated.

The Sony 60 MP is still the best full frame landscape sensor.


DPR Test Scene Z8 vs a7r4

 

[RumorsofWar]

I saw one it’s great condition with like 10,000 SC for $3,300 which I thought was a solid deal

 

[RumorsofWar]

Thank you

 

[Craig Gillette]

Sony user. I have an A7Riv and would agree on it as a choice. Landscapes don't typically need much in the way of the subject identification and tracking goodies from the A7Rv. Should you want to try it, focus stacking can be done manually. I have Tamron 28-200 and 17-28/2.8 and recently added the 20-70/4. There could be some prime users who could offer up some fine prime as suggestions. That gets into more lenses, maybe more expense, etc.

What I might suggest, instead of the 20-70/4 with all that overlap, maybe a 16-35. The Sigma 14-24 ans Sony 12-24s may be budget busters but do expand the focal length range. Personally, I seldom get to my 17-28 but that could be a matter of locations and preferences.

If you don't have one, make a solid, decent tripod a part of the kit. That can become an interesting search on its own.. I'd prefer a pan/tilt with a leveler, it can be easier to deal with level horizontal pans or vertical tilts, but there many choices out there. 3 section legs, tall enough to avoid using center post extensions, don't collapse as small as 4 or 5 section but that's fewer locks to deal with. Carbon fiber is better at damping and lighter.

 

[georgehudetz]

It seems to me that you are doing a bit of apple-to-oranges from a lens selection standpoint.

My advice is to decide the focal length spread you want (for me, for landscape, I want 16mm to 300mm) and then find the lenses you want in those various systems, and that will tell you how much money you have left for a body.

Since you like long exposure, I also suggest that you pick a set of lenses that use a common filter diameter, so you can invest in one set of quality filters. For example, I choose to shoot L-mount, and I can choose from a fairly broad set of lenses that all use 77mm filters. Not saying this is unique to L-Mount, but Panasonic does tend to strive to make lenses that share a common filter size.

Another thing to look at is how slow of a shutter is supported in the various bodies. 30 seconds? 60? Longer? How does that compare to what you want to do? If the body does not give you the SS flexibility you want, then you have to use an external intervalometer, or perhaps a smartphone, to control the shutter. Maybe you are OK with that, maybe not.

I'd also suggest you look at the reputation of any given vendor's lens IQ for variable aperture zooms. These will save you weight and money. But, getting back to my first point, that becomes less important if you don't want a broad FL spread. But if you want a broad spread and you hike into your destinations, lens weight can quickly add up. A set of variable-aperture lenses that give good IQ (even if it's isn't absolutely top-notch) can really make those hikes easier.

You might also look at features like hi-res modes (not necessarily useful for long-exposures), and other firmware features that might be applicable for your style of shooting. For example, L-mount bodies (well, the newer ones, anyway) have something called "Live View Composite" that makes capturing multiple lightning strikes, or star trails, even fireworks - child's play.

Good luck, and have fun! It's hard to make a bad choice right now.

 

[lost alaskan]

[No message]

 

[ToRemembertheStory]

You may find NIGEL DANSON 'S SITE helpful.

. He covers nikon lenses and cameras for landscape use.

 

[KLHman]

***Nikon Z5ii + 14-30 F4 + 24-120 F4 + save $1000***

I have a Z7II and have also had a Z6. The 14-30 and 24-120 are perfect choices

Here's a link to my Flickr albums with photos using each lens

Z 14-30, https://www.flickr.com/photos/klhman/albums/72157717878862071/

Z 24-120, https://www.flickr.com/photos/klhman/albums/72177720300252054/

Ken