landscape photography with m240

[ph13an25]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

After some courses i will invest in equipment for landscape-, city- and portrait-photography.

Is top DSLR for landscape to be preferred over M240?

Please advise.

Philip

[jaapv]

Depends on your personal preference. You will be hard put to tell the difference in gear when you look at the print.

Actually for landscape there is a good case to be made for using medium format cameras, as there is for using a Leica M for street photography, but then again there are quite a few highly capable mirrorless systems.

It comes down to the answer: you can use any high-level system for your subjects and get great results.

Just buy the camera you are comfortable with.

Edited August 10, 2014 by jaapv

[Advertisement]

The Leica Q3 is available for pre-order at B&H Photo Video and Adorama

[sanyasi]

The M series can used for lots of different types of photography, particularly if it is in skilled hands. But it isn't a panacea or the ultimate camera.

 

I would try different options to see what works for you. The Pentax medium format camera is interesting, and only slightly more expensive than an M. Both Nikon and Canon are rumored to be thinking in terms of medium format, and you don't even have to wait. Nikon has had that 800 or whatever number it is out for over a year. Sony also has a small form factor powerful camera out--the 7R I believe.

 

Try before you buy.

[jedi996sps]

After some courses i will invest in equipment for landscape-, city- and portrait-photography.

Is top DSLR for landscape to be preferred over M240?

Please advise.

Philip

 

I do not have a DSLR... i have an M240 and Sony A7r

[250swb]

After some courses i will invest in equipment for landscape-, city- and portrait-photography.

Is top DSLR for landscape to be preferred over M240?

Please advise.

Philip

 

Camera equipment is more often matched with aesthetic instincts and working practice than the type of image. But an M240 will fit onto a tripod just like any other camera, and it can take a multitude of lenses from wide angle to telephoto, so it is as good as any other if you only need manual focus lenses, which for landscape are fine, the landscape is hardly likely to be moving fast.

 

The M240 is also good for portrait and city imaging.

 

 

Steve

[pedaes]

The M is a light-tight box you can fix to a tripod and add some superb lenses. It makes a fine landscape camera, and with a EVF fitted makes shots taken close to the ground easy and comfortable to compose. If you are into filters the Lee 75 system works fine, again especially with the EVF.

[dj_61]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Why not? I have been a Hasselblad landscape photographer for decades and recently smade the switch to a Monochrom. I could not be happier. I love the files the Monochrom delivers. And the files are on par with the scanned Hassy negs,

[Numbers]

For a 35 mm camera it think it is a very good solution. Especially with the EVF, but even without it. You have superb lenses that are sharp across the frame and with minimal distortion. Also, if you have to do a lot of walking to get to your motiefs (landscape or city), you have a high quality system that is extremely compact. If you look at a forum like luminous-landscape.com , you will find very skilled photographers using the Leica M240 and also making a case for it as a landscape camera, even over the Nikon d800, when it comes to image quality. (I refuse to take part in such discussions, personally)

As someone else said; for a little more money than the M system, you can get int to medium format. Thats what you probably should do, ii image quality is your only factor. But it is bulky and heavy. I like to shoot a lot of architecture and urban / landscapes, but for me the Leica M is the ideal compromise between size and quality. I left Nikon, because I found I never used it. Too big and heavy to take with me. Ive used my M for little over a year now and my shooting has multiplied by a factor 15-20. So I guess, finding the right tool for YOU is what really matters most.

Edited August 11, 2014 by Numbers

[stickan1]

I use my M240 for a lot of landscape images. The lightness is a real plus when you do longer walks and 3-4 lenses and a light carbon tripod is no problem to carry. The quality of the lenses, both Zeiss and Leica, give very nice results I think. I have a rather large collection of landscape on my web pages, most of them are shot with Leica.I had a Nikon D800E for a period (the Lofoten images are with Nikon) but I exchanged it together with some Zeiss lenses for a Leica MM this spring. The M240 is better than the MM for landscape due to the live view and EVF, it is also nice to use colour now and then.

Edited August 11, 2014 by stickan1

[thighslapper]

Is top DSLR for landscape to be preferred over M240?

Philip

 

No.

 

Unless you can afford someone to carry your heavy 'top end DSLR' gear you will soon realise that a compact high quality camera like a Leica with a couple of lenses has enormous benefits in terms of weight and portability.

[helged]

No.

 

Unless you can afford someone to carry your heavy 'top end DSLR' gear you will soon realise that a compact high quality camera like a Leica with a couple of lenses has enormous benefits in terms of weight and portability.

 

Fully agree - and the reason that I ended up by using the M-system. Hiking or skiing for one (long) day or one week, with backpack and a heavy/bulky camera system does simply not work for me. The package with M240 (or MM) with e.g. 21SEM, 50APO and 90 Macro-Elmar (and sometimes 28Cron) balances weight, size and technical quality in an outstanding way. I almost always, irrespective of weather or landscape, climbing or strolling, keep one body and two lenses in a beltpack in the front, ready for shooting. I rarely bring with me a tripod, but hiking poles with a few tricks can do the work of a tripod (I plan to write a post on a setup I find useful).

[jaapv]

Novoflex offer a light monopod that is essentially a collapsible Leki skiing/hiking pole with a standard tripod screw on top that can take either the camera, a small ball head or a nice wooden knob. I rather like using it.

[Printmaker]

I use both a M9 and a S2 for landscape work. The M (9) and a few lenses is a great kit for backpacking or just day hiking into the back country. Climbing in the Na Pali, I never miss the weight or the size of the SLR kit. The S2 is for more serious work where a tripod proves its worth. However, I never go more than a few miles with the S2 and tripod where the M(9) kit will travel as far as my old legs will permit. Its the best of both worlds.

 

Point is, the S2 does not weigh too much more than a Canon and a 24-70. Nor is it all that much larger. You are like me you are apt to the find Canon find too big and heavy while a M with a few carefully selected lenses can go anywhere and capture impressive images worthy of huge prints. Add an EVF if you need to see through the lens.

[Nick_S]

Novoflex offer a light monopod that is essentially a collapsible Leki skiing/hiking pole with a standard tripod screw on top that can take either the camera, a small ball head or a nice wooden knob. I rather like using it.

Would that be the Novoflex BBSTOCK Telescope Rod?

 

Nick

[jaapv]

Yes-it is.

[tobey bilek]

Auto focus and image stabilization have made modern dslr lenses quite large. The lenses do not even fit the older design camera bags. The AF function is a potential failure point.

 

Plus is decent quality zoom lenses are made so less lens changing and dirt incursion happens.

 

The 18 MP Nikon DF is the same image quality as the top of the line D4. High ISO is really good. Size wise it is not very large, but still bigger than an M. Cost is half that of an M. Small old Nikon lenses can still be used.

 

D800, D810 are bigger and are 36 MP allowing very large prints. Framing is more accurate with the pro Nikons.

 

I value small size for hiking and Have 28 3.5 ( superb lens) 35 2.0, *very small), collapsible 50 and 90 and both are very nice. Other faster lenses are available. Cost can be an issue.

 

M cameras still only have a single card slot like the DF Nikon. Pro cameras all have multiple slots. Not sure if this is a serious problem if you do not go for the cheap cards and buy from a trusted source.

 

Money no object, I would buy based on size and whether the framing accuracy bothers you. I bring this up because frame lines are based on one distance. Angle of view changes as focus moves and you get more in the picture at distance. Live view is of course correct at all times.

 

Pictures are not significantly different at landscape apertures.

[Photoskeptic]

When I travel internationally it's always the Leica. Nationally I take the DSLR and lenses in a backpack. Here's a shot of me and the Leica doing landscape in Tuscany this year taken by my friend. RRS L-plate on an RRS Nodal slide.

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

[thighslapper]

I rarely bring with me a tripod, but hiking poles with a few tricks can do the work of a tripod (I plan to write a post on a setup I find useful).

 

I have a Manfrotto 'Pocket' 3 which I often keep attached to the camera ..... with the legs folded it is no bigger than a tripod plate. Ok with all M lenses except the Noctilux (too front heavy)....... limited to landascape format .... errr .... but there again thats what it's for

 

Very rare not to find a convenient rock/wall to put it on .... and I have wedged it in between tree branches on occasion. Best £30 I have ever spent ...... and has had far, far more usage than my £600 carbon fibre Gitzo which lives in the car boot and never sees daylight .....

Edited August 13, 2014 by thighslapper

[Jeff S]

Would that be the Novoflex BBSTOCK Telescope Rod?

 

Another option here. I don't own one, but operation seems convenient.

 

Jeff

[Advertisement]

Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[honcho]

When I travel internationally it's always the Leica. Nationally I take the DSLR and lenses in a backpack. Here's a shot of me and the Leica doing landscape in Tuscany this year taken by my friend. RRS L-plate on an RRS Nodal slide.

 

Try clamping the camera to the driver's window.

 

Same viewpoint and you don't need to walk as far!