deekay Posted January 31, 2022 Share #1 Â Posted January 31, 2022 Advertisement (gone after registration) I'd like some advice on a telephoto lens for landscape photography with the M11 (only other M lens is a 35). I do like long lens landscape photography and on a recent trip with my Sony system, here are the stats for 32 favorite images in terms of focal length: 24-50 = 5 51-90 = 6 91-400 = 21 So, bearing in mind the cropability, what do you recommend - 90 or 135? Maximum aperture is not too important. I will be using the Visioflex and a tripod. Thanks. Â Â Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted January 31, 2022 Posted January 31, 2022 Hi deekay, Take a look here M11: lens for landscape photography. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
Guest Posted January 31, 2022 Share #2 Â Posted January 31, 2022 90 & willingness to crop may be more flexible than 135. The longer you go (lens wise), the more you depart from the rangefinder design of the M series ... Have you considered the excellent Leica SL at all - perhaps waiting for the next release (which may be called SL3) with the 2022 upcoming next generation of Sony sensor pitch - might turn out to be 80-100M, can't never have enough for landscape? Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeicaR10 Posted January 31, 2022 Share #3 Â Posted January 31, 2022 Deekay, Â You ask a good question. Â A lot of well intentioned photographers to include myself will offer all types of advice for the best focal length to use. Â With the M11, I personally use Leica lenses because I like they way the M lenses render. Â I have used M cameras for over 40+ years and find the 135 Apo Telyt M to be excellent to isolate the landscape. Â But at the end of the day, it will be your decision that suits your genre of photography and wallet best. You have a lot of choices. Â I am certain others will chime in with suggestions. Â r/ Mark 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jankap Posted January 31, 2022 Share #4 Â Posted January 31, 2022 What is against Sony (FF?) for landscape photography? Think of a rotating LCD with your camera near the ground. Telephoto and optical viewfinder?? Horses for courses! 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
M11 for me Posted January 31, 2022 Share #5  Posted January 31, 2022 (edited) vor 20 Minuten schrieb jankap: What is against Sony (FF?) for landscape photography? Think of a rotating LCD with your camera near the ground. Telephoto and optical viewfinder?? Horses for courses! I agree that the Sony with all its wonderfull Zooms you are much better served. If it has absolutely to be the M11 then maybe you could buy the famous M Lens 16-600mm Noctilux. That would serve all purposes and is only 1 pint heavy 🤗 Edited January 31, 2022 by M10 for me Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
darylgo Posted January 31, 2022 Share #6  Posted January 31, 2022 @deekay the 90mm apo is an amazing lens, my copy resolves well and would easily crop leaving enough resolution for printing large.   I’ve been looking for good alternatives beyond 90mm, the 135 apo or tele-elmar are great optics however they’re limiting. The next alternative is using the R adapter with a Leica 180mm and then add a 1.4x or 2x converter to  extend its range.  Alternatively, the 70-180mm R lens could be used however its very heavy and large. The M is a great camera for telephoto work, the idea of its use as a 50mm and wider went away with the visoflex on the M240.  The sensor on the M11 is proving to be spectacular from all the testing results.    Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tom0511 Posted January 31, 2022 Share #7 Â Posted January 31, 2022 Advertisement (gone after registration) If you eventually also shoot handheld sometimes with the rangefinder (IMO the reason to buy a Leica M) I would prefer 90mm. 135 in the optical viewfinder gets pretty small and not easy to focus. Of course on the tripod with live view its not a problem and the 135/3.4 is an excellent lens. Â Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jankap Posted January 31, 2022 Share #8  Posted January 31, 2022 (edited) 2 hours ago, M10 for me said: I agree that the Sony with all its wonderfull Zooms you are much better served. If it has absolutely to be the M11 then maybe you could buy the famous M Lens 16-600mm Noctilux. That would serve all purposes and is only 1 pint heavy 🤗 A very heavy pint. But after haven drunk a pint of that size, you could not drive the truck to transport that lens.🤠Edited January 31, 2022 by jankap Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
M11 for me Posted January 31, 2022 Share #9  Posted January 31, 2022 Yes, I oversaw that detail 😀 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deekay Posted January 31, 2022 Author Share #10 Â Posted January 31, 2022 6 hours ago, mzbe said: 90 & willingness to crop may be more flexible than 135. The longer you go (lens wise), the more you depart from the rangefinder design of the M series ... Have you considered the excellent Leica SL at all - perhaps waiting for the next release (which may be called SL3) with the 2022 upcoming next generation of Sony sensor pitch - might turn out to be 80-100M, can't never have enough for landscape? SL2 is too heavy although I have never considered it with M lenses. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deekay Posted January 31, 2022 Author Share #11 Â Posted January 31, 2022 3 hours ago, jankap said: What is against Sony (FF?) for landscape photography? Think of a rotating LCD with your camera near the ground. Telephoto and optical viewfinder?? Horses for courses! Yes, understood. I just want to see how I can do using the M11 for landscape. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
M11 for me Posted January 31, 2022 Share #12  Posted January 31, 2022 For landscape you need 21, 28, 35, 50, 75 and 90mm. I have all these lenses and need them regularly. But I wonder if you need more lenses when you just shoot around 30 images. BTW I do not believe that anybody can answer your question. You have to know what focal length you need. I need them all. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deekay Posted January 31, 2022 Author Share #13  Posted January 31, 2022 10 minutes ago, M10 for me said: For landscape you need 21, 28, 35, 50, 75 and 90mm. I have all these lenses and need them regularly. But I wonder if you need more lenses when you just shoot around 30 images. BTW I do not believe that anybody can answer your question. You have to know what focal length you need. I need them all. ~30 favorite images Well, the question also concerns the qualities of those particular lenses, not simply their focal lengths. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daedalus2000 Posted January 31, 2022 Share #14 Â Posted January 31, 2022 11 hours ago, deekay said: I'd like some advice on a telephoto lens for landscape photography with the M11 (only other M lens is a 35). I do like long lens landscape photography and on a recent trip with my Sony system, here are the stats for 32 favorite images in terms of focal length: 24-50 = 5 51-90 = 6 91-400 = 21 So, bearing in mind the cropability, what do you recommend - 90 or 135? Maximum aperture is not too important. I will be using the Visioflex and a tripod. Thanks. Â Â I think given that you can crop very well with the M11, a 90mm (APO?) will give you more flexibility. If you crop at the 135mm equivalent you will still have 26 megapixels, will that be enough? Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlashGordonPhotography Posted January 31, 2022 Share #15  Posted January 31, 2022 Using the R to M adaptor you could find a good copy of the 80-200 zoom. It is excellent optically and not too big for a short tele-zoom. If it must be an M then I find my 135 more useful. But you are not me.... Gordon 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmravi Posted July 16, 2022 Share #16  Posted July 16, 2022 Recently I made a switch from Nikon to M11 kit. I do landscapes primarily, but do trek a lot (3-5 day treks are average for me). I can tell you that there are few opportunities that you will definitely miss with an M-kit, primarily b/c it does not have a zoom lens (not b/c of reach). Second, you are going to have to get some weather kits to protect you gear from rain etc… As far as the reach, you won’t miss much if you are willing to crop. I do have a fair chunk of takes within the 150-200mm range. So cropping from 90mm wasn’t great. So I went with the following: 40mm: I never liked 50. 15mm: About 18% of my shots are between 16-35mm range 90mm: Covers the range upto 120mm. This is where about 40% of my shots where 135mm: Covers upto 180mm. 120-180 is where about 30% of my shots where. I can tell you that I don’t miss that many opportunity with just primes. Depending on your favorite location and style, this may be a wrong direction. I did a 2 month long test run before committing. And I still have my Nikon kit if I feel I want to go back.  1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianforber Posted July 16, 2022 Share #17  Posted July 16, 2022 8 hours ago, rmravi said: Recently I made a switch from Nikon to M11 kit. I do landscapes primarily, but do trek a lot (3-5 day treks are average for me). I can tell you that there are few opportunities that you will definitely miss with an M-kit, primarily b/c it does not have a zoom lens (not b/c of reach). Second, you are going to have to get some weather kits to protect you gear from rain etc… As far as the reach, you won’t miss much if you are willing to crop. I do have a fair chunk of takes within the 150-200mm range. So cropping from 90mm wasn’t great. So I went with the following: 40mm: I never liked 50. 15mm: About 18% of my shots are between 16-35mm range 90mm: Covers the range upto 120mm. This is where about 40% of my shots where 135mm: Covers upto 180mm. 120-180 is where about 30% of my shots where. I can tell you that I don’t miss that many opportunity with just primes. Depending on your favorite location and style, this may be a wrong direction. I did a 2 month long test run before committing. And I still have my Nikon kit if I feel I want to go back.  I too am predominantly a landscape photographer and switched to the M11 for its compact body, small lenses and cropability. Do you routinely take all of your lenses out with you, or just those you think will suit the location/style of picture you intend to take? I am trying to resist the temptation of buying lots of lenses! Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deekay Posted July 16, 2022 Author Share #18 Â Posted July 16, 2022 I switched from the Sony A7R system and have a 35 and a 90. Even though I used to use my 100-400 a lot, I'm not switching back. I have really enjoyed using the pared down M11 and 2 lenses. Somehow the files seem more malleable than my Sony ones. With regard to the comment about weather protection, I haven't yet used the system in really bad (rainy) weather but my understanding is the camera (and the lenses, not sure) are at least on a par in terms of weather protection, if not better, than Sony. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ravinj Posted July 16, 2022 Share #19  Posted July 16, 2022 On 1/30/2022 at 9:42 PM, deekay said: I will be using the Visioflex and a tripod. In this case go for the 135 Apo Telyt. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hausen17 Posted July 16, 2022 Share #20  Posted July 16, 2022 I am picking up a VC90 2.8 APO to go with my M11. I do a bit of pano stitching and having a 90mm allows me to be close and wide. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.