Landscape Photography Gear Pt. 1 Camera Body

January 31, 2025  •  Leave a Comment

Hey Everyone! Hope you having a great week. Me? Pretty good thanks for asking. This week I want to start a Landscape photography gear series. This will be a 4 part series going over what I think you need to take quality landscape shots. If you are into landscape photography you don't need to break the bank for photography gear to get great shots. It can be done very simply with minimal gear. This series in Landscape camera gear I will try to explain what is important and what is not. I have been shooting Landscape photography for quite a few decades and will try to pass on what I have learned by trial and error. This first part is on the camera body.

First let me start by saying it doesn't matter what brand of camera you get. All of the manufacturers of modern cameras (within the last 10 years) will work for great landscape photography. If you look through magazines or any photographs that have inspired you by any photographer to become a Landscape photographer probably took those photos on a camera that is quite a few years old. Those are fantastic photo's and you don't know what brand or how old the camera is they are just good photos. The most important factors in choosing a camera brand is how does it fit in your hand. Do you like the menus. Does it work for you ergonomically . Will you be happy with it in your hand. So if you don't already have a camera this is how I would choose brand is how does it feel in your hand.

Let's talk about sensor size. Camera sensors come in all sizes from Micro 4/3, APSC, full frame and Medium format. Let me be the first to say that sensor size in Landscape photography does not matter! You can take great photos on a cell phone with the sensor size smaller that your pinky fingernail. If you are just getting into photography I would steer you away from Medium Format because the size of the sensor and file size is just overkill for landscape photography. AMT2016-sony-a6300-review-0423-2AMT2016-sony-a6300-review-0423-2Photographer: Anthony Thurston But everything from a cell phone to full frame sensor will work. Micro 4/3 cameras OM Systems (formally Olympus) or Panasonic will work just fine. These small camera systems will have small lenses which will be great for hiking into the backcountry for landscapes. APSC (Crop Sensor)  from Sony, Canon, Nikon or Pentax will all work great! Over 90% of the photos on my website came from a APSC sized sensor on various cameras. Full frame cameras give a little better low light performance due to the size of the sensor and also shallower depth of field which is not really a desired feature in landscape photography. But theses sensors may be better for Astro/Landscape photography. If that is what you are interested in. 

Should I buy new or used? If you are worried about warrantees then go new. But as I said earlier you don't need the newest or latest and greatest camera to shoot landscape. Landscape subjects don't really move much so high speed tracking and focusing isn't necessary. Mirrorless camera's rule the camera bodies now a days but DSLRs are still valid if you are trying to save a buck. An example is a Nikon D850. One of the best DSLR cameras ever made but just remember with the older cameras that if you upgrade you might have to upgrade the lenses also because when Nikon and Canon switched to mirrorless they also changed the mounts of their cameras. I personally use a Sony A7III that came out in 2018. They have came out with many upgrades since this camera came out but this camera still takes great photo's for me. I don't see the need to upgrade in the near future. So if you do buy used do some research take into account lens mounts and the source of your purchase. I would buy from a place that specializes in selling used like KEH or MPB they give smaller warranties on items purchased from them. Either way just know that simple gear works great for Landscape photography and all of the video stuff that they put on the newer cameras won't help you at all in Landscape Photography.

Like I said this is the first of a 4 part series on Landscape photography camera gear.  The next blog will be on Lenses used in Landscape Photography. So until next week Get out and Shoot! 

Hey if you want to check out my photography go to my instagram account Max Stansell Photography there are over 2000 post there. Here is the link

 Max Stansell Photography Instagram Link

 


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