spear wrote in post #5603183
I have been really trying to get tack sharp images of landscapes and don't seem to be able to get that tack sharpness. I have tried with the the 10-22mm and also the 24-105L and was pretty much dissapointed with the results. Although I can sharpen the images with Photoshop and get slightly better results ... I think I am missing something. I recentely compared some Macro shots at 100mm with the 24/105 at 100mm and my 100mm 2.8 prime and was shocked at how much better the prime 100mm was ... even though the 24/105 mm was an L lens. So I am not seriously thinking of buying a prime Landscape lens. I have both the 5D and 40D ... but I don't want to use the 5D because I cannot get a decent result with high aperatures due to dust on the sensor (I can never seem to get it clean) and for landscapes I want to be able to get a very high depth of field. I do plan to upgrade to the next 5D but for now I will stick to the 40D and will stick with the 1.6X crop.
What is your best results for good landscapes ... which lens do you like ... do you use filters and if so which would you recommend.
Thanks
There's no 'set' lens for landscape photography...I use all the lenses in my signature, even the fisheye if the scene would make a good subject for it. You shouldn't be surprised that the 100 macro prime is 'sharper' than the 24-105L...primes definitely have the advantage (even though modern zooms are closing the gap), and the 100 macro is one of Canon's sharpest. As far as not using the 5D, that's a step backwards in my opinion...its my primary camera body for landscapes. If you're worried about dust, clean the sensor.
As far as filters go, definitely use a good, high-quality CPL. Graduated neutral density filters (GND's) are also a good tool to have in your bag. I wouldn't recommend the Cokin P-size for the following reason: landscapes are generally shot with a wider angle lens, and the Cokin P wide angle holder will only accommodate a single filter (one slot). There will be times when you will have the need to stack GND's, so your filter holder must have more than one slot (Cokin Z-Pro or Lee holder...of these two, the Lee is the better). Also, don't be afraid to use a polarizer in tandem with a GND filter. I have two posts of Havasu Falls in this thread somewhere (Landscape forum, since this thread has been moved)...these were shot with a 3-stop GND filter and a CPL, and shot with a 5D/24-105L. After the CPL and GND's, a set of ND filters can be useful and provide some very creative shots.
Filters can get expensive, especially if you have a lot of lenses with different filter sizes. I was careful when setting up my collection to minimize this, and my primary landscape lenses share a common filter size (no need for multiple adapter rings or CPLs). May be something for you to consider.
As far as sharpness goes, a lot will depend on your PP skills (as well as exposure settings). With a FF camera like the 5D, try not to go smaller than f16, or f11 on a crop camera (this is where diffraction begins to set in and will definitely make your images "unsharp"). Some diffraction effects can be corrected in PP, but I'm not sure of the limitations of the software. Basically, I do sharpening in three steps: first, a capture sharpening when I bring a RAW file into PS, after making my edit adjustments, I then perform what's called "creative "sharpening". When that's all done, the third step is "output sharpening", and this depends on what I intend to do with the image (web sharpening, or sharpening for a specific print size). I also set up an action in PS to take care of the capture sharpening automatically. Its generally best to do sharpening in multiple, small steps than to do it all in one big step.
One last thing...take the 5D out of the bag...this camera was made for landscapes. About the the only thing I'd replace mine with would be the 21 megapixel MkIII.
