With all due respect to Canon - but what does the future hold for landscape photographers?

[Norbert]

I've come a long way with Canon since the F1N.
To make a long story short, I then bought the EOS 5DsR in 2017, which I still use.
Now this wonderful older lady is getting on in years and I'm looking for a successor.
But no matter how long I look, there's nothing from Canon that will take me forward as a landscape photographer.
The resolution of the current models alone is even lower than my 50MP.
How much longer should/can I wait?
It's getting to the point where it's no fun anymore, because there's no improvement in sight from Canon.
At Sony, 60MP is already old hat and the successor will probably have 80MP.
So if Canon doesn't wake up, I'm not going to wait any longer - sorry.

 

[sfericean]

Best of luck!

 

[Sporgon]

As a landscape photographer what apertures are you working with ? Undoubtably it’s usually a higher figure than f/8.
If you want greater than 50mp for landscape photography you should be looking at medium format. This is because in landscape you are wanting to resolve fine detail that’s often well away from the camera and small in size (pixel-wise). Portraits etc, where the detail is close and large within the frame, is another story.
At least that’s my experience. I’ve proved (to myself if no one else ! ) that at f/16 and beyond the 5DS is no better than a lesser system. At 80mp on FF this degradation is going to drift down more towards f/11 or even 8, which are common apertures in landscape.
DMF is a niche market and that’s not Canon’s area, so it sounds to me like it’s time for you to say Hello Fuji or Hasselblad and goodbye bank balance.

 

[MikeGalos]

As a landscape photographer what apertures are you working with ? Undoubtably it’s usually a higher figure than f/8.

The problem with small apertures on small, high-resolution sensors is that diffraction becomes a serious limitation.

 

[neuroanatomist]

So if Canon doesn't wake up, I'm not going to wait any longer - sorry.

This isn't an airport...you don't need to announce your departure (much less register for the forums to do so).

If you need more MP, buy a Fuji GFX or a Phase One IQ180 and don't look back.

 

[dwkdnvr]

I have to admit I'm very curious as to how much of the desire for a high-MP body is just emotional "I want Canon to clearly signal that still photography is important" and how much is "it actually will make a material difference in outcome". My *guess* is that cases where a Sony 60MP body is a clear and discernible upgrade over the R5 are very rare, and unless you're printing large for commercial purposes aren't significant. And, how many folks in that category aren't already shooting GFX or Hasselblad?
Canon is in the business of selling cameras, not just 'keeping up with the Joneses - I don't think Canon is going to come out with a 60MP+ body just because Sony has one. They have to be confident that it'll sell well enough to justify the investment and development costs. And given that such a body would likely mostly just cannibalize sales from the R5 rather than pull net-new users from other systems, it doesn't seem like a high-value undertaking at this point.

 

[Norbert]

Thank you for your sympathy. I know the medium format well and have worked with Hasselblad and PhaseOne-Back in parallel for over 12 years.
The problem is that I travel a lot, which unfortunately makes the medium format impractical - to put it kindly.

 

[Sporgon]

Thank you for your sympathy. I know the medium format well and have worked with Hasselblad and PhaseOne-Back in parallel for over 12 years.
The problem is that I travel a lot, which unfortunately makes the medium format impractical - to put it kindly.

Hasselblad X2D is really quite small, relatively speaking. If you managed with your F-1 and 5DS you’d certainly be no worse off, weight-wise. Just much worse off financially.

 

[Norbert]

Of course, I don't only need this for landscapes, but when I'm travelling I have several lenses with me that cover a focal length of 16 to 600mm. This is impossible both financially and in terms of weight with medium format. And I don't want to travel with 2 camera systems either. The stuff is already far too heavy for me as an old geezer ;-)

 

[scyrene]

But no matter how long I look, there's nothing from Canon that will take me forward as a landscape photographer.

How would a bit more resolution do that?

The resolution of the current models alone is even lower than my 50MP.

It's worth repeating (because it always seems to get forgotten in these discussions!) that although the R5 and R5II have lower MP counts than the 5Ds and 5DsR, they at least equal the older bodies' actual resolution, as stated by Canon and generally agreed by people who've tested it. Resolution ≠ megapixel count, strictly speaking!

 

[Norbert]

How would a bit more resolution do that?

It's worth repeating (because it always seems to get forgotten in these discussions!) that although the R5 and R5II have lower MP counts than the 5Ds and 5DsR, they at least equal the older bodies' actual resolution, as stated by Canon and generally agreed by people who've tested it. Resolution ≠ megapixel count, strictly speaking!

Among other things, I take very large panoramas consisting of 5 exposure series, which are often wider than 70,000 pixels. I have also been a professional photographer for over 25 years. Please just believe me that I know the technical aspects of photography and would still welcome more pixels from the sensor.
And if Canon doesn't care because it doesn't fit in with their business, then that's no problem for me.
There are plenty of other fish in the sea ;-)

 

[Sporgon]

Among other things, I take very large panoramas consisting of 5 exposure series, which are often wider than 70,000 pixels. I have also been a professional photographer for over 25 years.

What computing hardware and printer are you using ?

 

[pierceography]

And if Canon doesn't care because it doesn't fit in with their business, then that's no problem for me.
There are plenty of other fish in the sea ;-)

It sounds like you have your answer.

I don't mean to be dismissive of your desire for a higher MP sensor, but there are plenty of reasons to stick with Canon over Sony. My guess would be if you were to poll 100 photographers for top three features they need in a camera, you wouldn't get many "max out the megapixels" responses.

I was/am perfectly happy photographing landscapes with the 5dmk3. I find the huge leap in MP from the 5dmk3 to the r5m2 to be nice, but I didn't need it. In fact, sometimes I find the significantly larger file sizes to be more annoying than they're worth. But saving some shots with extreme cropping keeps me coming back to being happy with the resolution.

The big three (Canon, Nikon, Sony) are neck and neck these days, but each have smaller features that may draw particular consumers. Sounds like MP is your draw, so make the jump.

And not to criticize Sony (they make a great camera), but my opinion is Canon and Nikon make cameras for photographers, whereas Sony targets the tech enthusiast crowd. And nothing gets a tech boi all hot in his pants like all the megapixels.

 

[neuroanatomist]

And if Canon doesn't care because it doesn't fit in with their business, then that's no problem for me.
There are plenty of other fish in the sea ;-)

There’s no question of ‘if’. They don’t care.

If the 45 MP of the R5II aren’t enough for you but the 60 MP of a Sony are plenty, good for you. If so, I suspect you don’t know as much about the technical aspects of photography as you think, but that’s ok.

 

[scyrene]

Among other things, I take very large panoramas consisting of 5 exposure series, which are often wider than 70,000 pixels. I have also been a professional photographer for over 25 years.

What do you do with them?

Please just believe me that I know the technical aspects of photography and would still welcome more pixels from the sensor.

I don't just believe people.

And if Canon doesn't care because it doesn't fit in with their business, then that's no problem for me.
There are plenty of other fish in the sea ;-)

Has something changed recently?

 

[JohnC]

I have the R5, as well as the GFX100ii (recently). I never had a resolution issue with the R5, or the 5d4 for that matter. I've printed really big on both. Now I might change my mind about that after I print with the gfx which I haven't done e yet.

While I think the image quality with the 5 series, mirrorless or otherwise is great...so far I think the GFX is better. High contrast shots are seemingly easier to get without clipping shadows or highlights. It's still early in game however, ask me again in a year. I certainly don't regret the purchase. I also won't be getting g rid of my Canon equipment as there are definitely use cases where I know it will perform better.

 

[Norbert]

What computing hardware and printer are you using ?

I use a new, modern PC with Windows 11,
CPU - Intel Core Ultra 7, 64 GB RAM, 2x 2TB-SSD
and I use software PTGui, Photomatix and Photoshop.