First, a proper ND Filter will be your best friend when shooting landscape photography. A ND filter or neutral density filter, is used specifically to reduce the amount of light that enters your lens, and in turn reaches your sensor. Because of this, ND filters give you more freedom to control the exposure of your image rather than having to rely on adjusting your aperture settings. Landscape photographers often use them to flush out bright environments, reduce the depth of field, and add motion blur to moving objects, such as rushing water or floating clouds. Where a ND/PL filter differs however, is that the polarizing property within the filter enhances the colors of your image to give it more vibrancy and contrast. Our QuartzLine filters are made of the highest quality fused quartz glass, which offers unrivaled durability and optical clarity. These filters were built to accompany you on any rugged adventure, and make a necessary addition to any landscape photographer’s camera bag. 

Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8G NIKKOR Lens

This lens is one of the most versatile lenses on the market, making it a go-to for landscape photographers who want to capture wide-angle panoramas and landscapes. This Nikon NIKKOR Lens goes unrivaled when it comes to image sharpness, and works well in low light so you can take high quality photos in even the darkest of shadows. This is a zoom lens, which allows you to take up-close pictures of landscapes without compromising the integrity of the image itself. The aperture is constant at f/2.8, which means that it does not change while zooming in and out as well. It is geared toward the landscape photographer that works in various conditions and who requires remarkable sharpness, color, and contrast in their images. For this Nikon NIKKOR lens, we recommend any of our 77mm QuartzLine filters to help execute the perfect shot on your next landscape photography shoot. 

Canon EF-S 16-35mm f/2.8L III USM

Not all landscape photography needs to be taken with an ultra-wide lens, and the Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8 is the perfect combination of a 16mm ultra wide focal length and a classic focal length of 35mm. This lens is perfect for landscape photography, because it allows you to capture both the foreground and the background while maintaining exceptionally, sharp focus. It has approximately 16 different features, some of them including: one aspherical lens, fluorine coating, and a minimum focus distance of under a foot, with a fixed aperture of f/2.8. This lens is also weather sealed making it dependable to withstand any outdoor climates. For this Canon lens, our QuartzLine filters with the thread size of 77mm will fit best. 

Sony FE 70-200mm f/4 G OSS

In addition to wide angle lenses, telephoto zoom lenses are extremely popular amongst landscape photographers who want to get up close and personal images. Although this lens is not considered as small or light as our other favorite lenses listed, it is relatively more compact compared to other telephoto lenses on the market. This is one of Sony’s best lenses for landscape photography due to its quick auto focus, excellent image quality, and decently modest size. This 70-200mm lens is optimally built featuring a premium AF system, and is a great option for landscape photographers who are looking for an exceptional lens at a reasonable price. We recommend one of our 72-77mm step-up rings, in addition to one of our 77mm QuartzLine filters in order to take epic images while out on your next shoot. 

Sony Sonnar T* FE f/2.8 ZA

 Although most landscape photographers prefer a wide angle lens to capture the vast outdoor settings they like to photograph, we wanted to list a prime lens option. Both zoom and prime lenses produce photos of superior quality, but when making a choice on which lens to bring with you completely depends on your workflow needs. Some of the things to consider when deciding to bring a prime lens on location with you are: the amount of access you will have to walk around the subject you are shooting, how much weight/ how many lenses you can carry, and most importantly your preference for focal length. The one downside to this lens is that it only fits on Sony E-Mount cameras making it a good option for your A7Riv, but not compatible with other models. This Sony Sonnar lens benefits greatly from Zeiss’s optical technology, as it utilizes a Sonnar design to provide a relatively fast f/2.8 aperture with minimal aberrations. For this prime lens, we recommend one of our 67mm QuartzLine filters with a 49-67mm step-up ring for capturing inspiring landscape photography images.

There are so many camera options out there on the market, it makes it difficult to narrow down which device would suit you best. For landscape photographers, the settings a camera has to offer are of utmost importance, when determining what device to take out into the field. We sat down to decide what features we look for in camera when shooting landscape photography, and the top items we came up with were:

1. Strong lowlight or ISO performance

2. Great resolution, as a large megapixel count is usually needed

3. Dynamic range that helps in high contrast scenes (ex: dusk, dawn)

4. Reliable autofocus capabilities

Fujifilm GFX 50S

If budget is not something you hold as a priority over quality, then the Fujifilm GFX 50S might be your best option. Although this camera is listed at a higher price point, the quality is where the dollar amount becomes admissible. Fujifilm is known for making small, compact cameras but with the GFX 50S, they decided to try their hand in the medium-format game. This camera is bigger in size compared to Fuji’s usual models due to the enhanced sensor size, which is 167% larger than a usual size of a full-frame sensor. However, what this larger sensor has to offer is more overall pixels are able to be captured-- a whopping 51 to be exact. Fuji is known for their user-friendly set up, and the GFX 50S is no different. This camera features the same external dials that are used to adjust the camera’s settings, which are found on most other Fuji models. Furthermore, the GFX 50S has impeccable low light capabilities, causing there to be no exact visual difference in ISO’s lower than 3200. It is not until the ISO level is bumped up over 6400 to where grain and noise start creeping into your image. The one area where this camera certainly lacks, however, is in its autofocus capabilities. The Fuji GFX 50S has a simple contrast-detect only autofocus system, which causes the autofocus to be noticeably slow and force lenses to hunt where there is not enough contrast in the shot. However, for a medium-format camera the GFX 50S has a comparable robust AF system with a total of 425 focus points, which cover the whole image frame, including in both single servo and continuous servo modes. 

Sony A7Riv

Sony recently released the A7Riv, a camera that marked its name with having the largest resolution in the industry, with over 60 megapixels. Sony sprang this on us, when quite frankly no one was really asking for it, but with their previous model, the A7Riii, being one of our favorite landscape photography cameras we wanted to give this one a try. The A7Riv is what we consider to be one of the most well-rounded camera options, taking both incredible action and landscape photos. The most notable feature of this mirrorless camera is obviously the 61 megapixel sensor, which makes it a clear stand out against any of its competitors. However, if cropping your images down substantially is not part of your regular post-production workflow, some might say that this resolution is just excessive. This camera also offers a 15-stop dynamic range at low light sensitivities, which results in smooth, natural gradations ranging from deep shadows to highlights. The ISO range on the A7Riv is the same as their previous model, which ranges from 100 to 3200 ISO and has extended values up to 102400 ISO and down to 50 ISO. However, with Sony’s new A7Riv, the autofocus technology has been updated to have real time tracking combined with real time AF. As a result, the A7Riv offers over 75% frame coverage with 567 hybrid AF points, allowing for better continued autofocus over more of the frame. With this being said, the Sony A7Riv, is a great camera for shooting landscape photography due to the sheer quality and features of the camera. However, if you are not a photographer that needs to crop down your photos regularly then the extra megapixels may not be a reason to upgrade from the A7Riii.