EOS M3 for Landscapes

[jeanluc]

Hi

I shoot mainly landscapes, and usually use my trusty 5D3 for this.

I have an M3, which I really haven't used much yet (got on sale) and have never really used on a landscape shoot.

Well, I'm going to be on the Big Island for a week, and I was thinking of for the first time of leaving the DLSR and just taking the M3 (have all lenses).

Anybody have any thoughts on it's landscape performance, especially sunrise/sunset and low light (thinking Lava glow shots at Hawaii Volcanoes NP) performance?

I did try my old EOS M for some (daylight) work, and it wasn't bad aside from the issues we all know about.

Anyway, how about the M3?

Thanks!

 

[neuroanatomist]

At low ISO with a good lens and assuming AF speed isn't a limitation, it's hard to tell the difference between APS-C and FF. If you need to bump the ISO above 800 or so, you'll start to notice. Sunrise/sunset with a tripod, you should be ok. If you're shooting lava glow with shorter exposures, I'd be inclined to take the 5DIII.

 

[bholliman]

At low ISO with a good lens and assuming AF speed isn't a limitation, it's hard to tell the difference between APS-C and FF. If you need to bump the ISO above 800 or so, you'll start to notice. Sunrise/sunset with a tripod, you should be ok. If you're shooting lava glow with shorter exposures, I'd be inclined to take the 5DIII.

Agreed!

We just returned from a trip to Hawaii, including visiting the big island. I took both my 5DsR and my M1 as a backup. I used the DSLR for 95% of shots, but took some landscapes in good light with the M and the results were great.

I just did a quick review of my 500+ shot on the big island in Lightroom and 95% were at ISO160 and below.

 

[Frodo]

I've done a comparison of my 6D and 24-105/4 with the M3 and 18-55/3.5 and 11-22/4 in looking against the light with lots of shadow detail. Photos in raw, processed in LR6 exported as 6000x4000, tripod, etc.
In terms of resolution the M3 + zooms is the match of the 6D + 24-105 as noted by Neuro.
The 18-55 and especially the 11-22 show less flare, but the M3 has less DR and gets noisy once I push shadows above +65 in LR. The latter is a particular problem with the 11-22 using the LR profile where it pushes the corners to compensate for vignetting. This can be addressed through combining three different exposures through LR HDR. (Interestingly, I find that the 6D and 3 shot HDR is less sharp than a single image so I need to get very serious DR before I will use HDR on the 6D). Nevertheless, I was still impressed with the DR of the M3, its probably only a stop less at low ISOs. The greenish cast towards the edges of the M3 images is visible if you compare directly with the 6D,but otherwise not a practical problem.
I bought the M3 for a major hike through the Swiss Alps next month and I needed to cut weight. I can take the 11-22mm and 55-200mm and have a range from 18 to 320mm FF equivalent for a little over half the weight of the 6D + 24-105. However, I have been hugely impressed with the image quality. I think this will become my normal hiking camera.
On the other hand, if weight is not an issue and I was after landscape images of exhibition quality, I would take the 6D and a gaggle of lenses.

 

[jeanluc]

Thanks for the input. On these non-photo family trips space etc. is always the issue even more than usual.....camera gear starts to compete with ,ids electronics for carry on space....everyone here knows the drill.

Sounds like for most situations, the M3 will be just fine. Not sure how the lava glow shooting at HVNP will go, but I am staying right in the park so I really don't want to blow any opportunities there, so looks like the 5D3 may once again not leave my side.

Anybody here ever shoot the lava glow from near the Museum in HVNP? Maybe I'll ask on the more appropriate forum.

bholliman....why don't you post a few of your favorites from the Big island? love to see them and get some ideas!

 

[bholliman]

... looks like the 5D3 may once again not leave my side.

Anybody here ever shoot the lava glow from near the Museum in HVNP? Maybe I'll ask on the more appropriate forum.

bholliman....why don't you post a few of your favorites from the Big island? love to see them and get some ideas!

Can't blame you for taking your 5D3! My only mirrorless option is an aging M1, but I rarely take it anywhere I expect to shoot moving subjects. The reliable autofocus and controls of a 5-series are hard to beat!

Regarding lava glow at HVNP, I did shoot it on the deck of the Jaggar Museum. Unfortunately, our only evening there it was pouring down rain with no let up expected using weather radar. We didn't have any rain gear with us (beyond my plastic camera/lens cover). With the family tired and wet, and a comfortable hotel room waiting for us in Hilo, my only option was to take some quick shots in the rain and hope for the best. The pictures were disappointing due to the limited visibility and rain obscured view, I added one below for reference. What really surprised me was the size of the crowd viewing the lava glow in terrible weather. I imagine it gets really crowded on nice evenings!

I added a few shots from the big island, nothing in particularly good light unfortunately. Our big island schedule precluded shooting any sunrises and I just caught one sunset at a marginal location. I had more opportunity for landscape shots on Oahu and Kauai.

Lava glow in the rain. 5DsR, 24-70 f/2.8L IS at 24mm, 15 seconds at f/5.6 ISO 160

 

[bholliman]

#1 442' Akaka Falls, north of Hilo. There was a huge crowd there, so I wasn't able to set-up my tripod and use a ND filter to blur the water. For this shot, I used a tiny aperture for a 1/6 second shutter speed and braced the camera on the fence for stability. This is the prettiest waterfall on the island that we saw. A guy I met at the hotel got some great shots on his tripod here by arriving early (the gates open at 8:30am) and setting up before the crowd arrives. The prime viewing/photo area is pretty small. If the sun is shining early in the morning you are almost guaranteed a rainbow in the mist from the falls. We were there a little too late in the morning for that. 5DsR, 16-35mm f/4L IS @ 32mm f/20, 1/6 second, ISO100 hand held

#2 Pololu Valley overlook on the far northern tip of the island. This shot is from the overlook. I hiked down the trail to the beach and took a number of shots at various vantage points on the way down, but liked this one with best. The hike to the beach is very pretty and worth if if you have time. 5DsR, 24-70mm f/4L IS @39mm f/9, 1/125, ISO160 CPL filter

#3 Pu'ukohola Heiau National Historic Site, northwestern Hawaii. This is the dry side, high desert climate and vegetation. This site and Lapakahi State Historical Park a little further north are worth a stop. 5DsR, 24-70mm f/4L IS @24mm f/9, 1/100, ISO100 CPL filter

#4 sunset at Kailua-Kona, Hale Halawai Park. I almost missed sunset here. The sun was going down as we checked into our hotel. helped carry luggage to our room and took off for the beach, but missed the best color. When we were there the sunset view from this little park was somewhat restricted, this was the best I could come up with given the limited time to set-up before the sunset totally faded. Heavy crop to remove some buildings and sea wall on the right, thank goodness for all those megapixels! 5DsR, 16-35mm f/4L IS @16mm f/11 0.4 seconds, ISO100, tripod mounted.

#5 This isn't the big island, but I threw in one of my favorite M1 shots since we were talking about using the M family. This is from Kalalu Lookout in Koke'e State Park on Kauai. My 5DsR battery died and my other batteries were in the car, so I took a number of shots with my backup M1 with 22 f/2 lens. 1/250, f/6.7 ISO 100. Really needed something wider than 22mm here on a crop. Fortunately, I got a number of good shots with my 5D and 16-35 before my battery died.

Hope you enjoy your trip to the big island. I'm ready to go back, but it will probably be several years.

 

[bholliman]

#3

 

[bholliman]

#4 and 5

 

[jeanluc]

Thanks for the shots! And the advice........I know what to bring now!

I'm going to start a thread in the landscapes section about this to see if anyone else is interested.

 

[twagn]

Not one mention of the Rokinon 12mm f/2.0 EF-M mount? Outstanding lens

 

[Ryan_]

I also use the 5D3 as my primary camera. Love landscapes. However I bought the M3 for a two week trip to Europe because I was packing extremely light. I weighed my options. However after much deliberation I went with the M3.

The reviews are good for the M3, and the 11-22mm lens for it is so good! No complaints from me on that thing, sharp and does the job. The image stabilization is superb as well. I didn't bring a tripod (didn't come in the mail in time, however it was a fast paced trip so was glad to not have it) and the IS worked wonders.

The 55-200 IMO is not so good. It is ok on the shorter end of the range, when your subject is "close" (relative), but if you go closer to the end of the zoom range and especially if your subject is a good distance away, the sharpness is awful. Some of the reviews touched on this, but I was expecting better to be honest. However with that said, I was so glad to have it. I needed that focal length for a lot of shots, and if I could do it over I'd do it the same way. I also do feel that if a photo's content is very good, than a bit of softness isn't gonna ruin the image!


Good luck!

 

[dcm]

...

The 55-200 IMO is not so good. It is ok on the shorter end of the range, when your subject is "close" (relative), but if you go closer to the end of the zoom range and especially if your subject is a good distance away, the sharpness is awful. Some of the reviews touched on this, but I was expecting better to be honest. However with that said, I was so glad to have it. I needed that focal length for a lot of shots, and if I could do it over I'd do it the same way. I also do feel that if a photo's content is very good, than a bit of softness isn't gonna ruin the image!

Good luck!

Agreed on the 11-22 - consistently great performer on the M.

Disagree a bit on the 55-200. It might be a bit softer than the 11-22 overall, but still a good performer. On a tripod in controlled conditions it did well in head to head comparisons with my 6D/Tamron 150-600 combo and the 70-200 f/4 mounted on my M. In handheld with the M/M3 I find the EVF and technique matters more on the long end where the lens IS or body AF may not be as effective.

I guess I should go out one day to compare it head to head on the M3 with my 70-200 f/2.8 II and 100-400 II on a 6D or 1DX2. For the price/size delta I still expect to find it amazingly good. Maybe the next time I head to the mountains early on a sunny day I can revisit my prior shoot.
http://www.canonrumors.com/forum/index.php?topic=22925.msg444140#msg444140

 

[twagn]

Unless I’m hallucinating the OP is wanting information and or landscape shots from a M3..not an M1 or 5DSR..

M3, Rokinon 12mm f/2...not a bad lens...it’s pretty sharp

 

[Sporgon]

A couple from me. M3 + Takumar 55mm f/1.8 circa 1968.

Didn't take part in this thread earlier, putting an M3 up against a 5DIII is a bit tricky. But give the M3 sensor enough light, and a good lens and it's not at all bad. It seems to have really good highlight headroom and can take a fair amount of overexposure without damaging the highlight information. Both these images had +1 stop EC from the cameras metered setting.

 

[twagn]

More M3 12mm Rokinon. Shame I can’t show the actual wide angle perspective ...maybe CR can work on that a bit