Tilt-Shift...

I played with one of these for a bit in the store on Friday. I don't need one, but I really wanted to get an idea of what exactly it did by trying it myself, rather than just reading a description. It was pretty cool. I can see how it could be VERY useful in the right hands. Definately a cool toy!

My brother has one so I have played around with T/S lens some. I choose to correct in PhotoShop and not buy another piece of glass, one that would not get much use by me.

Correction in Photoshop CAN and DOES result in severe image degradation in the area of the shot in which the original pixels are 'spread apart' as compensation of the perspective convergence of the shooting angle. Photoshop will NEVER be as good in quality as the original correction via the TSE optics! An example of this fact is illustrated in a message within the past month or two, if you don't believe this statement.

They certainly do look very interesting... the question for me would be do you get a 24mm to fiddle with landscapes or a 90mm to fiddle with portraits? Both have quite a bit of appeal...

Tilt shift lenses can do what nothing else can, save for a view camera.

No amount of PS will render the spot on/off focus of a T/S lens, or the perspective control afforded by one.

I've wanted one for a long time, but I just don't think I have enough call for it, and at $1045, that's quite a bit of dough for something that might lay in my camera bag.

me

braduardo wrote in post #2220974
I played with one of these for a bit in the store on Friday. I don't need one, but I really wanted to get an idea of what exactly it did by trying it myself, rather than just reading a description. It was pretty cool. I can see how it could be VERY useful in the right hands. Definately a cool toy!

I think what you did is about the smartest thing you could do. That lens in my eyes is too much of a specialized lens, and yes you might buy and try it and subsequently relegate it to the bottom of your bag, and at that price, unless you are loaded it isnt worht it in my eyes, so at least you got it out of your system. And what is best is that it didnt cost you anything and you are not trying to unload it to someone else at a loss.

Jim G wrote in post #2221207
They certainly do look very interesting... the question for me would be do you get a 24mm to fiddle with landscapes or a 90mm to fiddle with portraits? Both have quite a bit of appeal...

You can do landscapes with both. Of course one will require more space and more photos if you want to put a panorama together.

Of the three available, (24, 45, 90), which one should be the FIRST T/S choice?

Todd Jacobsen wrote in post #2222072
Of the three available, (24, 45, 90), which one should be the FIRST T/S choice?

Honestly, if you don't know... Then none of them. They are just such 'special-purpose' lenses. They are the best of the best, if you are going to actually use them to their capabilities, but for the rare occasion that *MOST* people could use them, they just aren't worthwhile.

The Tilt/Shift line is just one of those things that you either know you need it or not.

Wilt wrote in post #2221200
Correction in Photoshop CAN and DOES result in severe image degradation...Photosho​p will NEVER be as good in quality as the original correction via the TSE optics!

Oh, for sure, and I never said otherwise. But the few time my photos need perspective correction and the small amount they do, PhotoShop works just fine, I can't see getting a S/T lens. I have a 4x5 field view camera (although it's been some time since I have used it), I understand. A T/S lens is a big expense for one who would rarely use/need it and it does take some time to get the hang of using one.

Ya... Photoshop will do just fine for most of us. To buy this lens to only use once in a rare while would be like buying a 400mm f2.8 so that you can take pictures of the squirrells in your back yard. You can do it, if you can afford it, but they will probably spend a lot of time in the bag. They are quite heavy, I think MF only, and really seem more suited to mono/tripod rather than handheld.

All negative aside, they are really cool, and when you need one, there is nothing that will do the job better.

One would be surprised at how useful a 24mm shift lens is...I have one for my OM film SLR, and on one of my trips to Europe I brought it (a somewhat slow f/3.5) in lieu of my 24mm f/2. I recall that I did so with a fair amount of doubt about the wisdom of that decision at the beginning on the flight over. But after travelling around Europe for a couple of weeks I found that I was VERY glad I had done so, with there were never any regrets at the decision. A TS lens is not nearly as specialized as non-users think!
Being a LF user yourself, you probably know that there are otherwise impossible shots to make if you do not have LF movements or a TS lens.

On the discussion of which TS to buy in the Canon line...It depends on what you shoot!

If you lean to architectural interiors and exteriors, the 24mm is priceless on a FF body. The 90mm is valuable if you do product shots on FF. The 45mm I think is a bit of an in-between length and I can't really think of an application.

Put on an APS-C body, the 45mm has some use for product work, and the 24mm less useful than on FF body, but the resulting length (equiv. to 35mm) has its uses.

Wilt wrote in post #2222165
One would be surprised at how useful a 24mm shift lens is...I have one for my OM film SLR, and on one of my trips to Europe I brought it (a somewhat slow f/3.5) in lieu of my 24mm f/2. I recall that I did so with a fair amount of doubt about the wisdom of that decision at the beginning on the flight over. But after travelling around Europe for a couple of weeks I found that I was VERY glad I had done so, with there were never any regrets at the decision. A TS lens is not nearly as specialized as non-users think!
Being a LF user yourself, you probably know that there are otherwise impossible shots to make if you do not have LF movements or a TS lens.

I have the 24mm T/S lens, and have already used it. In Europe with the narrow streets I like the wide angle it gives. There is good correction on stuff like Church steeples, and good focussing in special situations.

Here is a site with lots of examples of T/S use, reviews and other information on their use. It is strongly biased towards tilt not the shift movement.
http://hame.ca/tiltshi​ft.htm

Some more for starters
http://www.photo.net …ent/canon/tilt-shift.html
http://luminous-landscape.com/tutorial​s/movements.shtml
http://www.outbackphot​o.com/workflow/wf_42/e​ssay.html
http://eosdoc.com …/tilt-shift_desc/#SetTilt
http://www.fredmiranda​.com/TS-E90/
Here is one I wrote
http://forums.dpreview​.com …rum=1032&messag​e=17612257
Mike K