DIY Tilt & Shift lens with AF confirmation

scottda wrote in post #5759403
Looks like a homemade Lensbaby

Adjustability, but without the control of the Lensbaby.


BTW, for those who wonder about the optics from Bronica, they have been compared very favorably with the famed Hasselblad optics. Bronica and Hasselblad are two of the top used cameras for wedding photography because of their great optics and the use of leaf shutters which permit the huge medium format frame to have good flash sync speeds of 1/500 (to impress upon everyone the significance of this capability, even the small Canon FF camera is limited to 1/200 unless electronic tricks are played with the sensor electronics, while the even smaller APS-C enjoys 1/250)

René Damkot wrote in post #5759358
Would be nice to try this with a MF lens... That way you could even retain infinity focus.


BTW: I agree with the "Samples!" crowd

? This is a MF lens and it does retain infinity focus. You focus by adjusting the distance between the lens and sensor.

You could also call it a DIY lensbaby which is just a more flexible T&S.

Like I said, the test pic is nothing special but it's all I have at the moment

4g63photo wrote in post #5759370
So with that setup, you have to manually focus, hold the camera, then hold the lens just right? Im assuming it has to be tripod mounted? Please post some images when you get the chance. I have been looking to do this until I can buy a TSE. Thanks.

You're making it sound more difficult than it really is. You handhold the camera and then with your left hand instead of turning rings to focus or zoom you just move the lens around until you see the effect you like.

JDubya wrote in post #5759522
You're making it sound more difficult than it really is. You handhold the camera and then with your left hand instead of turning rings to focus or zoom you just move the lens around until you see the effect you like.

I would love to see the same subject (like a building or tree), where you point the lens into the 4 primary directions just to see the different perspectives (u/d/l/r). Sounds cool, how much more area does that lens cover with its projected image (43x55) than something like the APS-C sensor (??x??) ?

TeamSpeed wrote in post #5759539
Sounds cool, how much more area does that lens cover with its projected image (43x55) than something like the APS-C sensor (??x??) ?

Like I stated earlier, the Bronica 75mm lens is designed to cover a 43mm x 55mm frame of the 645 format. Getting a puny 15mm x 22mm from that image circle is what permits the 75mm Bronica to be used for TSE in a homemade Lensbaby equivalent.

One wonders about the aperture control of the lens, however, as the Bronica ordinarily has some pins and levers that link mechanically to the body, to control stop-down of the auto diaphram?!

So there is only a 14-15mm shift in about any direction before you vignette. Doesn't sound like much, but it probably makes a huge difference in perspective in the end.

Good question on the pins, maybe you can "jam" it into a needed aperture beforehand, or just shoot wide open?

I think this represents the two different sizes, if I did it correctly. I like visuals!

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TeamSpeed wrote in post #5759615
So there is only a 14-15mm shift in about any direction before you vignette. Doesn't sound like much, but it probably makes a huge difference in perspective in the end.

Good question on the pins, maybe you can "jam" it into a needed aperture beforehand, or just shoot wide open?

I use DOF preview so infrequenty, I need to pick up my Bronica to remember how to stop down the lens for DOF preview! The DOF preview button is on the body, so it has to actuate someone mechanically on the lens as a result of pushing that control. I think I do recall that a chrome pin protrudes and the control pushes in that pin to stop down the diaphram.

To stop down all you have to do is push a small silver wedge-shaped lever on the lens (which you can see toward the bottom of the first pic, just below the aperture ring). I first tried using a screw to lock the lever in the down position so i could change aperture and not worry about stopping down before the shot but it was just too dark in the viewfinder. So now I just use the stop-down lever.

and FYI, i believe the Canon TS-E lenses shift 11mm.

JDubya wrote in post #5759686
To stop down all you have to do is push a small silver wedge-shaped lever on the lens (which you can see toward the bottom of the first pic, just below the aperture ring). .

I forgot about that control...I (duh) was thinking about the lens release button on the body!

JDubya, I think you sell yourself short in your description of your test pic, it looks pretty good. I like that effect, that makes you think you're looking at a little model. Well done on your ingenuity!

Madweasel wrote in post #5759723
JDubya, I think you sell yourself short in your description of your test pic, it looks pretty good. I like that effect, that makes you think you're looking at a little model. Well done on your ingenuity!

Can't see it here at work, our wonderful filters remove images from photobucket, flickr, etc. This stinks, I can't see it until I get home.

EDIT: never mind, I used the upload image from URL feature during the edit of my post, and was able to see it that way, very interesting effect!

awesome job, I saw one of these made with a toilet plunger (seriously...Ewwww!) anyhow, it worked just like this, but the whole shock boot think gets my vote!! good job!

JDubya wrote in post #5759503
? This is a MF lens and it does retain infinity focus.

Whoops...
I saw "practica" and "M42", but missed "Bronica" and the obvious "Zenzanon" in the image

Ignore

Madweasel wrote in post #5759723
JDubya, I think you sell yourself short in your description of your test pic, it looks pretty good. I like that effect, that makes you think you're looking at a little model. Well done on your ingenuity!

I'm not quite sure why, but the out-of-focus areas generated by a tilt-shift lens often make you think you're looking at a miniature.
See: http://www.flickr.com …8495587/in/pool​-tiltshift

There's a bunch of flickr groups devoted to faked (in Photoshop) images of this type as well.
see: http://www.flickr.com/​groups/tilt-shift-fakes/

RowdyReptile wrote in post #5760691
I'm not quite sure why, but the out-of-focus areas generated by a tilt-shift lens often make you think you're looking at a miniature./

Thru 'misused' of the plane of focus. In large format photography the plane of focus is often adjusted so that it is close to the plane of the ground, so that you have 'super deep DOF'. If instead, you tilt the plane of focus in the opposite direction, to 'super shallow DOF', you hit upon the 'miniature' look