MC ARAX 2.8/35mm Tilt & Shift lens & 1DsMKII ?

I am looking into getting a tilt shift lens as I am really inspired that style of photography.

I was researching options and I cam across MC ARAX 2.8/35mm Tilt & Shift lens which is pretty reasonable priced compare to some of the other alternatives like the Canon L glass.

I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with that lens, specially on a full frame body. Any other commendations besides the Arax?

Any suggestions or comments would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

Rich

You get what you pay for comes to mind.

anyone else?

I used a 80mm Arax F2.8 TS for a while, it was really sharp, nice contrast, nice colors, easy to handle and produced good results. In general those leses are sharp but flares may become an issue with wider focal lengths. Probably not a big problem depending on what/how you plan to use it.

It is a difficult lens to get hold of in the US
http://hame.ca/tiltshi​ft.htm
about 2/3 the way down the page are a few Arax links
Just above that is reference to my review of the Hartblei 35, also Russian glass, difficult to obtain. The Arax mount looks a lot like the Canon TSE I mount, probably doesn't rotate tilt and shift axis with respect to one another.

http://www.fredmiranda​.com …46/0?keyword=ar​ax#3008651
All of user reviews are no longer posted.

Personally I think you would be much better off shopping for someone selling a 24 TSE I who is replacing it with the TSE II.
Mike k

I had this lens as a shift only under the ARSAT name.
I was not that impressed with the IQ and sold it.

To the OP: I'm waiting on delivery of the Arsat 80 2.8 T/S (may be here today). I can't comment on the 35mm T/S, but a couple of things to keep in mind in general with these lenses (you may already be aware but for anyone else considering them): 1) obviously manual focus only, but also no AF confirmation (Canon's T/S lenses will give you the AF confirm beep/ flash); 2) more importantly, only manual aperture settings. On the surface perhaps not a big deal. But if you're shooting indoors and are stopping the lens down, the viewfinder will be very dark. EOS lenses are at wide-open aperture until the shutter button is fully pressed. Then they electronically stop down to the selected aperture. This means a reasonably bright viewfinder image.

For the ARAX (or any other manual aperture lens) under less than very bright light, you'll need to manually open the lens to 2.8, focus using the viewfinder/Live View, then stop down manually before taking your shot. Hopefully not too big a deal, but something for studio/product photographers to keep in mind using these lenses. (Outdoor daylight shooting should be less of an issue.)

Some really good information here! Thank you very much for the replies guys, I really appreciate it!

Rich