I’m thinking of getting a shift lens but I understand a view camera can make the same movements, and tilt-shift lenses are also available for most ILCs. Have any of you used a shift lens, tilt-shift lens or a view camera? What did you use it for? What was it like using one? Frustrating? Simple? Did you need any other accessories to make the process work? How did you like the final results? Was it worth the expense and effort? Is digital perspective correction just as effective?Now that I’ve really begun to focus on perspective in my images it’s all too obvious how even a small tilt of the image plane away from parallel with the subject causes distortion. Do you care about keystoning in your pictures? >picrelThe shift scale on the Laowa 20mm f/4 Shift.
>>4510346A view camera and a lens with enough projection allows for significantly more tilting and shifting than any tilt shift lens. Do you need it? Probably not and a whole ass monorail system adds a lot of bulk to your kit. Shifting upwards is also super useful because you can get your perspective much higher without some monster tripod and a step stool to look through your camera.Learn scheimpflug if you want to do focal plane manipulation. Perspective control is more straightforward and you'll figure it out pretty easily.If you get a view camera the rear standard is used for perspective shifting + focal plane, and the front standard is used for only focal plane manipulation.If you plan on using a 4x5 camera with adapted rear standard to mount your camera, and large format glass I would suggest not to. The light rays arent angled properly and you get soft images. There are large format style lenses made for digital backs, but the good ones are obscenely expensive. The very best go for over 10k a pop.
>>4510346the shift part is pretty much retard proof, the only downside is that it will introduce a lot of vignetting. for the tilt operation the main use I have found is for product photography, you tilt down which causes the focal plane to align with the surface the item is on, you get very deep focus and can avoid most of the CA issues you usually get with close ups.the one I use the most is a canon 35mm FD adapted to RF so it's a pain in the ass to use but mostly due to it being FD. if you went with a slightly more modern electronic lens then I don't really see it as being frustrating, you need to actually use one to understand how it works but once you get it then it's very straight forward.>it’s all too obvious how even a small tilt of the image plane away from parallel with the subject causes distortion.you will need to use both, for example if you are taking a picture of a house, you aim the camera dead center at the front door, then turn the shift knob until the whole building is in frame and take your shot. when you go to edit, if you were 1ft off parallel then there is still going to be distortion at the extreme edges of the frame, BUT auto alignment will crop far less of the image because you aren't 20 degrees off parallel to begin with.
>>4510346I've used two of the Nikon PC-E lenses, my 4x5 has movement, and have used tilt/shift adapters.They're all fun to use, but I just do keystoning in post now.I don't really do Macro, so as far as the tilt goes, I've only taken one picture where I ever thought it was worth it >>4509956Do consider if you're on mirrorless that you can get tilt/shift adapters and then just adapt regular lenses.
>>4510346tilt-shift lenses are stupidly expensive while being very limited. just buy a technical stand with bellows and mount a medium format lens
>>4510451that seems like overkill, and also even more expensive than a shift lens, assuming you meant a technical stand that can accommodate a digital camera.
>>4510451overkill for my purposes, I mean. I want to correct keystoning, nothing else.
>>4510516Just resolutionmax and keystone in post
>>4510528that’s an option, yeah, but it would cost even more again for a high-res digital body and lenses and a computer that could process the files. I assume you mean 60+MPif I got a shift lens I could use it on my film and digital bodies
>>4510528Imagine suggesting colorstretching for perspective control over optical correction. The absolute state of this board.
>>4510565What tilt shift lenses do you use?
>>4510604I use a view camera.
>>4510605Make and model? Film or digital back? How is it? Any issues or only praise?
>>4510607Sinar P. Film. It's the best and I have no complaints about its operation. It's just extremely bulky and heavy.This camera >>4510352 is either a sinar p2 or a sinar X with an aftermarket adapted bellows. The entire system can be easily adapted to shoot basically any digital camera.
>>4510607Oh yeah and you can get the camera for under a grand. The sinar X is like 350 bucks.
>>4510346why? just tilt the camera. tilt the tripod.use a shadowbox
>>4510346cool topic op
I'm basically looking at these two lenses (second pic incoming) and I can't narrow it down to just one because there are pros and cons to both, in my eyes:15mm>super wide, never going to be too close20mm>doesn't push the horizon a hundred miles away>more natural field of viewthat's pretty much the pros for both. im not a super deep thinker. all i can think is if I go with the 20mm I'll sometimes want the 15mm, but if I go with the 15mm, maybe sometimes I'll want the 20... jeez.
I'm also thinking of buying it in K-mount since that will let me use the lens on both film and digital cameras without adapters. I have used a 14mm lens before on APS-C and I found it really hard to frame anything like a landscape since everything looked so distant. Never got to use it in a dense urban environment though, or inside much.
I've had the Laowa 15mm Shift and the Nikon 24mm TS - and a couple of things come to mind. The Nikon was far sharper than the Laowa BUT the Laowa was way more fun to use because of the extreme wide angle. You cant Tilt the Laowa (Its shift only) so you will lose the miniaturisation/Focal depth aspect - but you would be using shift WAY more anyway. The Laowa can suffer with hard vignetting at the maximum shift. It depends on what you want to achieve. Serious work? Go for top brand. Want to be creative with it? The Laowa is fine (if expensive).
>>4510346Do you know of any examples where these lenses are used on actual miniature scenes, or macro (close-up, at least) photography?
>>4514872Most people will use a technical camera with bellows instead of a T/S lens for those things. You get much better flexibility/control.
>>4514873I get that. Was just wondering what effects it might produce.
>>4514878Works the exact same for macro except you need a lot more movement to shift the focal plane or change perspective the same way you would at lower magnification.Focal plane shifting is basically obsolote outside of creative focus because you have focus stacking.
>>4514881TY
>>4510515i have the actus-g. and i have lots of tilt / shift lenses and shift / tilt adaptors. i wouldn't want to bring the actus out into the field. i do really like shifting landscape / architecture photos. the actus is awesome for studio / miniature work in a controlled environment. i want to get the bigger one...
>>4515235perpsective / focus correcting on the actus
>>4515235another example with some focus control in the studio
>>4514881>Focal plane shifting is basically obsolote outside of creative focus because you have focus stacking.yeah and full frame sensors are obsolete because we have pixel shift
>>4515294pixel shit needs a tripod and a static scene, it presumably achieves higher color res so its more about bayer vs foveon or color film, not about sensor size
>>4515294i ‘member this cope and associated watercolor ass photos when its used on anything that isnt a building corner or scanned document
>>4515236>>4515238Couldn't this be obtained with f22 and voilà ? I don't see the interesting part here could you explain
>>4515727You will still be having focus falloff forcing you to do either focus stacking or closing down further but getting bitchslapped by diffraction. Tilting enables you to rotate the focal plane and position it in a way that gives you the sharpest image with relatively open aperture. This is the kind of image quality people and especially companies pay money for
>>4515732I'm not a pro so I will take your words but if you have your set-up one day I would love to see a difference between a closed aperture and a tilt shift of the same setup. My feeling was that in big 2026 with pro lenses you wouldn't really see a diffraction ? (I only shoot film large formats so I'm oblivious to whatever you guys use in just curious)
>>4515733Diffraction is unavoidable. It's physics.
>>4515727OP here. you really can't get all four corners of the square in focus without controlling the focal plane. f22 just doesn't do it. go set up a little scene with a book or something, or something square shaped, and try to get all four corners in focus from that same angle. put some markers or figures in each corner.
>>4514881focus stacking is ok for some things. not for others, like video or time lapse / stop motion.
>>4515332>needs a tripod and a static sceneyes and so does focus stackingthat was my point, and why I chose that analogy
>>4515829Not with some cams tho, innit
>>4515831low IQ, probably american
>>4515831the cams that do handheld focus stacking are hit and miss and come out with a result thats pretty close to a phoneits easiest and most effective to use them on a tripod with added lighting anyways
>>4515847No need to tell us your back story, anon.>>4515848I've seen excellent results when combined with flash. Of course the optimal setup is everything perfectly still, m8.
