Photography Thailand Forum

[Loso]

One thing I dislike about wide angle lenses is distortion.  I suppose it's a by-product of wide angles.  Some say it's easy to fix in post, but wouldn't that soften the image?  Do you landscape and architect photographers use a tilt and shift lens and if so is live view and a tripod a must?  Is it worth the extra cost and having to always manually focus?

[Gregg Spradling]

I adjust every image I take in PP for lens curvature and don't see any degradation. But, wide angle lenses are known for being soft in the corners, which seems to be totally different than correcting from lens curvature.

I don't have much experience with TS lenses, but everyone I have seen using them were not using live view. Yes, having 10X magnification is great, but I think it's not a requirement. I can't think of why anyone would not use a tripod when shooting landscapes or architecture; the benefits/requirements are just too great to not use a tripod. 

I think that if you have the need for a TS, the cost is justified regardless. If I were an architecture photographer, I don't see how I could not have a TS lens for work. Like you implied, there are no auto-focus TS-E lenses that I know of, so manual focus is the only option.

just my 2 cents    I'm sure some here with much more experience than me can chime in.

[Marc Schultz]

I shoot with the 24mm Tilt/Shift lens. Very sharp. No softness at the edges. You would probably see more softness and distortion at around 17mm though. And the closer you are to a wide angle subject, the more optical distortion you will get in general.The Zeiss 18mm prime wide angle lens (available with both a Canon or Nikon mount) is supposed to be one of the sharpest wide angle lenses (end to end) out there.

Another aspect that causes a lot of distortion is tilting the camera up to get more sky or down to get more land. The key is to never tilt the camera and always keep it level. A shift lens lets you to do that by allowing you to shift the perspective through the lens up and down to change how much sky or land you get while always keeping the camera level. This helps to result in no distortion at 24mm at all with all lines remaining straight.

I never adjust anything though in Photoshop in terms of lens correction. With a shift lens I never need to.

[Loso]

I tilt the camera up and down and settle for an angle that results in the least distortion possible, but I can never seem to get a shot with the entire frame distortion-free.  I think a tilt-shift lens would be ideal for places like inside Angkor Wat or other tight spots with tall structures.

Marc, how often do you use a tripod and live view (percentage-wise) when using your tilt-shift lens?  And do you have any favorite filters you like to use?

[Marc Schultz]

Yes, anytime you tilt the camera itself up and down you are going to get some distortion. It simply can't be avoided. Yes, a shift lens would help in those cases as you said. But the shift mechanism on the lens can only shift the perspective so far. If you are standing really close to a tall building then there are going to be limits to how much a shift lens will help.

I always use a tripod with the shift lens and then I place a spirit level in the hotshoe of the camera to make sure the camera itself is level first. It is the only way to be sure the camera will be level by using both a tripod and a spirit level. Then once the camera is levels I shift the perspective to where I want it. This is the level I use:

http://www.amazon.com/Manfrotto-337-Double-Bubble-Level/dp/B00009R6J7

I am yet to ever use the live view on the camera. I don't even know how to turn it on 

I hardly ever use any filters at all. The only filter I ever use is a polarizing filter when I am shooting something with water in the photo outdoors in order to reduce glare of the sky on the water.

Attached is something I shot very recently on an assignment with the 24mm shift lens. Sorry for the necessary watermark on the image.

[Loso]

Thanks Marc.  That looks great.  The chairs remind me of an old cartoon, The Jetsons...

I have an incredible Nikon 14-24mm that is a challenge to use and have yet to master.  Too bad I can't hang onto it since I'm heading back to Canon. 

[Marc Schultz]

Thanks. You might be able to get a Canon mount adapter if you want to keep that lens.

[TechnikaIII]

"One thing I dislike about wide angle lenses is distortion"

A good wide angle lens produces a rectilinear image. That is, one which is free of barrel or pincushion distortion, free of curvature. What you are of course referring to is the convergence of lines when the film plane is not parallel to the image plane, and yes, the "shift lens" one tool that helps avoid this.

For 35mm cameras a lightweight tripod is no great problem to carry around, especially if you desire images of higher quality. And yes, you have to actually do some work > focus manually.

I wish I'd had a "shift lens" for any one of my 35mm cameras, and will invest in one some day. But for now have acquired a 4x5 view camera, weighing heaps more, and requiring a heftier tripod than you will need. It's no point-and-shoot auto wonder. It doesn't have a "shift lens", but permits shifting of the lens. And I'm loving it so much, .. considering a step up to 5x7 inch.

But as a handy carry-around in small format, anything from 24 to 28 or even 35mm shift lens would greatly enhance your architectural images, not forgetting interior views. And as well with landscapes, where you may wish to have more or less sky or ground, without converging verticals (trees etc). Go for it.

[Gregg Spradling]

welcome TechnikaIII   

[David Salmanowitz]

Marc--There are adapters to use the Nikkor 14-24mm on a Canon body. I used to use a Novoflex adapter to be able to use my Nikkor 200mm macro on a Canon body. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/197094-REG/Novoflex_EOS_NIK_Lens_Mount_Adapter.html

Loso--curious as to why you are switching to Canon? FYI, was always a Nikon film guy but Canon was ahead with digital SLR's so when I went that route went to Canon. Once Nikon leveled the digital SLR playing field went back to Nikon, as there were certain things I preferred.