Tilt & Shift Lenses - Questionnaire

[Manfred M]

With the advancements in software nowadays.....could it replace, at least in part, what the tilt shift lens does? Always wonder that...

No, especially if one prints like Donald does. See my response #22.

If all one does is show the images on the screen and post on the internet, then software can be used. Make a decent sized print and the software does not work well at all due to the loss of pixels when correcting perspective distortion as there will be a lot of softness in the image.

[Donald]

No, it most certainly does not. Whereas Manfred uses, mainly, the shift function, I would use, mainly, the tilt function. Both of us see a use for the lens in the work we do. In my case, no software is going to move the focal plane off the line of the sensor.

[Manfred M]

No, it most certainly does not. Whereas Manfred uses, mainly, the shift function, I would use, mainly, the tilt function. Both of us see a use for the lens in the work we do. In my case, no software is going to move the focal plane off the line of the sensor.

Agreed Donald. I've seen some people try to emulate the tilt function by locally blurring areas. It just does not look "right" when compared to an image taken with a shift / tilt lens. There are some aspects of photography that still have be done "in camera".

Of course the "purists" that I know tell me that the shift / tilt lenses are just a poor emulation of a field camera shooting sheet film. They are right, of course, but I'm really not interested in dragging that kind of gear along and getting back into the wet darkroom. I guess picking up even a 4" x 5" enlarger on the used market can cut the costs for this type of work.

[george013]

I've been searching for examples with a tilt lens in landscape photography but I didn't find any that satisfies me. I see the use in architectural and close-up but further most is fun photography.

George

[Manfred M]

I've been searching for examples with a tilt lens in landscape photography but I didn't find any that satisfies me. I see the use in architectural and close-up but further most is fun photography.

George

It is most commonly used in architectural photography to eliminate perspective distortion effects. That is my primary use of this lens. I've seen this used in landscape work as well.

The tilt is commonly used for "creative effects"; I've done some testing with the tilt option, but have never made any images that I considered interesting enough to post. Some interesting images I've seen have done this type of work.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTDCW_8AsSo

[odds]

...I would use, mainly, the tilt function.

You will likely appreciate a lens where you can shift to compensate framing changes as you adjust tilt. When tilting (up/down), I want shift to operate in the vertical direction as well, not sideways. (My PC-(E) Nikkors need to be modified to work that way, their new 19mm is different).

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Odd S.

[odds]

Of course the "purists" that I know tell me that the shift / tilt lenses are just a poor emulation of a field camera

I am certainly not a purist, but I do support that argument.

A first factor is viewing the image on a large ground glass compared to a viewfinder. Enlarged live view and joysticking the focus point around is tedious, outright annoying at times.

A second factor is about the lack of the rear standard. I have looked for means to clamp the front part of a tilt and shift lens to the tripod head, point the lens axis where it should point, lock the tripod head and then fine tune focus and framing without moving the lens axis.

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Odd S.

[odds]

...Some interesting images I've seen have done this type of work.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTDCW_8AsSo

I watched it some years ago, and now that I revisit it I still find it misleading because the drawn illustrations are wrong (the plane of focus is not parallel to the lens front when tilted/swung). It does demonstrate how selective focus can differ from a straight lens. I suspect I would at least try for comparison, the straight (untilted) lens for some of those images, but that is of course a personal thing.

On a side note, I do not use tilt for the miniature world type "creative effect", probably because I do not like it much.

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Odd S.

[george013]

I watched it some years ago, and now that I revisit it I still find it misleading because the drawn illustrations are wrong (the plane of focus is not parallel to the lens front when tilted/swung). It does demonstrate how selective focus can differ from a straight lens. I suspect I would at least try for comparison, the straight (untilted) lens for some of those images, but that is of course a personal thing.

On a side note, I do not use tilt for the miniature world type "creative effect", probably because I do not like it much.

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Odd S.

That tilt function is still not clear to me. By tilting the lens the focal plane and the lens plane are tilted. Focal plane is not parallel to the image plane. Dof is relative to the focal plane, starting from a certain point. But what happens with the magnification? Normally the focal plane, lens plane and the image plane are parallel. And magnification is the ratio between those distances. But when I tilt the lens the distances to the focal plane differ.
Let me try to explain what I mean in another way.
From wiki https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scheimpflug_principle
From that article
M=v/u, measured to the lens plane. Both v and u changes on that focal plane. If the ratio v and u changes, then the magnification changes on that focal plane, and so the perspective.
Maybe I've to print that article and study it careful.

George

[odds]

...If the ratio v and u changes, then the magnification changes on that focal plane

Maybe I've to print that article and study it careful.

I think you are on the track :-) I already mentioned Harold Merklinger in a previous post. May I suggest you first read his "The INs ad Outs of Focus"? http://www.trenholm.org/hmmerk/download.html . If I remember correctly, he actually answers your question.

Anders Torger may have useful info for practitioners: https://www.ludd.ltu.se/~torger/phot...landscape.html

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Odd S.

[george013]

I think you are on the track :-) I already mentioned Harold Merklinger in a previous post. May I suggest you first read his "The INs ad Outs of Focus"? http://www.trenholm.org/hmmerk/download.html . If I remember correctly, he actually answers your question.

Anders Torger may have useful info for practitioners: https://www.ludd.ltu.se/~torger/phot...landscape.html

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Odd S.

I did find that site already and downloaded those two books. I didn't understand the mainpage of the website, it's about genealogy, but I just saw it's from the widow of Merklinger.

George

[apersson850]

I use the tilt function sometimes when taking photos of machine lines. These lines are pretty long, and look better if the line is in focus, when you take a skewed photo at an angle to the line.