Why I love shift lenses.

[NCV]

I was up in them mountains for work today. Afterwards I had some time to do some photography of some spontaneous architecture, one of my favourite subjects. I wanted to photograph a particularly fine "Casa Torre" (Tower House) in Gombio, a hamlet near Reggio Emilia.

The first head on shot was easy. I used my 35mm Schneider PC, as I had space to back off. I could have done it in post too. For the angled shots, due to lack of space behind me, I had to move closer with the 24PC. Using simple shift I got that "pointy look", that you get with simple upward shift, or post correction when working close to a building.

Now for the thing, where the PC lens makes the difference. Swinging the camera to a position where the front wall and the sensore are closer to be being parallel and shifting the lens upwards diagonally, the "pointy effect" can be reduced. This would be difficult to previsualise, and the perspective effect is very different when done in post. (I have done overlays to prove it)

Being able to see the perspective effects in the viewfinder I as able to progress towards the image I wanted, from 2 to 4. This is the reason I love these lenses. Camera D850 with Nikon 24PC and Schneider 35 PC

1 head on with vertical shift



2 First attempt vertical shift


3 Further back a little with diagonal shift.


4 Moved a little to the left and diagonal shift


The 24-200 came out to isolate some detail

 

[Abdichoudxyz]

Very interesting. I’ve long been a fan of the exaggerated perspective offered by wide angle lenses, particularly ultra wides, but I find myself wanting to calm that down more these days, as I feel it becomes a bit clichéd. Been thinking of PC lenses for a while now, and as more people move over to the Nikon Z mount, I’m hoping older F mount PCs will get a bit cheaper.

 

[NCV]

Very interesting. I’ve long been a fan of the exaggerated perspective offered by wide angle lenses, particularly ultra wides, but I find myself wanting to calm that down more these days, as I feel it becomes a bit clichéd. Been thinking of PC lenses for a while now, and as more people move over to the Nikon Z mount, I’m hoping older F mount PCs will get a bit cheaper.

I started off with the old Nikon 28mm PC and 35mm PC, they are still good lenses that can be found quite cheaply. Make sure you get the later versions with the black adjustment screw knob. I paid around €300 for each lens. The more modern 24PC will cost about €1000. I think these prices will remain quite steady, or may even rise. The old 28 and 35 are getting slightly more expensive.

 

[Abdichoudxyz]

I started off with the old Nikon 28mm PC and 35mm PC, they are still good lenses that can be found quite cheaply. Make sure you get the later versions with the black adjustment screw knob. I paid around €300 for each lens. The more modern 24PC will cost about €1000. I think these prices will remain quite steady, or may even rise. The old 28 and 35 are getting slightly more expensive.

Ooh I do hope they don’t get too expensive. I was thinking about some of the older lenses tbh. Because they’ll still work fine with my Z6 or even my D600.

 

[NCV]

Ooh I do hope they don’t get too expensive. I was thinking about some of the older lenses tbh. Because they’ll still work fine with my Z6 or even my D600.

The good thing is that you lose nothing, or very little, when you decide shift lenses are not for you, and you decide to sell

 

[Raymond Lin]

I went to Hong Kong for 2 weeks once with just a 45mm Tilt-Shift.




Shift is useful for tilt is more interesting.

You can get "infinity" focus at F/2.8





And of course the miniture look.

 

[NCV]

I put a 2x converter on my 45TS to photograph some of my mechanical pencils. With tilt I could get everything in focus.

 

[moggi1964]

Keith Cooper at Northlight Images has a really good book on using tilt-shift lenses. He has videos too on his YouTube channel.

Love the pen shots as well the OP's building shots.

Practicing some movements with my 4x5 camera to get a handle on it.

 

[NCV]

Keith Cooper at Northlight Images has a really good book on using tilt-shift lenses. He has videos too on his YouTube channel.

Love the pen shots as well the OP's building shots.

Practicing some movements with my 4x5 camera to get a handle on it.

Yes, his site is a really good resource for this sort of thing.

I had a 4x5 camera back in the day and loved tinkering with the movements. A 5x4 negative print is a thing of real beauty , that I miss a little. The running costs today with the costs of film right now are very high.

 

[Terrywoodenpic]

I went to Hong Kong for 2 weeks once with just a 45mm Tilt-Shift.

View attachment 391148


Shift is useful for tilt is more interesting.

You can get "infinity" focus at F/2.8

View attachment 391149

View attachment 391150

And of course the miniture look.

View attachment 391151

Notice that when swinging or tilting that though you can shift the focus along the chosen plane. Depth of field is at right angles to it. In the fence and path shot, the side of the path is out of focus. This would progressively sharpen up with stopping down. You had used a side swing to keep the steel fence in focus.
There can only ever be one plane of focus.

In the carriage shot the depth of field changes to up and down from the plane of focus, as you had used a forward tilt

 

[NCV]

I also love to put the 24PC on my Z7 and take advantage of its IBIS to do low shutter speeds and the viewfinder level, where I cannot use The D850 on a tripod. This is the Ghiara in Reggio Emilia



And some of the ceiling with the 14-30