Bimjo
Super Moderator
I've seen tilt, shift, and tilt-shift lenses for some time now and have always been curious about how they work. But, I've net been curious enough to buy one for $500+ just to try it out.
Enter mirrorless universal digital back (aka Sony NEX camera body) and a tilt adapter and for $40 you can play without breaking the bank. So, I ordered a tilt adapter from China off ebay in m42 mount intending to use my Spiratone 18/3.5 lens for tilt work. As it turns out I like the SMC 55/1.8 better as a tilt lens so far, but the sample size is very small so no judgement can be made at this point.
First up is the Spiratone @ 3.5. focus point is the "S" on the lower end of the ruler.
Then I tilted the lens a bit (was just playing so I didn't keep track of settings for any of these shots) and got this:
Interesting. Worth further investigation. So I moved to the hallway and added some distance to see what was what. Changed to the SMC 55/1.8 and shot wide open. First a shot focused on the near can.
Then the middle can.
Then the far can. Forgive the framing shift, these are cherry picked from several different shots.
And finally the tilted lens shot.
Remember, these are shot wide open. Stopped down a bit this could get really interesting. I must play some more when the weather clears and can move outside. I'm not sure I'd spend the money for a dedicated tilt-shift lens yet, but at least now I can experiment to determine if this is something I want to follow up on.
Enter mirrorless universal digital back (aka Sony NEX camera body) and a tilt adapter and for $40 you can play without breaking the bank. So, I ordered a tilt adapter from China off ebay in m42 mount intending to use my Spiratone 18/3.5 lens for tilt work. As it turns out I like the SMC 55/1.8 better as a tilt lens so far, but the sample size is very small so no judgement can be made at this point.
First up is the Spiratone @ 3.5. focus point is the "S" on the lower end of the ruler.
NEX-5N
----
f/1.0
1/3s
ISO 100
Then I tilted the lens a bit (was just playing so I didn't keep track of settings for any of these shots) and got this:
NEX-5N
----
f/1.0
1/3s
ISO 100
Interesting. Worth further investigation. So I moved to the hallway and added some distance to see what was what. Changed to the SMC 55/1.8 and shot wide open. First a shot focused on the near can.
NEX-5N
----
f/1.0
1/1s
ISO 100
Then the middle can.
NEX-5N
----
f/1.0
1/2s
ISO 100
Then the far can. Forgive the framing shift, these are cherry picked from several different shots.
NEX-5N
----
f/1.0
1/1s
ISO 100
And finally the tilted lens shot.
NEX-5N
----
f/1.0
1/2s
ISO 100
Remember, these are shot wide open. Stopped down a bit this could get really interesting. I must play some more when the weather clears and can move outside. I'm not sure I'd spend the money for a dedicated tilt-shift lens yet, but at least now I can experiment to determine if this is something I want to follow up on.