Quote:
Originally Posted by inChargeOfIT
Really nice. Can't believe how sharp it is in the corners. I have been wanting to rent a TS just to play but I am afraid the learning curve would cost too much. I also do not think Nikon is near Canon when it comes to TS.
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Thanks.
The learning curve isn't bad for using the Shift function - you can rent one for 4 days and get on with shift relatively smoothly.
Tilt is a different story. Aside from the miniature effect or moving DOF plane creatively, I'd say in the year or so that I've owned this lens, I've got one (1) shot that properly used the Tilt function to make a subject in sharper focus, while using a wide open aperture and having sufficient background blur.
I don't know anything about the Nikon versions but the Canon TS lenses are highly regarded. The shot you quoted used maybe 3mm of shift, so the corners of the frame are still well within the large image circle of the TS-E 17, which accounts for the sharpness in the corners.
At maximum shift it tapers off slightly but is still ridiculously sharp.
The only problem with this lens is it's made my other lenses feel like junk because they aren't up to par
But I'd say to hell with it, rent one and make sure you have some tall buildings to go practice with!
Edit:
This is the one shot I was talking about. I used a small degree of Tilt to get the whole bike looking sharp, without causing distortion or unwanted OOF areas .. essentially the actual purpose of the Tilt function... I actually would love to take a class or workshop to work just on that skill, using Tilt with a TS lens. Shot at f/4 which is wide open on this lens, if you click the Flickr link you can see the trees and most of the BG is bokeh'ed out.
Beauty and The Beast by
ddk632, on Flickr
Edit 2:
One more thing that really helps is having a gyroscopic / multi-axis level. My camera (Canon 6D) has only an electronic horizontal level that will detect left/right imbalance but not forward or backward lean. To get perfectly straight verticals with a TS lens, the camera has to be pointing exactly straight, even a touch forward or backward leaning will create perspective distortion. I just threw out a couple of shots because of this today! A simple bubble level will do, and I have one but didn't bring it with me on this last trip.
For you 5DIII guys you have it built in, something I wish 6D had as well!