Tilt/Shift 2

Last weekend, I rented a Canon Tilt-Shift 24mm lens and tried to figure out how to use it. The pictures that I took were interesting, but I was left with the distinct feeling that I wasn't using the lens correctly. Turns out that was true- I was using the tilt function (which is supposed to be used for manipulating depth of field) instead of the shift function (which is for fixing the converging line effect that has afflicted my architectural photography). I rented the lens again this weekend, and this time, I've mainly been using the shift function. It works great- exactly as promised, it corrects the perspective distortion. I haven't been using the tilt function as much - although on a couple of shots I did apply it to create interesting focus effects. [For a full description of how to use this type of lens, see Matt's comments in the previous Tilt/Shift post.]

Comments

[Oh-Deeh]

For people interested in affordable tilt/shift: I shoot a lot of roofscapes, and urban scenes, so there’s a lot of play in perspective in my shots. I was interested in pushing my limits—maybe dip my feet into medium format without diving into Hasselblad prices, but I mainly wanted see what I could do with tilt/shift. I found a lens (12mm tilt/shift) made by a small company called “Hartblei,” which fits onto a 6x6cm format body made in the Ukraine, called the Kiev 88. In order for the lens to fit, the body needs a customization for the old Pentax 6 mount, but the non-customized bodies are so unreliable that this is really the only way to buy them. The whole system is extremely affordable (less than $1200), and has served me well in the past three years I’ve had it. The lens is remarkable, and is now the staple of my style.

BTW: What film do you use for the shots on this page? I like how hot the colors come out.