Tilt and shift + lens buying tips

About a year and a half ago, I purchased a Canon TS-E 24mm f3.5 lens. A so called tilt and shift lens.

I bought it (second hand and in excellent condition) because I'd been shooting previously with a Sinar and a Rollei SL66 in the studio, which both have T&S capabilities and I wanted to be able to replicate the effect with my DSLR without resorting to computer trickery  .

  Sinar in the studio with the movements showing

Unfortunately my use of the lens was confined to testing it quickly in a car park when I met the guy who was selling it. We both lived far away from each other and agreed on a point midway where I could quickly test the lens before handing over the money.   

My method for testing a lens is this. 

• I give the lens a visual inspection. I look for dust, dirt scratches etc on the lens. There were none.
• Then I attached it to my camera and made a series of shots of the same subject in unchanging light using aperture priority. I shot at every aperture from f3.5 (wide open) to f22 (fully stopped down). I then scroll through the previews pictures on the screen. They should all be uniformly exposed. If one isn't then there is the chance that the aperture blades are not functioning properly. 
• Next test is the shoot at different distances and check (with the help of the screen again) if the pics are sharp.
• The last test is only done if the lens is an autofocus type (this particular lens is manual focus). I shoot a series of images of the seller walking towards me to try out the servo focussing. It also gives me a pic of the seller, should there be any "difficulties" later  :)

The lens passed all the tests and I gladly handed the money over. When i got home I put the lens in my equipment drawer and promised to use it on my next job . . 

Fast forward eighteen months later and I was wondering what to take pictures of on my free Sunday. I remembered the lens which was still sitting unused in my drawer. 

There's a beautiful mustard rape field about six minutes away from my house which is backed by part of the Jura mountain range. I decided to take a pic of this using the lens to get only the trees in focus.

I set the camera up on my trusty Benbo tripod and made sure that everything was level

This is NOT level

 The lens can also be rotated to use in vertical format 

 whilst still able to make use of all the movements.

After making a few test shots, I tilted the camera upwards and the lens downwards to give me the minimum amount of depth of field and I focussed using the live view mode to ensure that the trees were sharp. I ten took the picture (using self timer) at the minimum aperture.

Mustard rape. 1/3200sec @ f3.5 ISO 200

This pic is best viewed at full screen

 

I processed the RAW file in DPP and can honestly say that I'm pleased with the result. Unfortunately, there were no profiles for this particular lens so I used on instead for the 24mm f1.8 model.

I love playing with this particular piece of kit as it makes me stop and think about what I'm tying to achieve. Focus is manual and very precise. The live screen mode is recommended to be able to see what is happening. A good tripod is a must.

One person approached me whilst I was taking these images and informed me that the latest version of the lens is much better. I answered that just because Canon had replaced it didn't mean that it had suddenly gotten worse overnight!

There's a wonderful article by Keith Cooper over on the Northlight Images website about what exactly you can achieve with a T&S lens 

I'll be using it next month for an interior shoot that I have planned.

Thanks for reading.

Because I want to...

For the past nine or so years, I have been driving to and from work during the early months of Spring and have been awestruck by the beautiful blossom visible on (it seems), nearly every tree .

In previous years, I always made a mental note to go and photograph them. Fate however, always conspired against me and I was never able to dedicate sufficient time to the task or perhaps the weather was never optimal.

This year however, was different. We experienced unbelievably beautiful weather with temperatures in the high twenties and cloudless blue skies.

I work full time as a photographer photographing products etc. for the premier lighting company in Switzerland, then at the weekend, I take a sort of "busman's holiday" and make images for myself. Not to sell or anything like that but simply because  want to. I find it therapeutic and relaxing.

I also decided to make use of several accessories etc that don't get out of my cupboard much. Namely my 300mm f4 and a couple of polarising filters.

My son Nicholas came with me and used the Sony Bloggie that I briefly mentioned in a previous post to record some video.

Here are some of the images from the weekend.

Taken after recording the video

Zoomed in

Same scene but from further away.

I had also previously seen a ruined barn from the road which I wanted to photograph. Stephan, my colleague obtained permission from the landowner so we went and recorded it as well.

Ruined barn from a path

I used HDR because the barn is in shadow

The next day, Sunday, I went out alone and made more images .

300mm on my 7d gives 420mm

 Sheep grazing. 7d with 300 mm lens

 17mm + polariser on a 5d

 17mm + polariser on a 5d

I'd be interested in hearing if any other working photographers reading this blog also go out purely for themselves to take pictures. I find that it keeps the passion alive.

Take care.

Two years in the making...

As I mentioned previously, I always have a sketchbook with photo ideas or poses to try out.

One such idea came to me several years ago. I have an apartment in a quiet village with a great view from the kitchen window.

When I first moved in I would look out of the window at the changing seasons. I decided two years ago to document it. Naturally I couldn't set a tripod up permanently in the kitchen so I tried to make the process of photographing the same view as simple as possible.

I always used a full frame camera fitted with the same lens (my 17 - 40 Canon zoom) set at the widest setting.
The camera was always manually set for focus and exposure and I used the histogram to prevent any clipping.

The middle focussing point of the lens always covered the middle of three trees that you can see in the centre of the image.

The reason it took two years was because I had to wait until conditions were perfect, including a nice sky (except for the winter shot). As this was a spare time project, I wasn't always at home when conditions were right so I had to wait until the next year!

Anyway, it's now done and I'm personally pleased with the end result.

What do you think?

Till next time.