To Tilt / Shift, or not; my experiences …
The whole idea of using Tilt / Shift (T/S) started from my film days, with technical cameras; but due to limited resources, and knowledge, I wasn’t able to take full advantage of this and it remained an itch in my mind’s eye.
With the advent of digital, moving to Tilt / Shift (T/S) lens was a given as it allowed me to:
- address a childhood dream
- sort out perspective issues, Stright Out Of Camera (sooc)
- slowdown my photography, hence allowed me to “see” more
- Tilt / Shift (T/S) lens tend to be far sharper than their counterparts
- get more intimate with my gear, and not just use them to “click” away
Without a doubt, all these would help me become a far better photographer, I’d hope, and improve my images exponentially.
And I was right!
That said, these lens don’t come cheap, aren’t light weight, aren’t easy to use ... never the less, the outcome was immediately felt and noticed.
As a Nikon user, I first started with the Nikkor 45mm, f/2.8; then the 24mm f/3.5 and finally the 85mm f/2.5 ... at the time I was using the Nikon D300 digital body, after which I migrated to the D700, followed by the D3x then the D810.
These Tilt / Shift (T/S) lens, coupled with any of these bodies were ideal, as neither one out resolved the other but rather complimented each other very well; and I quickly adapted my photography style to match these three focal lengths.
24mm was ideal for architecture; 45mm was my go to for LandScape; and the 85mm was for portraits and fashion.
The sharpness from the lens was amazing, as too were the ability to sort out perspective, and get in-focus from camera edge to infinity, thanks to their amazing construct.
Up until I moved to the D810 my love for these lens was second to none; that’s not to say there weren’t issues, with the biggest being that the lens wouldn’t tilt and shift on the same plane!
What I mean by that, out of the box, all three lens would be able to tilt left & right, while shift up and down. Yet, I almost always needed them to tilt up and down while also shifting up and down too. By contacting Nikon, they offered me the service to adjust the lens to function as I wanted / needed, but by doing so I’d be in violation of their warrantee terms and conditions, and it meant having to send the lens to their facility to get it done. I hence opted not to do this, but learned to do it myself. This meant that I now was able, and foolishly, dismantle a Nikon lens, and reassemble it myself.
I say foolishly, as it didn’t happen without issues, from broken cables, to unwanted dust particles ... had to disassemble and reassemble a number of times, before it was perfect for use.
The second issue, was actually a deal breaker for me, and forced me to abandon Nikon completely! More of this in my next post ...
To Be Continued …