Canon Tilt Shift lenses and 4x5 questions

[Ray]

Okay! I re-shot the scene with tripod. Here's the only flaw I can detect in a 6 image stitch (5D held vertical, 50mm lens) on a tripod. The foreground subject matter is just a few metres away, 1 to 9 metres. The verticals are perfect, but the horizontals are slightly bowed. If this shot had been taken with an ultra-wide-angle lens, the verticals would also have been bowed.

The flaw is fixable with a bit of cloning. This result is impressive for an automatic stitch. I expect future upgrades to Autopano Pro will fix flaws like this.

[attachment=2395:attachment]

[KAP]

Hi all-

I have some questions regarding 4x5 format and tilt shift lenses for my Canon.

I work in advertising and my style consists of people in landscape, portraits and action.  Everything though, is wrapped around the landscape.  Up until now I have been shooting a Canon 1ds M2.  I want the big monumental landscape that can't be achieved with a wide angle 35mm lens because of distortion it causes at the wider angles.   Don't kill me but up until now I've been shooting multiple frames at 35mm and then stitching them together to create a big view without the distortion. 

I want to be able to come up close to my subjects and still achieve a wide "big" view of the landscape without any distortion.  From what I understand my options are to shoot 4x5 or get a tilt shift lens.  Would a tilt shift lens give me the wide "monumental" view I'm talking about?  I am open to any and all suggestions.

Thanks!

Ed McCulloch
801.836.2192

http://www.mccullochphotography.com
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Try the Sigma 12-24mm lens, used level it has very little distortion, I kid you not.
There's always something like the Linhof 612, very wide, built in rise and MF film, so top quality.

Kevin.

[Ray]

Try the Sigma 12-24mm lens, used level it has very little distortion, I kid you not.
There's always something like the Linhof 612, very wide, built in rise and MF film, so top quality.
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Kevin,
I have tried the Sigma 12-24. I tried 3 different copies in the store, comparing the lenses with my Sigma 15-30 on my 5D. I didn't direct my attention so much to distortion at the edges. I didn't have to because the resolution fall-off towards the edges was so obvious and plain unacceptable in all 3 lenses I tested.

I didn't buy the lens, of course, but I recommend anyone contemplating buying this lens should test it first. For all I know, there might well be a few copies out there that are acceptably sharp to the edges. Resolution in the central area is reasonably good. I got the impression this lens could be a good choice for a cropped format DSLR.

[KAP]

Kevin,
I have tried the Sigma 12-24. I tried 3 different copies in the store, comparing the lenses with my Sigma 15-30 on my 5D. I didn't direct my attention so much to distortion at the edges. I didn't have to because the resolution fall-off towards the edges was so obvious and plain unacceptable in all 3 lenses I tested.

I didn't buy the lens, of course, but I recommend anyone contemplating buying this lens should test it first. For all I know, there might well be a few copies out there that are acceptably sharp to the edges. Resolution in the central area is reasonably good. I got the impression this lens could be a good choice for a cropped format DSLR.
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I don't find any 35mm wides good at the edges on my FF Canon, coming from a MF background this is the biggest drawback of the 35mm system. My 12-24mm is better than my Canon 17-40mm and a Sigma 28 f1.8. I've also tried numorous others in shops. The 12-24 was no worse than the others and better than most. I guess I was lucky with my one.

Kevin.

[Ray]

I don't find any 35mm wides good at the edges on my FF Canon[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=115134\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

I do. Sometimes it's only the extreme corners where softness is noticeable. At the 24mm edge, resolution fall-off is sometimes hardly noticeable. I guess I just might have been lucky with my Sigma 15-30.  

Consider the following landscape taken at 21mm and f11.

[attachment=2421:attachment]

Let's look at the lower right corner. There's noticeable softness in the extreme corner.

[attachment=2422:attachment]

But this softness does not extend all the way up the edge as can be seen in the 100% crop below of the mid right edge.

[attachment=2423:attachment]

It's a similar situation at 15mm, but I have to say that distortion is more noticeable towards the edges. You wouldn't want to place a portrait close to the edge of a the frame at 15mm FL, unless you were trying to be very creative  .