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Author Topic: Medium Format Lens with Tilt/Shift Adapter for Canon EF  (Read 12680 times)

fr3d

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Medium Format Lens with Tilt/Shift Adapter for Canon EF
« on: January 02, 2009, 07:57:01 pm »

Hi,

I have been thinking about buying a TS lens for quite some time. At first I wanted to go for a Hartblei Super Rotator but had to learn that Hartblei is now redesigning their TS lenses in cooperation with Zeiss. Which gave them reason to rise the price for a (protype) lens to a whooping 3000 bucks. So anyway, I figured out that it should be possible to buy a Pentacon Six TS Adapter to Canon EF for 100 bucks and add one or two Biometar lenses (55mm, 80mm) to that. These lenses are quite inexpensive and said to be good performers (?). Any recommendation on medium format lenses and TS Adapters for 35mm format cameras (Canon 5D Mark II in this case)?
« Last Edit: January 02, 2009, 07:58:14 pm by fr3d »
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spotmeter

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Medium Format Lens with Tilt/Shift Adapter for Canon EF
« Reply #1 on: January 03, 2009, 12:26:42 am »

Quote from: fr3d
Hi,

I have been thinking about buying a TS lens for quite some time. At first I wanted to go for a Hartblei Super Rotator but had to learn that Hartblei is now redesigning their TS lenses in cooperation with Zeiss. Which gave them reason to rise the price for a (protype) lens to a whooping 3000 bucks. So anyway, I figured out that it should be possible to buy a Pentacon Six TS Adapter to Canon EF for 100 bucks and add one or two Biometar lenses (55mm, 80mm) to that. These lenses are quite inexpensive and said to be good performers (?). Any recommendation on medium format lenses and TS Adapters for 35mm format cameras (Canon 5D Mark II in this case)?

I have a full set of Zeiss Hasselblad lenses and bought an adapter to use them on my Canon 5D. The results were disappointing. These wonderful lenses were no better than my Zeiss wide-angle and Canon telephoto primes. I think that they work well with medium format film because the 'sensor' size is so large, and so needs less enlargement.

If you want to use a tilt-shift lens, I recommend the Canon 45mm TS-E. It tests very sharp and shoots brilliant photos. Unfortunately, the 24mm tests soft, although I have shot some photos with it that turned out quite sharp. I have heard that the 90mm Canon TS-E is also very good.
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jeffok

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Medium Format Lens with Tilt/Shift Adapter for Canon EF
« Reply #2 on: January 03, 2009, 01:17:23 am »

Quote from: spotmeter
I have a full set of Zeiss Hasselblad lenses and bought an adapter to use them on my Canon 5D. The results were disappointing. These wonderful lenses were no better than my Zeiss wide-angle and Canon telephoto primes. I think that they work well with medium format film because the 'sensor' size is so large, and so needs less enlargement.

If you want to use a tilt-shift lens, I recommend the Canon 45mm TS-E. It tests very sharp and shoots brilliant photos. Unfortunately, the 24mm tests soft, although I have shot some photos with it that turned out quite sharp. I have heard that the 90mm Canon TS-E is also very good.

I have a nice set of Pentax 67 lenses, extremely sharp and produce beautiful images on that camera. I had been considering buying an adapter for those and fitting to my Canon 1Ds Mark III. But upon further research, it appears that those that have tried these kinds of combinations are disappointed and report that the MF lenses don't produce very sharp results on 35mm full frame cameras.

I have a Canon 45mm TSE and I can vouch for its excellent sharpness and contrast. For landscapes, this is the one you want as the 24mm version is soft in the corners and the 90mm while very sharp, is less useful as a landscape lens.
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Paul Roark

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Medium Format Lens with Tilt/Shift Adapter for Canon EF
« Reply #3 on: January 03, 2009, 11:55:44 am »

Quote from: fr3d
... Any recommendation on medium format lenses and TS Adapters for 35mm format cameras (Canon 5D Mark II in this case)?

I'm an old Rollei SL66 shooter as well as Canon, and I love the tilt options for landscape shooting.  As much as I love to save a buck, I spent the money to get the 90 TS and 45 TS.  The 24 is too soft for my uses -- OK for magazine-size images, but not B&W 16x20 display.  I owned one and sent it back.  I also adapted my SL66 lenses to an older Canon and thought it was not worth the effort.  It was a clumsy outfit.  The mechanics of the new Canon TS lenses are part of their appeal.  The Canon TS mounts are really good.  Even the old 35 TS for the FD (optically better than the new 24 TS L) was just plain sloppy.

At any rate, as a backpacker, my light hiking outfit for this summer is a 5D2, 90 TS (outstanding lens, virtually no color fringing), and 28mm f2.8 Zeiss (CY mount adapter -- beats all the Canons, most Leicas, and is cheap & light).  As much as I'd love a very sharp 24mm TS, it's not going to happen on an SLR.  No affordable retrofocus of that magnitude can come close to the quality we can get from our 5d2 sensors.  Remember that the TS mount makes the rear element to film/sensor distance much greater than a non-TS lens.  Even the 45 TS is a major retrofocus design and shows those defects.  Fortunately, the depth of field of wide angles is enough that 2 frames can capture all you need to then combine in Photoshop.  So, I routinely take 2 shots and get everything in focus.  The weight difference is major also -- the big retrofocus TS lenses are heavy.  The 90 TS is the lightest and best TS by a large margin.

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com
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fr3d

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Medium Format Lens with Tilt/Shift Adapter for Canon EF
« Reply #4 on: January 03, 2009, 09:42:27 pm »

Thank you for taking time to answer. Looks like there is no cheap way to a good TS lens .. I'm am now inspecting the used market for the Canon TS-E 45mm.

Let me just throw in the link to Hartblei and their Zeiss TS lenses in case someone is interested: Hartblei Zeiss TS Lenses
It would be interesting to see how they perform. Unfortunately no reviews seem to be available at this time.
« Last Edit: January 03, 2009, 09:43:05 pm by fr3d »
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Photostudent

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Medium Format Lens with Tilt/Shift Adapter for Canon EF
« Reply #5 on: January 05, 2009, 01:34:27 am »

Quote from: fr3d
Thank you for taking time to answer. Looks like there is no cheap way to a good TS lens .. I'm am now inspecting the used market for the Canon TS-E 45mm.

Let me just throw in the link to Hartblei and their Zeiss TS lenses in case someone is interested: Hartblei Zeiss TS Lenses
It would be interesting to see how they perform. Unfortunately no reviews seem to be available at this time.

no harm in experimenting lense adaptors...try novoflex or zorek (can't remember this name one exactly)..some are happy with this... for harblei...contact stefan...at hartblei.de.

 

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