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Author Topic: Which tilt/shift lens for nikon ?  (Read 6503 times)

larkis

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Which tilt/shift lens for nikon ?
« on: February 14, 2013, 11:18:09 am »

I'm thinking of purchasing a D800e as a backup body for some of my landscape shooting and was wondering which tilt/shift lens is good enough to be paired with the D800e sensor.

Rob C

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Re: Which tilt/shift lens for nikon ?
« Reply #1 on: February 14, 2013, 12:39:43 pm »

Shouldn't the question be more which angle of view will be useful to you?

I am facing a similar quandry mysef: have spotted a 28mm and 35mm PC pair of oldies that could be useful, but the question, for me, has more to do with which will represent a lesser waste of money. Neither will bring me a bean, to that I am resigned, but having already had a 35mm one for a long time and then traded it all away, I know 35mm always felt too narrow... but, 28mm doesn't (apparently) cover very well on digital, and as far as I can discover, Nikon's new 24mm Tilters aren't all that hot either.

Maybe Canon's the answer: 24mm and 17mm. But not for me, I'm afraid.

They do this on purpose: it's a plot.

;-)

Rob C

HarperPhotos

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Re: Which tilt/shift lens for nikon ?
« Reply #2 on: February 14, 2013, 01:53:50 pm »

Hello,

I use all the Nikon PC-E lenses with my Nikon D800E and I find them superb.

I would suggest you go to the link below as this is a very good review of the Nikon PC-E 24mm lens.

You will have to pay to read it though, well worth the money

http://diglloyd.com/prem/prot/DAP/SHIFT/Nikon24PC.html

Also from what I have read on the same website the Schneider Tilt/Shift lenses aren't that great and a heck of a lot more money than the Nikon.

I am baffled by other photographers who love to bash the Nikon PC-E lenses as I find them superb. I just wish they would bring out a 17mm PC-E version.

Rob I also have a old Nikon 35mm Shift lens which is also an excellent lens. I have never tried the Nikon 28mm Shift version but I think it to would be a great lens but I would try before I bought one.

Cheers

Simon
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Simon Harper
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larkis

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Re: Which tilt/shift lens for nikon ?
« Reply #3 on: February 14, 2013, 08:59:00 pm »

Cool, I forgot he had a review of the one lens. I do have a subscription and will take a look.

BernardLanguillier

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Re: Which tilt/shift lens for nikon ?
« Reply #4 on: February 15, 2013, 08:35:51 am »

I am baffled by other photographers who love to bash the Nikon PC-E lenses as I find them superb. I just wish they would bring out a 17mm PC-E version.

Yep, there are many urban legends out there. I also find the 24 ts to be a very good lens. So is the 24mm f1.4 by the way.

Cheers,
Bernard

Paul2660

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Re: Which tilt/shift lens for nikon ?
« Reply #5 on: February 15, 2013, 10:57:45 am »

I would have to disagree on the Nikon 24 Tilt shift lens.  Coming from Canon and having the new generation  of the 24mm TS-e, when I tried several of the Nikon 24mmTS lenses, I was not impressed. 

CA, Corner sharpness falloff and vignetting on shifts past 9mm seemed to occur on all the examples I tried (3) 2 new and 1 used. 

As far as I could tell, you have to stop the lens down manually, and can't use the camera controls, like on Canon. 

Tilt and shift don't have the ability to be in the same plane unless you send the lens off to Nikon.  Having them in the same plane is a huge advantage since it allows you to tilt and shift on the image at the same time allowing even more possible DOF. 

I really tried to make this lens work, as I now have a big hole in my lens selection since I switched to Nikon.  In my work the 24mm TS-E Canon was used quite often.  I really found that the Nikon current 24mm TS lens was about the same as the 1st gen Canon solution.  Note the Nikon lens is not inexpensive, not as much as Canon's solution, but still around 2K. 

I have read plenty of good reviews on this lens on Nikon, several over on getdpi.  I was surprised to see the results I got on a D800 with the versions I tried.

I keep hoping to see Nikon release a new version of the 24mm or make the 17mm that has been rumored for so long. 

Paul Caldwell
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Paul Caldwell
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nairb

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Re: Which tilt/shift lens for nikon ?
« Reply #6 on: February 15, 2013, 01:05:39 pm »

I haven't had the opportunity to test my Nikon 24mm pc-e against other samples, but in testing for sharpness against my other lenses that do 24mm, on the D800e, the tilt shift is the worst of the three, followed by the 14-24 with the 24-70 2.8 being the best.
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Paul2660

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Re: Which tilt/shift lens for nikon ?
« Reply #7 on: February 15, 2013, 02:34:25 pm »

I was surprised at how well the 14-24 I purchased worked with both the 800 and 800e.  Most of the reviews I read were negative.   I have very good results from f4.5 out.   For sure it has limited use wide open.  What was a pleasant surprise was how well the 14-24 does in night work.  Nominal CA and coma. 

Again it seems that as with Canon there is a range of samples.

Paul Caldwell



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Paul Caldwell
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nairb

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Re: Which tilt/shift lens for nikon ?
« Reply #8 on: February 15, 2013, 03:57:13 pm »

My 14-24 works remarkably well on the D800e especially for night photography, but it has better sharpness at the 14mm end then it does at the 24mm end. 24mm is still quite good, but my 24-70 is a little better at 24mm.
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Abernero

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Re: Which tilt/shift lens for nikon ?
« Reply #9 on: February 15, 2013, 04:41:25 pm »



"As far as I could tell, you have to stop the lens down manually, and can't use the camera controls, like on Canon."
Not on mine you don't...

I will agree that by now tilt shift lenses should be rotators; changing the Nikon 24 from 90degrees to same plane is easy enough but not exactly something to do suddenly out in the field.
I also think that optically mine is really rather good.  I have no idea if it is as good as the Canon and am not likely to get myself a Canon body just to find out.

Cheers
Calum



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NancyP

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Re: Which tilt/shift lens for nikon ?
« Reply #10 on: February 15, 2013, 08:26:39 pm »

I have no idea whether this is going to be a good lens, but Samyang is bringing out a 24mm T/S lens with the ability to rotate S axis vs T axis. ETA "March to April 2013", cost estimated 1,000 pounds. At any rate, the lens will be available in multiple mounts.
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Petrus

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Re: Which tilt/shift lens for nikon ?
« Reply #11 on: February 16, 2013, 02:19:54 am »

CA, Corner sharpness falloff and vignetting on shifts past 9mm seemed to occur on all the examples I tried (3) 2 new and 1 used.

Nikon has still the same mount they designed in the fifties, with too small flange opening. This definitely puts them at an disadvantage compared to Canon what comes to designing T/S lenses and fast telephotos.
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Rob C

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Re: Which tilt/shift lens for nikon ?
« Reply #12 on: February 16, 2013, 04:34:56 am »

I haven't had the opportunity to test my Nikon 24mm pc-e against other samples, but in testing for sharpness against my other lenses that do 24mm, on the D800e, the tilt shift is the worst of the three, followed by the 14-24 with the 24-70 2.8 being the best.



I haven't owned a 24mm Tilter, but I do own a 2.8/24mm AIS manual focus - my second - and I find it quite good for the things I've used it: shots of houses/apartments, where it turned out to be more or less the standard lens I found myself using every time (film).

It's also worked quite well on both the D200 and D700.

What I find remarkable is the fact that some people enjoy the 24mm-70mm G zoom, easily the worst lens I ever bought. I tested it on the cropped format of the D200 and even on that body the edges were hopeless at 24mm. Assuming the other reporters are experienced photographers, I can only imagine that Nikon's QC is absolutely rotten these days, and that I was sold a piece of scrap!

Rob C

jgbowerman

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Re: Which tilt/shift lens for nikon ?
« Reply #13 on: February 18, 2013, 10:53:02 am »

If money is not an issue, go for a Hartblei 40mm/4 with a Nikon mount.
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