Nikkor 24mm f/3.5D PC-E: 2 Questions

[Tony Beach]

I'm strongly considering purchasing this lens to use on my D300.  I have been unable to find the answers to a couple of questions I have about this lens which may effect my decision about whether this lens is worth $2000 to me.

First, I think I want to reconfigure this lens so that both the tilt and shift movements are on the same axis.  Is this something I can do myself?

Second (a three part question), I expect that I will most often be using the movements on this lens so that the shift knob will end up under the built-in flash on the D300 as I plan using this lens while the camera is vertically positioned and I want to bring the foreground into focus and correct perspective when pointing the camera up or down.  Will the shift knob be accessible when it's under the built in flash (I realize I can twist it 30°, make the adjustments, and then twist it back), will the shift knob even fit under built in flash, or is there a way to assemble the lens so that the knob is at the bottom of the camera instead of on top?

[routlaw]

Tony I own the lens but use it on the D3 and have had no problems in vertical mode using any of the knobs. Not sure how much the D300 deviates from the D3 in body shape though. I think you are going to need to ask these questions to Nikon. However I have heard of people reconfiguring the older 85 PC lens themselves, but the newer "PC-E" type might have some electrical considerations which could prevent you from doing this yourself easily.

Sorry I don't have more specific info.

Rob

I'm strongly considering purchasing this lens to use on my D300.  I have been unable to find the answers to a couple of questions I have about this lens which may effect my decision about whether this lens is worth $2000 to me.

First, I think I want to reconfigure this lens so that both the tilt and shift movements are on the same axis.  Is this something I can do myself?

Second (a three part question), I expect that I will most often be using the movements on this lens so that the shift knob will end up under the built-in flash on the D300 as I plan using this lens while the camera is vertically positioned and I want to bring the foreground into focus and correct perspective when pointing the camera up or down.  Will the shift knob be accessible when it's under the built in flash (I realize I can twist it 30°, make the adjustments, and then twist it back), will the shift knob even fit under built in flash, or is there a way to assemble the lens so that the knob is at the bottom of the camera instead of on top?
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[wolfnowl]

First, I think I want to reconfigure this lens so that both the tilt and shift movements are on the same axis. Is this something I can do myself?

Don't know about Nikon, but you can see here to start (Canon).  If it's possible for this Nikon lens, I'm sure there's something online...

http://www.getdpi.com/tse_swap.html
http://www.northlight-images.co.uk/article...tilt-shift.html

Mike.

[NikosR]

I quote from here http://nikongear.com/smf/index.php?topic=8408.25 a comment by Bjorn Rorslett:

'I now can tell that it seems impossible to change the planes of tilt vs shift with this lens. Why do I know his? Because today I fell on a wet slippery slope, again covered with ice and melt water, and the 24 PC-E took the brunt of the fall. The lens split in two, I ruptured several ribs, and the D3 thanks to its massive home-made "L" bracket (alluded to as being "bomb-proof" in an earlier article) seems to survive unscathed. But it sure looked funny with half a lens sticking out of the body  - plus being covered in my blood too.

Well, the innards of the 24 PC-E being disclosed to me, indicated that you can't modify it like with the PC 85. I also earlier discovered that the centre for movements (tilt, swing), shift is slightly offset from the optical axis, about 0.6 mm. This might help reducing the need for parallel movements.'


And / But further down that thread:

'You need the (factory) modification where the tilt and shift axes are aligned in parallel. According to the manual, any Nikon repair facility should be able to do this, for a fee.'


You might want to ask your questions there as Bjorn seems willing to answer most any questions related to the PC-E lenses.

[Tony Beach]

Thank you for the replies Rob and Mike.

I know that Bjorn Rorslett has performed essentially the same procedure on his PC Micro 85/2.8, but in his recent reviews on the newer PCE lenses he mentions that Nikon repair facility can perform the procedure for a fee.  I will have to do a follow-up post here on what that fee is -- it's a minor issue and I'm convinced I will get this done (a $100 give or take, is not going to influence my purchase decision).

I know there are some out there with this lens and a D300 they can put it on, so my most vital question is if the shift knob will fit under the built-in flash.  Perhaps Michael Reichmann could confirm this for me.

[Tony Beach]

Thank you Nikos.

That confirms what I thought might be the case.

I'm clueless about the significance of the optical axis offset, but if you or anyone else wants to attempt to explain that to me you're welcome to.  On the other hand, I expect that I will eventually have the lens in hand and be able to figure all of this out for myself before sending it off to be modified (if necessary).

[JeffKohn]

This shift knob won't fit under the flash housing (ie, on top when the camera is oriented normally). However the it works just fine on the bottom (ie rotated 180 degrees), which gives you exactly the same functionality (and IMHO is preferred, that's how I use my 85 PC too because it just seems more convenient).

[Tony Beach]

Thank you Jeff.

I think that is more convenient too; as long as the shift isn't blocked I think it will be good.  Indeed, I think the 24mm PCE lens mounted on the D300 will be a great combo for me, I find myself doing a lot of close-ups where the tilt and shift will be important to the what I previsualized but was unable to accomplish with the tools available to me (too many scenes are too dynamic to do focus stacking and stitching to get a deep enough DOF and wide enough FOV to work with in Photoshop).