Tilt & Shift Lenses

Tilt shift lens (TS) is capable of both tilt and shift movements. And if you're wondering right about now why on earth you would ever need something like that – take a look at some of your really bad pictures that have converging verticals in them. Then you'll know why tilt shift lenses are well worth checking out, and having on hand for shots of buildings.

A tilt shift lens for Canon cameras or a Pentax tilt shift lens will do precisely that – tilt and shift. This lets you move the optical axis (tilt) away from the perpendicular film plane. Usually the axis is precisely 90 degrees, but the tilt lens lets you alter the angle. This comes in handy for altering parts of an image in the depth of field – meaning they would then be in focus.

A shift lens is different in that it performs a few tricks, like letting you control your centerline. Yes, there are limits, but mostly you can put the centerline where you want it, and that is without changing the angle of your camera (and thus really messing your perspective up). So no matter what brand name of lens you opt for – be it a Pentax shift lens, a Minolta shift lens, a Nikon shift lens or Olympus shift lenses – the major boon for you is getting pictures that look great without looking like someone squeezed all the subjects and objects in the photo together. By the way, make sure when you order or bid on line for a shift lens that the documentation that comes with the camera tells you specifically how much they shift.

If you can't make up your mind what brand name and selection of features appeals to you, you might want to take some time to read a Nikon shift lens review. It, and any others you take the time to also check out, will give you the commentaries of people who have actually bought the lens you are curious about. The reviews would also cover how they found the lens worked in the long run and what it accomplished for their picture taking needs. This is the kind of information you need to make an informed decision about what to buy, find at auction or source third party.

How does all this help with taking your pictures though? What would a shift lens do for you? Well for one thing, it will tell you how far you need to be from your target to get the shot you want and not bend the perspective all to heck. Yes, there is a bit of math needed, but it's just the basics ma'am. The settings you need to use depend of the height of the target above your eye level, the height of the film above the centerline and the lens's focal length.

What? You're supposed to know how tall buildings are? Yes and no, mostly all you need to do is guesstimate 5 meters or 15 feet per story for commercial buildings. And off you go.