A tilt-shift lens is special class of lens which allow movement of the focal plane. Tilt–shift photography is the use of camera movements on small- and medium-format cameras, and sometimes specifically refers to the use of tilt for selective focus, often for simulating a miniature scene. Special lenses with mechanisms to move the lens up and down and at an angle, allows DSLR and SLR camera to mimic the movements of view cameras.
Press cameras like the Speed Graphic shown above, allowed tilt and shift functions by use of a bellows. Studio view cameras allow even more movement because the front lens element can be moved as well as the back film plane.
Tilt-shift lens are popular with architecture photographers to control distortion while photographing buildings. They are also popular with product and food photographers for controlling the focal plane across objects. Landscape photographers love to use the shift funtion to take a series of individual shots without moving the camera and then photo stitching them together later in Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Lightroom to create a panoramic photograph.
More recently tilt-shift lens have become popular for the opposite effects, that is creating even more out of focus areas instead of decreasing them. The miniature world effect is one example. Here is a look at the basic functions of a modern tilt shift lens.
Now some examples of photographs featuring the effects of or result of using a tilt shift lens.
Showing the extreme focal length manipulation possible with a tilt-shift lens, in this case a Canon 24mm Tilt Shift. Here the focal plane is placed on a single spot around the front headlight. Everything else becomes a soft blur.
Creating the illusion that one is looking down on a model or toy, is one popular use of a tilt-shift lens. By blurring the background and foreground, the subject appear to be a small object. In this case, software was used to mimic the effect of a tilt-shift lens.
For all the artistic, trendy out of focus effects of the tilt-shift lens, these lenses earn their keep by providing distortion free architectural photography. With the camera kept level and straight on to this church, the front can be shifted up to capture the entire building.
Without a tilt-shift lens, one would have to point the camera upwards and suffer with the resulting distortion of the building.
Artistic use of the tilt function to place the focal plane where you want it and allow everything else to blur. Tilt-shift lenses are manual focus lenses so you need to use live view to carefully focus in on the spot you want to be in focus. A tripod is standard equipment when carefully composing a scene such as this.
About Shift: The maximum shift is 11mm in either direction on the TS-E45mm f/2.8 and TS-E90mm f/2.8 or up to 12mm on the TS-E17mm f/4L and TS-E24mm f/3.5L II.
So you ask...since the shift is only 11mm, couldn't you just raise the camera a bit on the tripod and get same effect?
No. If you raise the camera by 11mm or 12mm, you are simply moving the centre of the lens 11-12mm higher up the subject - the change to the image will be insignificant.
However, if you shift the lens by 12mm in relation to the film or sensor, you are moving the entire image by 12mm. The width of a 35mm film frame is only 24mm, so a 12mm shift gives almost a 50% change!
About Tilt: Most camera lenses are designed so that the lens axis is fixed perpendicular to the film plane. A TS-E lens is different. It has a front section that can be tilted up to 8.5° (TS-E24mm f/3.5L II USM) away from the axis. The lens also rotates around the axis, so the angle of tilt can be in any direction.
When a camera lens is focused on a point, everything on a plane the same distance from the camera as that point will also be in focus. That’s why it is called the plane of focus. Anything closer to or further from the plane is out-of-focus. When no tilt is applied to the lens, the plane of focus is parallel to the sensor or film plane.
Tilting the lens alters the plane of focus so that it is no longer parallel to the sensor or film plane. This allows you to create pictures where objects at different distances from the camera are in focus. This is not the same as increasing the depth-of-field by setting a small aperture.
The most common use for the tilt function is to make a photograph of a receding subject appear sharp from front to back. This is done by tilting the lens so that the plane of focus runs along the surface of the receding subject.
The new Canon T/S lenses have several improvements over the old versions.
- In 2009 Canon announced two new TS-E lenses - the TS-E17mm f/4L and TS-E24mm f/3.5L II USM.
- These lenses feature an even bigger image circle with a corresponding increase in shift, and for the 24mm version, an increase in tilt as well.
- The other improvement is in the rotation mechanism. These two lenses can be rotated such that the tilt and shift can be at any angle relative to each other, or even aligned in the same plane, without having to send the lens back to a service center for adjustment.
- These lenses also have upgraded the glass to earn a "L" or red stripe designation.
- More recently three macro T/S lens have been added to the line up.
For more information about each tilt-sift lens in the Canon line, click on the links below:
Wide angles:
New Tilt-shifts with Macro capabilities:
Credits:
Photographs by Edward M. Fielding - www.edwardfieldng.com