TS-E 24mm f/3.5L MK II

retrosi

retrosi

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Simon
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I have just taken delivery of the above lens, I am going out this weekend hopefully to use it.
I have never used a TS lens before, I understand they are manual & I have a light meter which I am very familiar with.
Any pointers in how to get the best from this would be gratefully received.

Oh I will be using it with a Canon 1D MK IV just to give the full info ie; crop factor etc & I have two very good sturdy tripods.
One is my studio pod which you can put a bus on & the other is for field work which takes up to 10kg plus is able to get super low
and the column can 'jut' out at any angle from 0-180 degrees.

Any piccys you have showing your methods results would be good as well.
 
Shift is fairly straightforward to use so you shouldn't have any issues there.
Tilt needs a little more thought. Most first time users have a tendency to tilt too much for the scene they're shooting so start by using the correct values and go from there if you want to manipulate things. Also be aware that the cameras meter will be incorrect when the lens is tilted so meter the shot first (or use your light meter).

Bob
 
It's manual focus, but your camera should still meter properly through it. Afraid can't offer any other tips as it hasn't made it off the wish list yet.

OK I've just seen Bobs post so I stand corrected
 
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The TS lens is manual focus but you control the aperture just as you would any other EF lens. As has been said normally you'd meter with no movements applied as applying tilt or shift can affect the reading - although in practice I've only found that an issue when you're at the extremes of tilt or shift - or the two combined.

Focussing with tilt needs a different mindset to a normal lens - what you're doing is moving the plane of focus to align it with what you want to be in focus in the image - a TS lens does not give you lots more DOF - you just control and place the DOF in a different way to a "normal" lens.

When I started off with mine I found the following two articles useful:
This one explains the theory behind changing the plane of focus - http://www.northlight-images.co.uk/article_pages/using_tilt.html
And this give an easy iterative method to start getting to grips with focussing the darn thing - http://www.northlight-images.co.uk/article_pages/focus-with-tilt.html

As you start using it what you'll start recognising when to apply more tilt and when to apply less. May not make sense now - but it will after a bit of playing. Focus on the furthest bit you want sharp. Now look at the closest thing. If it's not sharp and focussing closer makes it sharper then the lens is acting too much like a normal lens - so add a bit more tilt and try again. If focussing closer makes it more out of focus then you've got too much tilt - so reduce the tilt and try again. Final thing to remember is that the depth of field is actually wedge shaped when you have tilt applied - narrowest near the lens and gets broader as the distance increases. Stopping down your aperture makes the wedge grow broader more quickly - so you could have a rock near the camera and a rock on the ground in the distance both in focus through tilting - but a tree branch in the middle distance out of focus as it falls outside the "wedge" - stopping down can bring it into focus.

The last paragraph might sound gibberish (but assuming my 2 pints of cider haven't mucked up my brain too much :) ) - but once you start using the tilt functions it should actually make sense!!
 
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Many thanks for the info everybody, particularly Krisstiffer.
 
Onlandscape has one hour video on using T&S lenses - link is on the front page. You need to subscribe to access the video but apparently you can do so as a free member.
 
Krisstiffer said:
.....Focus on the furthest bit you want sharp. Now look at the closest thing. If it's not sharp and focussing closer makes it sharper then the lens is acting too much like a normal lens - so add a bit more tilt and try again. If focussing closer makes it more out of focus then you've got too much tilt - so reduce the tilt and try again......
Click to expand...
Brilliant....the scientific approach to trial and error never lets you down.

Bob
 
Simon, after developing your skill set re tilting, shifting and manual focusing, together with your existing comfort with a light meter, it would be a relatively small transition for you to experience the different world of large format photography. Hope to see you there in a year or so!
 
I use to use medium format when doing wedding and portrait photography. Not thought of large, has digital invaded yet?
 
Lol digi is possible with a slow expensive scanning back or even a MF digi back but most use 4"x5", 5"x7" or 8"x10" film sensors
 
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