TS+E (or Lensbaby) for Portrait & Products

pearce_jj

pearce_jj

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Any thoughts or experiences really... My most-used lens is a Canon 85mm but when photographing smallish things, like for example constructed Lego or circuit boards, the DoF (especially with FF) is often tricky. So TS+E seems like the answer - and potentially useful for portraits too?

Then I came across Lensbaby. Some photos look great but most, to my eye, just look like a dodgy lens (like on this thread, for example). What I'm after is getting longer DoF for photos of small things (but not macro) and the ability to keep an apparently narrow DoF for portraits but with both eyes sharp when not square against the subject I think would be great too.

Thanks for any thoughts!
 
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Samyang TS E would be my first port of call tbh as they are well priced (far cheaper than the canon and nikon equivalents) and would give better sharpness compared to the lensbaby choice (critical for product based shots)
 
James J said:
Samyang TS E would be my first port of call tbh as they are well priced (far cheaper than the canon and nikon equivalents) and would give better sharpness compared to the lensbaby choice (critical for product based shots)
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24mm for portraits!

I think you needs would be ideally satisfied by the TS-E90. A good length for portraits (especially if you like 85mm so much). It also works well with a 12mm tube if you want to get the magnification up a little....it'll go to 0.43x with a usable range of working distance (it can work with 25mm tube but becomes restrictive). 8 degrees of tilt will put the focal plane a mere 172mm below the centre of the sensor (ie, un-tilted optical axis)

Bob
 
^^^ As Bob said. Suggest you hire one to try, as T&S lenses are expensive and have their operational quirks.

LensBaby is a rather different proposition, though the LB Edge 80 might be worth looking at for portraits http://lensbaby.com/optics-edge80
 
Thanks, rumour has it there is a new 90mm TS-E due imminently, no doubt will be very expensive.

Looking at these lenses, and thinking about the processing power in the cameras now - how about a portrait TS-E with AF, IS, and using face recognition (eyes specifically) auto tilt too...?
 
I had a TS-E 90 that I used for weddings a few years back, absolutely fantastic lens but remember to take your time with it and it will be very forgiving. They fetch £695 second hand, I would recommend the 24mmL though (although pricey) again it's a quirky lens but much much better than using a LensBaby, We recently bought the Samyang but sold it on in the end, although the build quality was solid, there was a lot of aberrations and found the IQ was a bit pants even when focussing using live view!

On a plus note, I've spent the last 3 months designing a tilt & shift adaptor for EOS fitment, should hopefully be done by Crimbo so I'll be posting a DIY thread on that at some point to give people an idea (it also has AF functionality)
 
Flightphoto said:
On a plus note, I've spent the last 3 months designing a tilt & shift adaptor for EOS fitment, should hopefully be done by Crimbo so I'll be posting a DIY thread on that at some point to give people an idea (it also has AF functionality)
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I'm guessing that this will only be usable on crop bodies due to the size of the image circle on regular EF lenses?

Bob
 
Canon Bob said:
I'm guessing that this will only be usable on crop bodies due to the size of the image circle on regular EF lenses?

Bob
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I made something similar using a LensBaby Composer and an old 6x6 80mm enlarging lens, just to prove the principle really. They're cheap and allow a good amount of movement on full-frame. It worked quite well in a limited way.
 
HoppyUK said:
I made something similar using a LensBaby Composer and an old 6x6 80mm enlarging lens, just to prove the principle really. They're cheap and allow a good amount of movement on full-frame. It worked quite well in a limited way.
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Certainly do'able like that Richard but Dave mentions retaining AF with EF mount lenses and not lenses from a larger format with a usable image circle to play with. I believe that there are tilt adapters to use MF lenses on Eos bodies (MF and aperture).

Bob
 
^^ Yes, sounds interesting :)
 
Well, you can try it on FF but I haven't tried it as yet! I made it by modifying some auto macro tubes. The idea is to use the EOS connector ring from the first macro tube, grind down the face plate of that, solder a ribbon wire to the AF pins and then solder the other end to the back of the next EOS connector plate, then I made a silicone gasket by making a mold so that this just bonds between the two plates and voila! I've yet to try it out as I only moved a few weeks ago and everything is still packed away :(
 
Basically the silicone allows flex and tilt / shift just by moving it about, there's other methods online using a strip of rubber and gaffa tape but I wanted the camera to still make contact with the lens chip so the meter would still work etc. Plus you have the added benefit of extra focus as you can push / pull using the flex of the silicone etc :)
 
Think we'd better wait to see the real thing ;) The point Bob was making is that it won't work on full frame without using lenses from a larger format camera, to provide the larger image circle need for movements.
 
I did think of one that Richard ;)

I was also tempted to get one of the Hasselblad - EOS rings but at £300+ it's a bit pricey!

On Cropped bodies it's a bit hit and miss currently as you can imagine because of the DOF is not only narrow, but there's a lot of light loss so on a Nifty 1.8 it's more of a macro attachment but with the added benefit of shifting the focal plane where suits. Give it a few weeks and I'll have another go :)
 
Dave,

The image circle from a regular EF mount lens is around 44mm diameter and this just about reaches the corners of a 36x24mm sensor. The TS lenses project an image circle of 62-68mm (they vary slightly to cover different maxima of tilt and shift in the lens design). By simply using a regular lens then the image would wander off the sensor.

This is why the normal tilt carriage adaptations are for use with MF lenses which have a suitably large image circle.

Hope that made sense.

Bob
 
No worries Bob ;)

This is why it's quite awkward to use currently, It's ok for Macro but unless I could design one with a permanent fixed rear element to compensate for the small view footprint it will always be one of those ongoing projects etc, plus with the idea of adding a fixed rear element this will inhibit other problems in terms of IQ. I spoke to a chap that also had a go and he compensated by using a macro element from Raynox to increase the image circle but by the time all this is done it works out easier to just call up WEX and purchase a T-SE :(
 
I suspect that he was correct....purchasing a TS-E was the cheapest option.
One thing I forgot to mention is that the TS-E's have field curvature as opposed to flat field focus. This is a benefit in most applications for TS except that of stitched panoramas where it becomes necessary to refocus if wider apertures are used.

Rodenstock have an expensive solution but also have the advantage of aiming through a larger mount diameter.

All that said, you should continue with the development as an APS-C sensor has a fair bit of latitude to play with when tilting regular EF lenses.

Bob
 
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