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Archive 2012 · Fake Tilt Shift vs Real Tilt Shift

  
 
anthonyket
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Fake Tilt Shift vs Real Tilt Shift


Hey Guys,

I am thinking about getting a tilt shift lens, it seems all the rage at the moment. I have been making do by using lens blur in PS. But just want to know more about the practical usage of a tilt shift lens in the field on a shoot.

I havent used one over an extended period of time, so just wanted to get an idea of:

1. how long it took you to use it and get accoustomed to it as part of your workflow?
2. In what situations do you use it?
3. Is the use of it in your portfolio too much or not enough?
4. Do you find that in general people are over using tilt shift in their work?
5. Could you just get away with using fake tilt shift and the client would be none the wiser?
All other comments and opinions wanted.
Pros and Cons.



Jul 26, 2012 at 01:00 AM
bertpalmer
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Fake Tilt Shift vs Real Tilt Shift


1. about an hour
2. 1 or 2 couple photos and the very occasional venue photo if I have time
3. about right - I use it sparingly
4. in general no, but then I only look at photographers I like
5. for 95% of clients yes

I bought a T/S lens because I wanted to use it. It's not an investment - you'll use it for .2% of photos you deliver. I just wanted to mix things up.

I don't think you can fake it in photoshop - it tends to looks pretty rubbish, although yeah, I doubt a client would really know.



Jul 26, 2012 at 04:44 AM
MalachiConstant
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Fake Tilt Shift vs Real Tilt Shift


Im thinking about getting one for interior photography. I have been working on some projects documenting remodeling and renovations and am sick of the wacky distortion from my UWA. I think a TS-E 17 or 24 would help quite a bit. Plus the 24 is about as sharp as it gets.


Jul 26, 2012 at 06:22 AM
erwinbeckers
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Fake Tilt Shift vs Real Tilt Shift


T/S is also on my todo list. Not sure if it is anything for me
so i want to play with the 'fake' effect first before buying a real T/S lens
Any good tutorials on how to get a 'realistic' T/S effect in PS ??
Thx!



Jul 26, 2012 at 06:39 AM
sboerup
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Fake Tilt Shift vs Real Tilt Shift


fake < real - 101% of the time


Jul 26, 2012 at 09:15 AM
acoll123
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Fake Tilt Shift vs Real Tilt Shift


I just got a TS-E 17 (used from the FM forum) for a specific job of developing a stock photo library of some regional attractions. I have really enjoyed using it for the buildings and landscapes - it is very sharp compared to the 16-35 II I was using before. Making the perspective adjustments in PS just seemed to take too much form the images.

Took about a day to get used to it and develop a process for using it.
1. Use the level bubbles on the tripod
2. Focus AFTER composing and making T/S adjustments
3. Use live view to focus
4. Keep the lens cap on as much as possible

It's one of those things that I think I would miss if I no longer had but didn't know I needed/liked until I had it. Now I am coveting the TS-E 24 but have the new Canon 24-70 on order so don't want to duplicate the focal length.



Jul 26, 2012 at 09:32 AM
NathanHamler
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Fake Tilt Shift vs Real Tilt Shift


I've found the FAKE TS effect only works when the axis of what's in focus is running perpendicular to the lens axis (so normal dof), like when you're doing a fake miniature... when you want to do something where the axis of focus is dramatically off from perpendicular, it doesn't work as well (IMHO).....I'd much rather have a real TS lens, and know how to use it, than be worried about messing around with it in PS, and remembering which shots i wanted to do it on.....problem is A) Manual focusing sucks on crop bodies (which is what i shoot now)....and B) i'd prob get a 28mm (or 24mm) TS for my crop body, but i'd rather have a 45mm TS if i was gonna shoot FX....so buying a 45mm now with intentions of going FX wouldn't be as useful on a crop body...


Jul 26, 2012 at 09:37 AM
campyone
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Fake Tilt Shift vs Real Tilt Shift


1. Shift is simple, it doesn't take any time. Tilt/swing is much harder to use, at least it has been for me and I'm very familiar with tilt through using large format cameras for many years. One of the problems with tilt/swing is that if you get it wrong you don't just fail to accomplish what you wanted, you actually can make things worse than they would have been without tilt.

2. My main use has been shift for architecture. I haven't used tilt at all other than playing around with it.

3. Probably not enough. I got the 24mm TS-E II and for my photography that's too wide an angle for what I often want to do. I wish I had gotten one of the longer two TS lenses instead and may end up doing so.

4. I'm not sure how you tell. Except when altering the plane of focus to deliberately throw things out of focus (as opposed to bringing things along the plane into focus) ala Keith Carter you don't necessarily know when the movements have been used, especially with shift.

5. I would think so. You can mimic horizontal shift by moving the camera/tripod left and right. I'm not sure what you mean by "fake tilt" but if you mean make everything in the image from near to far appear sharp, in some situations you certainly can achieve a similar look by focusing on multiple near-to-far points in the scene and then blending in Photoshop. There's probably other ways that don't immediately occur to me.



Jul 26, 2012 at 09:54 AM
mshi
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Fake Tilt Shift vs Real Tilt Shift


I haven't used T/S for weddings but I wouldn't want to carry another piece of lens since I usually carry seven already. For what I do, I can always fake the blurring effects in Photoshop so that I can usually save some unintended blurry shots into more acceptable ones.




Jul 26, 2012 at 10:18 AM
maxwell1295
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Fake Tilt Shift vs Real Tilt Shift


1. About a month. I was getting good results with it right off the bat. I tend to lock a new lens on my camera as much as possible to do a lot of casual or around the house type of shooting to get used to it. I spent more time than normal with the 45ts because I bought it during the winter and wasn't shooting much else.

2. I like it more for portrait/engagement than anything else. It's also pretty good for capturing wedding details. I don't really use it much for weddings unless I have ample time to set up shots with it.

3. I haven't really updated my port since I've had it, but there are quite a few examples of it on my blog. I use it for some shoots more than others.

4. Without trying to sound like a dick, I really don't pay attention to what others are doing. Besides, who determines what is 'too much' or 'not enough'? I would think that comes down to personal preference.

5. Spencer's answer pretty much nailed it...



Jul 26, 2012 at 12:31 PM
Kittyk
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Fake Tilt Shift vs Real Tilt Shift


i use 24 and 45 shifted sometimes to shoot comfortably "overhead" or "lower perspective" shots so i can keep camera at eye level during dancing and such. Never liked to use tilt on portraiture, somehow always when i did and liked it, customers asked for "normal" version believing i processed it on computer.


Jul 26, 2012 at 02:08 PM
lisy78
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Fake Tilt Shift vs Real Tilt Shift


The following is only applicable to the very common use of T/S lenses by wedding photographers, where subjects have their faces in focus and their body OOF, or where the church looks like a miniature, etc, NOT TO THE USE where you're actually increasing DOF on a plane, or shifting for perspective correction etc.

For Most Canon shooters this would usually be the 45 2.8 TSE

So building on Spencer's equation....

FAKE < REAL < A NICE FAST 50MM LENS AND NONE OF THIS 2008-style OOF CRAP

It has jumped the shark.

Those of you who have a TS on your list so that you can do this junk need to plan to buy it in 18 years when it comes back in style.

Oh and for the record... frankly I'd say FAKE > REAL because when you come to your senses you can UNDO the fake... the REAL is a messed up shot for life

of course this is all part of the TETRAFECTA (of image awfulness):

http://www.disciascio.com/misc/fm/tetrafecta.jpg



Jul 26, 2012 at 02:43 PM
joosay
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · Fake Tilt Shift vs Real Tilt Shift


I don't have a T/S but have T/S in some photos...come at me


Jul 26, 2012 at 03:20 PM
dunderwood
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · Fake Tilt Shift vs Real Tilt Shift


Hmm.... reverse vignette, tilt-shift, selective color... I can't place the 4th part of the tetrafecta. What am I missing?


Jul 26, 2012 at 03:42 PM
bcylau
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · Fake Tilt Shift vs Real Tilt Shift


TETRAFECTA ..... I think you are missing HDR on the coloured portion of the image, and maybe some grudge


Jul 26, 2012 at 04:55 PM
Sahid Limon
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p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · Fake Tilt Shift vs Real Tilt Shift


I've had mine for 2 years now. I still don't know how to properly use it (as in for correcting perspectives) and I mainly use it for the gimmicky effect (as in blur stuff so it looks cool). However, I dig the effect, and so do most of my clients. The real thing is much better than doing it in post. However, I would say that I rarely ever use it now a days. I actually have to force myself to take the lens so I can get at least one or two shots with it... and I still usually forget to. Here's a sample of a recent shot with it:

http://limonphotography.com/blog/images/ty_davina/44.jpg



Jul 26, 2012 at 06:46 PM
Ziffl3
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p.1 #17 · p.1 #17 · Fake Tilt Shift vs Real Tilt Shift


bcylau wrote:
TETRAFECTA ..... I think you are missing HDR on the coloured portion of the image, and maybe some grudge


for not lisy - the 4th is onions.



Jul 26, 2012 at 06:50 PM
lisy78
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p.1 #18 · p.1 #18 · Fake Tilt Shift vs Real Tilt Shift


Ziffl3 wrote:
for not lisy - the 4th is onions.





Jul 27, 2012 at 09:06 AM
NathanHamler
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p.1 #19 · p.1 #19 · Fake Tilt Shift vs Real Tilt Shift


lisy78 wrote:
FAKE < REAL < A NICE FAST 50MM LENS AND NONE OF THIS 2008-style OOF CRAP

It has jumped the shark.

Those of you who have a TS on your list so that you can do this junk need to plan to buy it in 18 years when it comes back in style.

Oh and for the record... frankly I'd say FAKE > REAL because when you come to your senses you can UNDO the fake... the REAL is a messed up shot for life



I TOTALLY disagree....i don't think it's overused......it's def not played out like certain things.....selective color, VSCO, heavy vignettes....none of that takes talent and skill.....i think when T/S is done correctly, and used sparingly, it's awesome....to me, i think any photographer who owns a t/s lens, and knows how to use it properly, that says t/s is "played out", is trying to spread the word to everyone else to STOP using it, so they can CONTINUE using it themselves, and not be part of the "fad"....


BTW, i dont own a T/S lens...



Jul 27, 2012 at 09:16 AM
lisy78
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p.1 #20 · p.1 #20 · Fake Tilt Shift vs Real Tilt Shift


NathanHamler wrote:
I TOTALLY disagree....i don't think it's overused......it's def not played out like certain things.....selective color, VSCO, heavy vignettes....none of that takes talent and skill.....i think when T/S is done correctly, and used sparingly, it's awesome....to me, i think any photographer who owns a t/s lens, and knows how to use it properly, that says t/s is "played out", is trying to spread the word to everyone else to STOP using it, so they can CONTINUE using it themselves, and not be part of the "fad"....


BTW, i dont own a T/S lens...


Using a T/S lens in a truly creative way takes skill. Using a T/S the way 99% of the wedding photographers use it takes at most Live View or maybe Focus Bracketing, or luck.

For the record I DID own a T/S lens but haven't owned one in over a year.

And yes I could point to real life photos taken by photographers I totally respect that imNSHo are good but would have been A LOT better if shot with a straight 50 rather than a tilted 45 TSE.

As to the whole VSCO etc. being "overly played out" ... the problem I have with the T/S fad is that unlike processing fads the result is IRREVERSIBLE.... whereas processing choices can usually be tempered if needed and many photographers retain a neutral copy rather than just the highly processed one. Of course some uses of the lens are worse than others... the one Limon posted above for instance is unobnoxious ... most of the time the result isn't.



Jul 27, 2012 at 09:33 AM
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