Hey there Nikon photographers. I have a curiosity question and I'd prefer not kill a cat so I thought I'd ask you all. I shoot a few portraits and a lot of sports with my D3 and I've got a couple friends with the PC-E lenses and I was curious about what you all fine ladies and gents could tell me about them. Such as are they difficult to use? Which focal length is best? Pretty durable? Pretty good investments? A lot of fun? I'm probably not going to make any purchases for a little while because my budget is umm...limited. But I was just curious about the lenses and any info about them is appreciated including test shots from all 3 focal lengths. Thanks!
Oh no, I wouldn't expect it much for sports but I do portraits a good deal as well and I just find the lenses fascinating. I've seen some good examples for stadium shots (like bemyzeke mentioned) but I'm in college and learning about lenses and cameras is pretty much my favorite past-time.
GarrettNunn wrote:
Hey there Nikon photographers. I have a curiosity question and I'd prefer not kill a cat so I thought I'd ask you all. I shoot a few portraits and a lot of sports with my D3 and I've got a couple friends with the PC-E lenses and I was curious about what you all fine ladies and gents could tell me about them. Such as are they difficult to use? Which focal length is best? Pretty durable? Pretty good investments? A lot of fun? I'm probably not going to make any purchases for a little while because my budget is umm...limited. But I was just curious about the lenses and any info about them is appreciated including test shots from all 3 focal lengths. Thanks!...Show more →
Searching for reviews online is, in a word, pointless. You'll end up with a bunch of technical talk about landscapes and architecture, which is probably not what you're looking for. But there is one really solid review, by Ryan Brenizer, which details the concept and use of tilt-shift lenses, and provides a side-by-side comparison of all three in Nikon's lineup. Check it out!
Thanks! It was a good read and I learned stuff about them I wasn't aware of. Pretty nifty if I do say so myself. Not to sound rude, but I actually am looking for technical talk too. I want to hear what everyone has to say about it and get different viewpoints. That being said, that was an excellent article. I really liked the shot of the heels and the newlyweds(?)
I picked up a 85 a few months back, and it's got a significantly higher learning curve than any other kind of lens. Several more variables you need to keep track of, and messing around with them may result in enough distance shift that you end up out of focus and need to repeat a few steps; this gets more and more frustrating the farther you deviate from distant, stagnant subjects (i.e. landscapes). On a tripod, much easier. But who uses tripods for typical portraits as of late?
They're really at home in landscape and product/still shots. The 45 and 85 are both 1:2 macros. I've messed around with a 45 for a short while, but I did end up preferring the 85. Focal length is entirely up to what you plan to use it for; they're all blisteringly sharp, so it wouldn't be wise to pick one based on optics alone.
If you're looking to make the blurry effect you see in a lot of portraits, it might be worth your while to save $600-1000, pick up the 85 1.8G instead, and just do it in PP (I know, I know, I've gone and said the taboo phrase). Blurring is something that can be easily done in post and perhaps with greater control even, but control over the plane of focus to keep something like a plate of food entirely in focus without stopping down to f/40 and above isn't replicable unless you focus stack, which isn't realistically possible without a tripod setup.
On an unrelated note, I'm in the same boat as you. College student (comp. engineering isn't even remotely close to photography), but spending perhaps too much time on the hobby
Yeah I've looked into the 85mm and it's on mu gear list but unfortunately before I get any smaller primes, I'm saving up for the 300 2.8. Like I said, my funds are...limited haha. But hey! I bet engineering will be a whole lot easier to find a job than my photography/business majors. You should pick up a minor though! Might as well get a little something for your hobby!
I recently did a workshop with John Shaw and Jack Dykinga and had a chance to learn the basics on how to use these lenses (I have the 24mm PC-E) - I don't see how they would be so good for sports but for creative portraits and landscapes they offer tons of possibilities for altering the plane of focus as well as doing horizontal and vertical panos. I followed the workshop experience with reading Rod Planck's book, "Field Applications of Nikon PC-E Lenses" which I found to be outstanding. You can pick it up for $10 here: http://www.rodplanck.com/store-field-applications-of-tilt-lenses.htm
