I have a Canon 24mm tilt and shift lens. I have read that it's pretty easy to remove 4 screws and realign the back section so that tilt and shift are on the same axis. I have tried to remove the four screws. They are small philips head screws. I have a tiny phillips screw driver that seems to be an appropriate fit. However, I can not get the screws to turn. The strange thing is, I can feel that the screwdriver grabs well if I were to turn it in the tightening direction, but it seems to not grab in the loosening direction. It seems that the screws are of the security type, where the surfaces incline so that you can't back out the screws. Has anybody encountered this? Is there a specialty screw driver?
I've read that the screws are a bit soft and care needs to be taken when tightening and loosening. Could it be that the screw heads have been previously damaged? I've also read that jewelers screwdrivers are best. If you're having problems, Canon will do the conversion for you if you send the lens in.
Some folks are more comfortable with tools, especially with small ones, than others. If you're not, have someone who is do it for you.
It took me three minutes. You need a good quality jewelers set. Select the largest driver that will fit completely in the cross slots. Press down very firmly and consistently as you turn counterclockwise. It will crack loose, and then spin out freely.
Thanks, Jeff and all. I'm an architect and have worked with tools my whole life, (including jewelers tools, table saws, cranes, and everything in between :-)
I think these may be precision Pozidriver screws, which look like phillips but have deeper cut crosses with straighter sides.... but I'm not sure. I just ordered two very small Pozidriver screwdrivers, so we'll see.
If anyone knows if this is correct, I'd love to hear.
Please let us know if they are Pozidriver heads. This is the first mention I've heard of this. I've saved the instructions to make the change, just haven't gotten around to it.
Roy Pertchik wrote:
I think these may be precision Pozidriver screws, which look like phillips but have deeper cut crosses with straighter sides.... but I'm not sure. I just ordered two very small Pozidriver screwdrivers, so we'll see.
If anyone knows if this is correct, I'd love to hear.
Yes, this is typical of the screws used on camera equipment. Normal Phillips screwdrivers do not fit properly, and you risk damaging the screws unless you use the proper drivers.
I don't know if the correct ones are called Posidriver or not, but I got a set several years ago from a camera repair shop that went out of business.
I did the Micro-Tool thing read all the links on doing the change over and was unlucky enough to still strip the screw heads on a 45 AND a 90. Had to send them both to Canon
Need a Micro-Tool Phillips head screwdriver, it's a killer?
unlike a view camera, the TS-E lenses only give one axis of tilt and one of shift, from the factory they are 90 degrees apart. As shipped, if you correct for a building's perspective (vertical shift) you can only use a lateral swing which will not let you bring the foreground into focus, if you align the axes you can do this.
When I got my TS-E lenses I thought I would change the orientation, but have found in actual usage that at least 50% of the time as-is gives the movements I need so I've left my lenses in their original state.
jerrykur wrote:
A more basic question. What does having the tilt and shift on the same axis do for you?
I switched mine over and it was not very difficult. If I remember correctly, the screws did stick a bit. I figure they must have used something similar (but not as strong as) locktite on them. Once you overcome that, you're fine.
mh2000 wrote:
unlike a view camera, the TS-E lenses only give one axis of tilt and one of shift, from the factory they are 90 degrees apart. As shipped, if you correct for a building's perspective (vertical shift) you can only use a lateral swing which will not let you bring the foreground into focus, if you align the axes you can do this.
When I got my TS-E lenses I thought I would change the orientation, but have found in actual usage that at least 50% of the time as-is gives the movements I need so I've left my lenses in their original state.
I've worked on many lenses, cameras, and similar devices all my life. When I see a phillips head I use a phillips driver. A JIS is very similar with a slightly flattened tip to the driver. Many phillips type drivers now have flat tips, and the jewelers sets that do will work well. Maybe I was just lucky to have that! What's all this fuss about Pozidriver? I've never heard of it, and apparently never needed it. One simply needs to use tools correctly.
