For those ask on how to rotate the PC lens. It is quite simple
1)Open the 4 screw can be tight if you have a solder iron just heat the screw a bit to loosen up the lock-tite
2)Use an knife or scissor to cut the tape which make the ribbon shorter
3)Rotate and put the 4 screw back
for those who concern about the long wire will get caught in the gear that won't happen since it doesn't touch the gear when you put it back. Beside it has a very slippery plastic surface which is really hard for the gear to grab it. Have fun. I will do the same thing with my nikon 24 PC-E and post pictures later. Here is a link someone else already did
I don't know what is wrong with the engineer's head. It is quite simple to have a build in rotate function like Canon's. Well they have the rotate function at the end of the lens should have done the same thing for this. I guess it is marketing so that they will have something to improve in the future lens and force us users to upgrade lol
For those who wonder what is the different between PC and PC-E. well not much. If you use them on the D3 then with PC lens you need to stop down metering and press the button on the lens to close your diaphragm before you take the picture that is all. And if you use the PC-E for any other camera than D300, D3 series then it is the same thing as the PC lens
may be that is true but the different in sharpness is on screen only print it out nah not much beside I don't shoot wide open for landscape or macro at all. But if I have to this lens is as sharp as any of my macro lenses. Beside I still have money in my bank lol
Kittyk wrote:
PC-E is also much sharper wide open. At least the copy we had
Kittyk wrote:
PC-E is also much sharper wide open. At least the copy we had
The 85 PC is one of the sharpest lenses Nikon has made. Its a true modern classic, and the only thing the PC-E version improved upon is a Nano coating and the electronic aperture control which really isn't all that useful given the need to still meter before applying any tilt/shift.
24 and 45 PC-E are awesome lenses, and I high recommend them, but theres no advantage at all to spending over $1000 extra on the E version of the 85 when the PC version is already sharp as a tack and using the same basic optical formula. It would just be throwing your money away in that case.
Jan 21, 2010 at 11:44 AM
Andre Labonte Offline • • • • • • Upload & Sell: Off
One thing that I might want to add is that if you do attempt this, DONT use a little phillips eyeglass screwdriver, spend a few bucks and order one of those special japanese spec style screwdrivers for the screws.
They are very small and its quite easy to strip the little slots using the wrong size screwdriver, even though it appears to fit just fine. You want a perfect fit.
No point messing up a $1000 or more lens because you didn't have the correct tool
millsart wrote:
No point messing up a $1000 or more lens because you didn't have the correct tool
This is good advice but you're messing up $1 screws, not a $1000 lens. dave
Update just rotate my 24 no need for solder iron I was using the same Philip head press hard agaist the screw and try to twist lightly it would move not even a scratch on the screws.the 24 is much easier just remove,rotate then screw them back 1 min
dasams wrote:
This is good advice but you're messing up $1 screws, not a $1000 lens. dave
Unless it renders your $1000+ lens useless until you can get the stripped screw heads drilled out, which means you might be missing out on a using that lens for a certain job or client, thusly its like you don't even have the lens.
Then lets say you want to save money so you plan to try to extract the screw yourself, but don't know quite what your doing, don't have the right tools (again) and just end up stripping out the hole. Then if if you order the right screw, and the correct screwdriver its no good because they won't thread.
So then your lens is still apart, and you've got to either try to order a whole replacement section of the lens which I doubt they even sell anymore, nor would it be cheap, not to mention the labor to disassemble and replace, or you can try to tap a new thread into the lens body so you can use a slightly larger screw, but again it depends on if you've got the tools for doing that.
Best case you might mess up the head a little but still be able to apply enough pressure to get it out, maybe buy a replacment. Worse case your spending hundreds of dollars, and all because you didn't use the right tool to start with. Far more than just a $1 screw
So spend $4.99 for a set of the correct screwdrivers and do it right the first time would be my advice
Two major things. The tilt allows you to change focal plane so that it is not parallel to the sensor/film plane. So, for example, when taking macro or products shots, you can tilt the focal plane to include areas that would either need a really small aperture or simply would not be able to be in focus. Shifting allows you to get rid of or greatly reduce parallax distortions. So, when shooting a building you can shift the lens and take the shot without making the building look like it's falling down. Combining the functions allows you to take a shot of a group of buildings (or trees, etc) and keep all the sides of the buildings (or trees) parallel. Another use of the tilt function is to shoot a field, say of wildflowers, and tilt the focal plane so that it follows the hillside. This allows you use a larger aperture and that can overcome the effects of a breezy day. The same thing allows you to take a scenic evening shot, when the light is low and a long shutter speed would cause things to blur. I have the 85 PC and the 24 PC-E is next up on my NAS list, depending on what lenses Nikon announces at PMA next month.
Rags Hef wrote:
Could somebody tell me the why of a pc lens?
Todd gave a good overview and I'll give an example that migh help. Ever been in a European city and taken shots of the churches? If you are standing out front and tilt the lens up, you can get the whole church but will see converging verticals. Your eyes don't mind as your brain can interpret but they don't always look good in 2 dimenions (ie, print or computer screen).
If you level the camera such that the front door is precisely in the middle of the composition, you eliminate the perspective error (hey, PC comes from is 'perspective correction') but will chop off the top of the church (and get too much foreground). A PC lens generates an image circle that is much bigger than the sensor and has a mechanism which allows you to shift the image. In our church example, you might shift the lens up so that front door is now in the bottom quartile of the photo and the church top is included. This is done while keeping the camera level.
The same effect could be achieved by shooting with an UWA lens and then cropping the bottom. But you don't want to do that when you can buy a perfectly good $2000 lens, do you?. Consider your NAS fully stoked. dave
Agree with all this. I aligned the shift and tilt axes on mine (*with the right screwdriver* ) about two minutes after it arrived; I use tilt and shift together on most architecture shots.
Infinite DOF is definitely one of the blessing of this kind of design.
To add to the shift info: a camera level (I use the JoBo double bubble design) is absolutely essential, IMHO. If the camera is not perfectly level, verticals will diverge or converge slightly, and you can't see this on the LCD. And to shoot a really tall building, you will need a tripod with some height to it; there is a limit to the image circle, after all. Shifting when the camera is already 2m (6-odd feet) or more off the ground, and level, gives some really interesting possibilities, even when you are relatively close to the building (assuming the 24).
The 45 and the 85 will be my next purchases, for sure.
basically it is no big deal about remove 4 screws as long as you have a Philip head that fit. The 85 pc I bought from Millsart has the contact ground pin broken. I even went further and took apart more stuff to fix the broken ground pin. I just didn't have the time to go to nikon for them to fix or get the part from them or want to mail in the lens. I took the contacts apart and use shoulder iron to melt some lead and voila. it works great. maybe I should sand it a little but it works fine the way it is
dave