Optical quality of (my) 24 TS is poor in the corners when shifted. Now, I kept it for "artistic" tilting... Other 2 TS lenses are great! For all my (wide angle) interior work I went with Distagon/Super Angulon.
Hope this helps.
I use the 24mm all the time, it is my favorite lens. There is some distortion in the corners, but 9 out of 10 times you never notice it. For the correction it gives, it is a fantastic lens and I have to differ with Mr. Miric
I have the TSE24. There may be lenses that are sharper at this focal length, but the Tilt/Shift let's me take pictures I cannot take with those other lenses. It became my standard walk-around lens.
Thurthermore, don't underestimate the WOW-Factor to other people because of the buldy design and all the knobs... "this is the most professional camera I've ever seen"
Pondria wrote:
I guess Tilt and Shift has different applications for each focal length.
here are my experiences in using TS-E lenses on full frame:
24 shift: used for architecture, interiors, and landscapes
24 tilt: used to put the face of a building or a specific wall in focus when shooting at an angle
45 shift: used for more distant architecture and "intimate" interior shots
45 tilt: used for large products where focal plane placement is important
90 shift: used for panos and distant shots when you can't move the camera higher
90 tilt: used for products and portrait effects
since all TS-E lenses can be used with TCs, they become even more flexible. i used my 45 by itself for architecture and with the 1.4x when shooting products. now i will use the 90 for products and sell the 45 if i don't find much use in it anymore.
Wide open TS-E 45mm is the sharpest lens, followed by the TS-E 90 and the TS-E 24mm lens.
The performance of TS-E 24mm is not acceptable wide open, once stopped down the performance is very good. If you are shooting landscapes the TS-E 24mm is very useful to get both the foreground the background in focus with out having to stop down to f/22. Both tilt and shift are useful on this lens.
TS-E 45 is sharp wide open and stopped down. Useful for normal landscapes and potraits. Tilt is more useful on this lens than shift. Resolves very well with the 1.4x and 2x converters.
TS-E 90 is not exactly sharp wide open, it has more of an ethereal effect at f/2.8. Once stopped down it is very sharp. Most of the time I use tilt on this lens, rarely use shift. Resolves very well with the 1.4x and 2x converters, I sold my 100mm macro and 180 mm macro after getting this lens.
Pondria, I don't own one (yet), but I've seen a lot of published examples of flower/landscape shots done with the 90 TS-E. It seems to be a good focal length for isolating something like a sunflower from the others around it, aiming the camera somewhat downward so that there's a field in the background but not much sky, and using lens tilt to get the whole flower in focus without stopping down much. Helps keep shutter speeds up to freeze wind-induced motion. I know I've seen at least three or four examples of just that situation, published in magazines and books, and always shot with the TS-E 90.
Just thought I'd throw that in, since Erik gave such a comprehensive list from his own experience.
Pondria wrote:
Thanks, Erik !
That's exactly what I was looking for.
glad i could help. they each serve a specific purpose and compliment each other very well. i've owned them all (multiple times, in fact) and will likely own all three simultaneously in the future. ironically, the 24 TS-E is the whole reason why i went full frame last spring.
My 45 f/2.8 TS_E is sharp wide open and only sharpens up a little @ f/4. I haven't seen many problems using the full 11mm shift. Superb lens and I would love to add a 90 TS-E too.
I would dearly love Canon to introduce a new 30 f/2.5L TS-E and replace the 24.
The TS-E is my favorite lens and the easiest to use even on 1.6 crop factor camera, you will definitely enjoy using the lens.
Nori
Thanks, Nori ! The article is very informative and clear in understanding what we are talking about !!! I can see why you've sold 180/3.5 which I have, too
Pixel Perfect wrote:
My 45 f/2.8 TS_E is sharp wide open and only sharpens up a little @ f/4. I haven't seen many problems using the full 11mm shift. Superb lens and I would love to add a 90 TS-E too.
I would dearly love Canon to introduce a new 30 f/2.5L TS-E and replace the 24.
Folks,
Here I am not sure if I understand the physical scales correctly.
(1) For Tilting, the angle offset between the subject plane and the film plane can be very large like 40 - 60 degree ( in Nori's flower shot ).
(2) In Shifting, looking at the Pano or corrected perspective of buildings, the Camera would have to move much further distance than allowed by the shifting of the lens.
Thus, it seems that the amount of "leverage" that the lens has in Shifting and Tilting seems to be much larger than the actual amount of T&S of the lens elements themselves.
Pondria wrote:
Any sample shots or two with the 24 TS-E ?
I can't recall any I am particularly enamored of. It wasn't the sharpest lens wide open, but isn't really the kind of lens you would normally use wide open, either.
It provides two functions, both flawed in usability, never mind the sharpness, etc.
1) Perspective control via. rise/shift. However, unless you have a grid screen, this is not perfectly accurate. In addition, the amount of rise/shift is limited, though not bad especially on a APS sized sensor. But photoshop can do a very decent job of perspective correction; I do prefer in camera, but perspective control alone is not enough, especially for digial IMO.
2) Change the plane of focus. This seems great in theory, less great in practice. The culprit here is the damn viewfinder; it is hard enough to get focus in the viewfinder, let alone with a shifted plane of focus. With the APS-sized cameras this is very irritating. Split image, etc, doesn't help since the camera must be in its final position and you are tilting/swinging because you the center is not the only thing you are interested in.
All in all, the TS-E lenses are interesting, but less relevant with digital and probably are difficult to justify unless you really really need focal plane adjustment or have a very strong aversion to perspective control in PS (or are not using digital in the process). So their sharpness, etc. isn't really 'the issue' and even more importantly.if you really need to shift the focus plane, it doesn't matter if the lens is optimal; it will still be better then not using it. The best focal length of the three is the one that suits your subject; it doesn't help to be sharper if the subject doesn't fit in the frame or if it is so tiny you have to do a huge crop.
