Any of you proud new 17mm TS-E owners have any shots taken with the 1.4x teleconverter that you could share with us? The TS-E 17 supposedly performs well with the 1.4x making it effectively a 24mm. It would be interesting to compare the 17 w/TC against both the new 24mm TS-E II as well as the old Mark 1. My guess is that the 17 w/TC will beat the 24 Mark I by a lot, but not be quite as good as the 24 Mark II. Being able to use the 17 effectively at both focal lengths would certainly take some of the sting out of the price!
Thanks for that link. I didn't realize that they had test images of the lenses with extenders. Good to know. It looks like the test images pretty much support my guesses regarding performance.
Anyone have any real-life images of the 17 w/TC to post?
I scored the 17 from Canoga Camera yesterday. Scheduled for delivery 8/6. Next weekend I'll try to shoot and post some comparisons of the 17/TC combo against my 24 Mark 1.
Geofn wrote:
Any of you proud new 17mm TS-E owners have any shots taken with the 1.4x teleconverter that you could share with us? The TS-E 17 supposedly performs well with the 1.4x making it effectively a 24mm. It would be interesting to compare the 17 w/TC against both the new 24mm TS-E II as well as the old Mark 1. My guess is that the 17 w/TC will beat the 24 Mark I by a lot, but not be quite as good as the 24 Mark II. Being able to use the 17 effectively at both focal lengths would certainly take some of the sting out of the price!...Show more →
Just got the TS-E 17 on Friday and spent part of today testing it with and without the 1.4x TC against the TS-E 24 mkI.
I'll post images hopefully in a day or two, but initial impressions are that when both are stopped down to around f/8 or f/11, the 24 is slightly sharper in the centre of the frame when unshifted. Sharpness is similar towards the edges, especially with full shift, but the 17 has much, much less CA and greater shift range. The 24 also has noticeable barrel distortion whereas the 17 appears to be nearly distortion free. And all of these comparisons are the 17 WITH the TC.
The 17 with or without the TC seems to be best all around at f/8. At f/11 details are slightly softer due to diffraction, though extreme edges at full shift may be a bit better than at f/8 (need to check this some more). The 24 seems to be best at f/11.
I don't have the TS-E 24 mkII, but based on others who have both of the new TS-Es and have posted here, the 24 does seem to better the 17 somewhat, though by how much in real world applications and end uses, I'm not so sure.
I'm also in a similar situation, wondering whether it will be worthwhile getting the new 24 when the 17 & 1.4x is already better than the old 24...
RobertLynn wrote:
Tilt shift lenses make me want to have a seizure.
I dont get the allure either..cheaper options
1. Lensbaby
cheapest option
2. the ol vasoline on the lens trick
OK, here are some images. I'm a 1DIII user, therefore these aren't full frame, rather APS-H, but should still give an idea of what to expect from the TS-E 17 & 1.4x TC vs. the TS-E 24 mkI. Granted, not extreme corner revelations that can only be attained on full frame...
A couple technical notes: Images were processed through Canon's DPP with some slight curves adjustments and RAW sharpening set to 1. Crops are 100% from the original TIFF files, saved as quality 12 Jpegs in Photoshop without additional sharpening. The full frame shots have been reduced to 600 pixels height and given some USM in Photoshop.
Regarding the above two images. The center of the image is about the only area I can find where the TS-E 24mm mkI performs slightly better than the 17 with 1.4x TC. And below, an animated GIF. Note the difference in distortion between the two. While the 1.4x TC seems to introduce a touch of barrel distortion to the 17, it's very slight. In contrast the 24 exhibits more barrel distortion, though because in this image it's at nearly full shift, the distortion is not symmetrical across the frame (if that makes sense):
Based on your observations and being a user of the 24 TS-E mk 1, do you feel that the 17 and 17 with 1.4 extender will satisfy your needs or will there still be a desire or need for the 24 TSA-E mk 11?
Tough decision I know.
I forgot to mention that when I state f/8 or f/11 for the TS-E 17 with 1.4x TC, f/8 is two stops from wide open and is displayed as f/8, though I suppose is effectively f/11, but the TC does not report to the lens/camera combo and that adjustment isn't made. Similarly, f/11 is three stops from wide open.
Doug: I don't do a lot of architectural work or interiors, so I think I can live with just the 17 and 1.4x TC for now. At 10MP, whatever difference in quality there might be between the 17 & TC vs. the new 24 probably won't be that significant. Half of the reason why I bought this lens was as a higher quality alternative to the 16-35 lenses (I still own both versions, and am not entirely satisfied with either at the wide end), and in that respect the TS-E 17 is amazing. It is the best wide angle I've ever owned/used. I've already used it as a straight wide angle lens for people photos and have been very happy with its rendering and generally excellent quality almost across the frame at f/4.
I'm actually very surprised how good it is with the 1.4x TC relative to the 24 mkI. The slight loss of central sharpness vs. the 24 can probably be compensated for with a touch more sharpening in post. As well, if only using the 17 & TC, there won't be a comparison and I think the overall quality is still very high. And it will mean only having to carry one lens instead of two TS-E lenses.
I plan to eventually invest in a FF camera and at that point I will probably revisit the need for the TS-E 24 mkII. Some of the early user reviews/posts I've read here indicate it is a better performer than the 17... But at that point, I think the dilemma for me will be whether the TS-E 24 mkII or the 24 f/1.4 II will be the more useful lens, since both are excellent, and I might benefit more from a super fast wide prime for available light weddings, editorial, etc. work.
I'd actually like to see Canon redesign the TS-E 45, which I almost use more than the 24, and just like the 24 mkI, suffers from a lot of CA especially when shifted. And the 45 is a lens I like to use with the 1.4x TC...
