I have been thinking about adding a PC lens to my stable and was wondering if anyone has had experience using them with a D90. I have heard that a D90 may present some limitations such as limiting the shift and others have said no.
Can anyone tell me what issues I may encounter using a PC lens (probably the 85 PC) with a D90? I really don't want to spend extra purchasing a D300/D300s just to use this lens
You may be limited to ~8mm of vertical shift instead of the full 11mm the lens offers on larger bodies. According to Nikon you will have to set the aperture on the lens itself instead of on the body. If you can live with those minor limitations the D90 should work dandy.
The shift is only limited in one direction by the mirror housing as well, so you can always just rotate the camera the opposite direction and still get your desired shift. Its not perfect but it works.
90% of the time you'll be shooting vertically anyways when you'd want a rise effect to prevent key stoning so in reality its not that big of deal.
Having had all 3 PC's, I do think they work a bit better on the FX bodies though. The 24 and 45 just are much more useful focal lengths at 24 and 45mm.
The crop is handy for getting a 3:1 flat stitch, but before you look into investing on some lens that cost nearly $2000 each you might be better served upgrading to a D700 first.
I think it would really deliver far more PC-E enjoyment
How about anyone with experience using the older 35mm PC f/2.8 from the 80s -- anything to look out for on digital Nikon bodies like the D7000, or even the D1X?
Is there focus confirm for the manual focus?
Metering in A or M, or somehow in stop-down mode?
I'm hoping I won't need to mount it on Canon bodies to get functioning metering.
with the 35 f/2.8 PC being an AI/AI-S lens you will be able to input this lens in the non-cpu lens menu on the D7000 (excellent feature previously only on 'pro' bodies) and use this lens with focus confirm in the 'M' and 'A' modes. By entering the lens in the menu the camera will provide for metering. You will not be able to use the lens in 'S' mode....but big deal in my opinion.
D1X I don't believe you can enter this lens in any menu and not sure about metering......probably relegated to stop down metering
rsolti13 -- The PC lenses are not AI/AIS -- they have no connector to communicate the aperture settings to the body. Also, aperture ring is located on the front of the lens barrel, beyond the shift mechanism, so there is no physical connection and no auto-aperture use. All aperture settings are on manual stop-down mode.
You are right that the D1, D100, D1H and D1X do not register the aperture settings as do the D2H, D2X and D200 (and many later models), although they (like the other D-Series) do metering and auto-aperture and auto exposure in A for non-CLU lenses.
For the 35mm PC, I'm wondering about metering and physical clearance on D7000 and D1X that I have on hand. In the late 80s, I used to own a 28mm PC that I had mounted on an FE2, where it had no problems with clearance or metering (metering done wide-open manual setting). But the digital bodies seem to have an overhang from the prism/flash housing that might interfere with the upward movement of the lens, or its rotation. I know I ran into problems with my Canon 24mm TS lens on some Canon digital bodies for clearance and mobility.
The 85mm PC is so long on a DX body--what are you shooting that you need an equivalent 130mm PC lens? I have a homemade 75mm tilt shift and I find it too long for most shooting.
Paul.K wrote:
The 85mm PC is so long on a DX body--what are you shooting that you need an equivalent 130mm PC lens? I have a homemade 75mm tilt shift and I find it too long for most shooting.
this post was created back in my early (don't know anything) days.... I still don't know much today...but I know that I still want a PC-E lens of a wider angle on an FX body
I still don't know much today...but I know that I still want a PC-E lens of a wider angle on an FX body