Kevner
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 Re: TTArtisan 17mm f/4 Tilt and Shift lens | |
chrisd999 wrote:
Kevner wrote:
I know how to do a proper review. Unfortunately weather and work travel have put it off for at least another week.
When working with tall urban structures how far back do you intend to position yourself? I can try to emulate your shooting conditions when I can get to it.
chrisd999 wrote:
InFocus2014 wrote:
I just received mine and played with it for a short while on my GFX100S II.
The image quality seems to be quite good and with an equivalent FL of 13.5mm I have, as a minimum, a decent indoor architectural lens.
The 8mm shift isn't bad, but I can already see that 12mm would provide a lot more flexibility. Not being able to shift in portrait mode is also another significant shortcoming for how I like to shoot.
For me, the biggest annoyance with the lens is the tiny knob(s) that really need to be cranked hard to lock both tilt and shift. If I use the lens a lot, I can see where I will have some really sore fingers. 
Actually, not bad for $509, although I would be willing to pay more for additional features. I realize that to expand image orientation and shift for MF, it would need to be larger and heavier, compromises I would be willing to accept.
I recall back in my DSLR days, many similar complaints about the small knobs on the 17mm & 24mm TS-E (which were larger than these on the TTArtisan), so some larger knurled replacement knobs became available from 3rd party sellers on E-bay. I wonder if that might happen here?
I'm about ready to pull the trigger on this lens, just waiting for a proper review from someone that knows how to properly test the shift function on a shift lens. I like to shoot some pretty tall buildings (Toronto) so I'm worried that the limited 8mm shift (on Sony) might not be a big enough reason to take this lens versus my 12-24mm GM and correct perspective distortion in post. I guess if the 8mm shift gets most, but not all of the perspective distortion corrected in camera, then that's something.
Your photos posted here are the only useful info I've seen on this lens so far - thank you! By the way, the lens is looking promising based on these samples.
For me, shooting multi-story building exteriors (from 2 or 3 story buildings up to skyscrapers), the real test of the sharpness of a shift lens is an image taken in portrait orientation, shifted all the way up, with details near the top of the frame. It doesn't matter how far back as long as you fill the frame. I would suggest at least 50 feet away to make sure there is no shallow DOF issues.
Ideally, to torture test for sharpness fully shifted, I would pick a scene where there really isn't much foreground and the whole scene is within the same DOF, like a building at a good distance. Choose a building that has lots of fine detail. Fill the frame. Shoot it in portrait orientation, shifted fully up, with building details near the top of the frame. And I'm sure you know, shoot it with the camera completely level. I would pick f8 and focus about a third the way up, just to make sure the whole building is within the DOF.
You could also test it in landscape mode, shifting to the sides, but then you would want to shift both ways and make a pano.
Thanks!
Ok, I had a little free time around lunch today to try a few images that help learn lens characteristsics. I've uploaded the images full size to Flickr if anyone would like to download them for their use. I'll add some observation notes after the images.
Full horizontal panorama. UNR new Business School seen from parking garage.
 TTArtisans 17mm TS Lens Test by Kevin Kemner, on Flickr
Full vertical panorama in portrait mode. Eldorado casino.
 TTArtisans 17mm TS Lens Test by Kevin Kemner, on Flickr
Same location, full horizontal panorama. Camera in landscape orientation
 TTArtisans 17mm TS Lens Test by Kevin Kemner, on Flickr
Abandoned Hotel from same parking garage. Full vertical panorama, camera in horizontal orientation,
 TTArtisans 17mm TS Lens Test by Kevin Kemner, on Flickr
Sparks New Fire Station 6, Single frame shot to show what lens can do,
 Sparks FS 6 by Kevin Kemner, on Flickr
Sparks Fire Station 6, Single Frame Shot, different angle
 Sparks FS 6 by Kevin Kemner, on Flickr
Sparks FS 6, Portait orientation with full horizontal stitched panorama. I.e. portrait orientation but stitched along horizontal line.
 Sparks FS 6 by Kevin Kemner, on Flickr
Sparks FS 6, image recentered and then cropped after stitching
 Sparks FS 6 by Kevin Kemner, on Flickr
Some notes:
The optical qualities of the lens seem quite good. Good color rendition and sharp corner to cover when centered. When shifted, I don't see much fall off in lens performance and I suspect that TTArtisans decision to limit shift to 8mm has something to do with that. As a 17mm lens, the seems quite good and worth the value there.
Shift, 8mm seems ok depending on the distance of the subject. But, I would have liked 2mm more. I do appreciate that the image quality is kept high throughout the shift image.
It's quite easy to rotate the lens and orient the lens as needed. I'm disappointed that tilt and shift are permanently opposed by 90 degrees. I would have liked to use them together.
I didn't try tilt so no comment.
Last, the knobs. These are a real weakness to the lens. It is difficult to get them tight enough and the lens will shift out of position on its own. Tilt does the same thing. Bigger knobs and a better friction lock would be appreciated.
Hope this is helpful.
Kk
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