Tilt Shift Lens questions

dugmardugmar Registered Users Posts: 756 Major grins
edited May 18, 2004 in Accessories
I take a lot of photos of products and my fiance's business is pastries, so we take a lot of food shots. Would a tilt shift lens help us? I get a lot of distortion from my normal lens, annoyingly so sometimes.

I was thinking about trying one but they are $$$. This one from Canon is $1100 - $1500

1ts452_1_.jpg

Are there inexpensive alternatives that would get me similar results? I shoot with a Canon Digital Rebel.

Thanks,

-Doug

Comments

  • pathfinderpathfinder Super Moderators Posts: 14,703 moderator
    edited March 31, 2004
    dugmar wrote:
    I take a lot of photos of products and my fiance's business is pastries, so we take a lot of food shots. Would a tilt shift lens help us? I get a lot of distortion from my normal lens, annoyingly so sometimes.

    I was thinking about trying one but they are $$$. This one from Canon is $1100 - $1500

    1ts452_1_.jpg

    Are there inexpensive alternatives that would get me similar results? I shoot with a Canon Digital Rebel.

    Thanks,

    -Doug
    I am not sure what kind of distortion you are experiencing with a normal lens - can you post a fewshots and let us see what you are trying to eliminate.

    The T&S lenses are speciallized lenses and require shooting from a tripod. The are not automatic focus - they have to be manually focused - That actually is one of their advantages - T&S lenses are used primarily for architecture and landscapes - but are also the basis of studio camera product photography. Tilt and shift allow correction for perspective distortion and much greater depth of field than can be obtained with standard lenses. The increase in depth of field comes via the tilt of the lens and the Scheimpflug principle ( I think that is spelled right) More information about Tilt and SHift can be found here http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/movements.shtml

    For closeups of food I wonder if a macro might be helpful. Let us see your images and then maybe we can make a suggestion.
    Pathfinder - www.pathfinder.smugmug.com

    Moderator of the Technique Forum and Finishing School on Dgrin
  • dugmardugmar Registered Users Posts: 756 Major grins
    edited March 31, 2004
    pathfinder wrote:
    I am not sure what kind of distortion you are experiencing with a normal lens - can you post a fewshots and let us see what you are trying to eliminate. .
    Sure, for example, see the dots on the background I used here for these sway bars. Bowed when in fact they are straight across.

    susp_e46_tmsbars_lg.jpg
  • wxwaxwxwax Registered Users Posts: 15,471 Major grins
    edited March 31, 2004
    Would that be what they call pin-cushioning from a wider angle lens that's zoomed-out? ear.gif

    If so, it should be fixable with software. Or perhaps by using a non-wide angle lens? ne_nau.gif

    Here's a link for fixing pin cushion distortion. And here's a link to a freeware plug-in for Photoshop to fix either barrel or pincushion distortion... if that's what the problem actually is. :D
    Sid.
    Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam
    http://www.mcneel.com/users/jb/foghorn/ill_shut_up.au
  • pathfinderpathfinder Super Moderators Posts: 14,703 moderator
    edited March 31, 2004
    wxwax wrote:
    Would that be what they call pin-cushioning from a wider angle lens that's zoomed-out? ear.gif

    If so, it should be fixable with software. Or perhaps by using a non-wide angle lens? ne_nau.gif

    Here's a link for fixing pin cushion distortion. And here's a link to a freeware plug-in for Photoshop to fix either barrel or pincushion distortion... if that's what the problem actually is. :D
    Wxwax is correct - no Tilt and Shift needed here - just use a normal lens rather than a wide angle or correct with software.

    How exactly are you using the steel rods and bolts in your pastries???eek7.gif

    You said you are shooting with a "normal lens" with the Digital Rebel - do you perhaps mean the 18-55 EFS zoom that comes with the Digital Rebel? That may be the source of some of your distortion - you might consider a 50mmf1.8 prime lens in its place.
    Pathfinder - www.pathfinder.smugmug.com

    Moderator of the Technique Forum and Finishing School on Dgrin
  • wxwaxwxwax Registered Users Posts: 15,471 Major grins
    edited April 1, 2004
    pathfinder wrote:
    How exactly are you using the steel rods and bolts in your pastries???eek7.gif
    rolleyes1.gif Gives a new meaning to the phrase "snack bar."
    Sid.
    Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam
    http://www.mcneel.com/users/jb/foghorn/ill_shut_up.au
  • cletuscletus Registered Users Posts: 1,930 Major grins
    edited April 1, 2004
    wxwax wrote:
    rolleyes1.gif Gives a new meaning to the phrase "snack bar."
    Man, that was bad.

    Seriously,

    Pathfinder & wxwax are right. A lot of serious table top shooters use 4x5 cameras with 210mm lenses. A 210mm 4x5 lens would be equivalent to 41mm on a Digital Rebel. So a 50mm lens would be just about right.
  • cletuscletus Registered Users Posts: 1,930 Major grins
    edited April 1, 2004
    Here's another thought.

    If you're wanting to get really serious about table-top shots, in the $1100 to $1500 price range (the price of the Canon tilt/shift lens) you might be able to get either a new low end or used mid-range 4x5" view camera, a 210mm lens, and a polariod back. Shoot your stuff on 4x5" polariods and flat-bed scan them. The image resolution would probably be just as good as the shots through the Digital Rebel. This way you would have all the control in the world over depth of field and perspective distortion.
  • dugmardugmar Registered Users Posts: 756 Major grins
    edited April 1, 2004
    pathfinder wrote:
    Wxwax is correct - no Tilt and Shift needed here - just use a normal lens rather than a wide angle or correct with software.

    How exactly are you using the steel rods and bolts in your pastries???eek7.gif

    You said you are shooting with a "normal lens" with the Digital Rebel - do you perhaps mean the 18-55 EFS zoom that comes with the Digital Rebel? That may be the source of some of your distortion - you might consider a 50mmf1.8 prime lens in its place.
    I sell performance BMW parts. Those are sway bars. The wife owns a pastry business. :)

    Yes, the lens I used was the 18-55 EFS lens that came with the camera.

    Thanks for the help!

    Doug
  • mercphotomercphoto Registered Users Posts: 4,550 Major grins
    edited May 17, 2004
    The 18-55 EFS lens
    pathfinder wrote:

    You said you are shooting with a "normal lens" with the Digital Rebel - do you perhaps mean the 18-55 EFS zoom that comes with the Digital Rebel? That may be the source of some of your distortion - you might consider a 50mmf1.8 prime lens in its place.
    What precisely is "wrong" with that lens? And I have been strongly considering the 28-135 IS/USM lens. :)
    Bill Jurasz - Mercury Photography - Cedar Park, TX
    A former sports shooter
    Follow me at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/bjurasz/
    My Etsy store: https://www.etsy.com/shop/mercphoto?ref=hdr_shop_menu
  • pathfinderpathfinder Super Moderators Posts: 14,703 moderator
    edited May 18, 2004
    mercphoto wrote:
    What precisely is "wrong" with that lens? And I have been strongly considering the 28-135 IS/USM lens. :)
    There is nothing REALLY wrong with the 18-55 ( my wife uses the same lens for her 300D and it takes great pictures) , but like Wxwax said the short zooms tend to have some pincushion or barrel distortion - more than a 50mm macro or a TSE lens for instance. That is the distortion I was refering to.
    Pathfinder - www.pathfinder.smugmug.com

    Moderator of the Technique Forum and Finishing School on Dgrin
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