Still mulling over what lenses to get for my Canon SLR

Quote from fyu : never heard of it that way. just big and small. wide sounds like the focal length.

I concur... but I knew what he meant.

Not sure if anyone suggested a lens tilt lens, but I just discovered them and they are a VERY cool effect. You can get an adapter for your existing lenses to tilt them or you can get a self-contained lens with the tilt built in.

Quote from dealgate : Not sure if anyone suggested a lens tilt lens, but I just discovered them and they are a VERY cool effect. You can get an adapter for your existing lenses to tilt them or you can get a self-contained lens with the tilt built in.

I'm aware of them, but I don't know in what situations I would ever consider using them.

Quote from dealgate : Not sure if anyone suggested a lens tilt lens, but I just discovered them and they are a VERY cool effect. You can get an adapter for your existing lenses to tilt them or you can get a self-contained lens with the tilt built in.

The picture you posted is actually a demonstration of incorrect use of a tilt lens for artistic affect. Tilt-shift lenses are designed to mimic the camera movements of old style view cameras.

Tilting the lens was typically used to change the direction of the plane of best focus. When the lens allows light to hit the film perpendicular to the lens plane, the plane of best focus is parallel to the film plane. A tilt lens rotates the plane of best focus. It's useful in situations where you have multiple objects at different distances from the camera that you want in focus at the same time. For instance, consider taking a picture of at the head of a table and wanting more of the table in focus. Or, consider macro photography where you want the plane of best focus to align with the object in question.

Quote from kakomu : The picture you posted is actually a demonstration of incorrect use of a tilt lens for artistic affect. Tilt-shift lenses are designed to mimic the camera movements of old style view cameras. Tilting the lens was typically used to change the direction of the plane of best focus. When the lens allows light to hit the film perpendicular to the lens plane, the plane of best focus is parallel to the film plane. A tilt lens rotates the plane of best focus. It's useful in situations where you have multiple objects at different distances from the camera that you want in focus at the same time. For instance, consider taking a picture of at the head of a table and wanting more of the table in focus. Or, consider macro photography where you want the plane of best focus to align with the object in question.

I'd say it is a "correct use of a tilt lens for artistic affect". The artistic affect is why most people buy the tilt lens.

Quote from dealgate : I'd say it is a "correct use of a tilt lens for artistic affect". The artistic affect is why most people buy the tilt lens.

Actually, most people buy the lens for other purposes.

The reason to have the tilt feature is to align the plane of best focus with the subject of a photo. For instance, product photographers will frequently use a T-S lens so that they don't have to shoot at f/11 or f/16 to get everything in focus. They can align the plane of focus with the object in question and still shoot at a more optimal aperture, like f/5.6 or f/8.

The shift feature is mostly used by architecture photographers who want to take pictures of buildings without keystoning, where lines that are parallel appear to converge, such as pointing your camera up at tall buildings. Here's an example of keystoning [kakomu.com]. Note that the lines of the building in the center appear to be converging together.

Bear in mind that camera movements have existed in both large format and medium format cameras since the beginning of the 20th century, but the tilt effect in the photo you posted appears to be used ad nausem only recently. I consider it "incorrect" because the tilt, swing and shift were devised as a means to get more of the subject in focus and in frame, not less.

Quote from kakomu : .

Thanks, I didn't have to say it. I will add that the picture posted as an example is a piece of junk.

@ dealgate: If it's your own personal picture, at least get out of your front yard when trying to get artistic.

Quote from kakomu : Actually, most people buy the lens for other purposes. The reason to have the tilt feature is to align the plane of best focus with the subject of a photo. For instance, product photographers will frequently use a T-S lens so that they don't have to shoot at f/11 or f/16 to get everything in focus. They can align the plane of focus with the object in question and still shoot at a more optimal aperture, like f/5.6 or f/8. The shift feature is mostly used by architecture photographers who want to take pictures of buildings without keystoning, where lines that are parallel appear to converge, such as pointing your camera up at tall buildings. Here's an example of keystoning [kakomu.com]. Note that the lines of the building in the center appear to be converging together. Bear in mind that camera movements have existed in both large format and medium format cameras since the beginning of the 20th century, but the tilt effect in the photo you posted appears to be used ad nausem only recently. I consider it "incorrect" because the tilt, swing and shift were devised as a means to get more of the subject in focus and in frame, not less.

Thanks for the info. I thought it was just an effects lens. But your explanation of its practical uses makes sense.

And lol - no this is not my front yard, it is an Amazon pic for one of their tilt lens to show what it can do.

Quote from bruteshot : Thanks, I didn't have to say it. I will add that the picture posted as an example is a piece of junk. @ dealgate: If it's your own personal picture, at least get out of your front yard when trying to get artistic.

thanks for sharing your opinion.

Quote from dealgate : Thanks for the info. I thought it was just an effects lens. But your explanation of its practical uses makes sense. And lol - no this is not my front yard, it is an Amazon pic for one of their tilt lens to show what it can do.

eh. most people use it for that miniaturization effect now days. but yea, it's pretty awesome for architecture.

Quote from fyu : eh. most people use it for that miniaturization effect now days. but yea, it's pretty awesome for architecture.

Most people that are upfront about what gear their using will use it for a miniaturization effect or the graduated blur effect. In some cases, people just apply graduated blur filters to an image, call it "tilt shift" and then people assume it was actually taken that way. Here's a website [tiltshiftmaker.com] that automates the process for you.

When a tilt lens is used for its intended purpose, the effect is practically invisible.

So I just bought a 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II from an Amazon Marketplace seller for 700... and I'm thinking it must be stolen. Is there a way to check serial number without finding out that I indeed have stolen merchandise and then having to give it back.

Now his storefront is MIA. So what could this mean?

Quote from jdramirez : So I just bought a 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II from an Amazon Marketplace seller for 700... and I'm thinking it must be stolen. Is there a way to check serial number without finding out that I indeed have stolen merchandise and then having to give it back. Now his storefront is MIA. So what could this mean?

Why would you even consider buying something you thought was stolen?

The reason his site is down is probably to cover his tracks.

Quote from boltman2007 : Why would you even consider buying something you thought was stolen? The reason his site is down is probably to cover his tracks.

As expected, it was canceled. And he had a ton of stuff on the site, so it wasn't just one potentially stolen lens.

Any chance Amazon will give me five or ten bucks for my trouble?

Quote from jdramirez : As expected, it was canceled. And he had a ton of stuff on the site, so it wasn't just one potentially stolen lens. Any chance Amazon will give me five or ten bucks for my trouble?

Quit being an ass, let this thread die, and go out and take some damn pictures already.