The Fundamentals of Tilt-Shift Lenses

In the last Just One Thing - I mentioned that perspective issues were traditionally fixed using tilt shift lenses. Well many of you wanted to see a video on that very topic. So here it is - the basics of what you need to know about tilt-shift lenses!

If you want to check out the math of the Scheimpflug Principle - here's the Wikipedia entry:

#TiltShift #Lenses #Filmmaking #photography

[saikatchattopadhyay]

Love to see you back with these properly informative and articulated videos. No doubt you are one of the most authentic Film-Tech channels .

[cowboyfrankspersonalvideos]

Between 1960 and 1981, my father was a photographer for the Smithsonian Institution. One of his many jobs was to shoot annual record photographs of all the first ladies gowns. The gowns are displayed on manikins in room size cases behind a glass wall, which dad had to shoot through, and caused lots of problems from reflections of both the rest of the room and lights. He used view cameras to solve both the angular issue of where he had to place the camera to avoid reflections and focus issues from the gowns not being the same distance from the camera due to the way they are displayed. He had to do this during the night after the museum was closed, rather than having to close the exhibit during the day. Another job he did with a view camera was photographing the Hope Diamond as it was taken out of it's display once a year for cleaning and inspection. The view camera allowed him to solve both focus and angular distortion due to the fact the diamond was displayed on a slanted stand. One year the diamond was not sitting just right and, with permission, he actually handled the diamond to readjust the way it was laying on the display mount. Back then the diamond was displayed in a wall safe. It's now in the center of the room in a glass case.
Wow, I just went over to the Wikipedia page on the diamond and the photo shown from 1974 was shot by my father. I recognize the way one of the fuzzy small stones behind the main jewel has a tiny orange reflection at the bottom. He showed a print of that photo to me the week he shot it. Not all the photos he shot were totally front to back sharp, they wanted all kinds of images.

[merylcando]

Your pronunciation is pretty close to impeccable. Wow, my name got bigger, and I am getting educated to boot. I am one of your audience who does show your instructional videos to my animation (perspective drawing) students. I sent them off yesterday, with "Get out there and make something GREAT!" and made sure they knew you said it first!!

[sjhstone]

You really managed to maximize the whole duration of the video to deliver the most intuitive and consistent explanation about tilt-shift lens so far on the Internet. Thank you so much, John!

[ThioJoe]

Tilt Shift lenses are awesome but expensive. They can also sometimes be used for close-up product photography if you can't quite get everything you want in focus, to avoid needing to do focus stacking.

[TheBohrokMan]

I never realized that the miniature effect on a tilt shift isn't real depth of field (for far enough away objects)! It seems obvious now. Thanks for putting out such high quality information!

[dwegmull]

If you use SLR lenses adapted to a mirrorless digital camera, you can get adapters with either tilt or shift built-in.

[mrcet]

Thanks, John! Your video here helped me finally decide to pick up the Samyang tilt-shift lens (limited, but reasonably-priced).

Admittedly, I haven’t had a lot of time to experiment with it yet, but here are two things I have done, or have in mind to do, with it:
1. Next time the wildflowers come out here in Central Texas (and I’m not in COVID-19 lockdown!), I’d like to use the tilt and Sceimpflug effect to get the flower heads themselves in focus and the stems and leaves below them out-of-focus, for both close-up and farther-away flowers.
2. I have already used the shift feature in a surprising way: The usual architectural-photography usage you pointed out was to keep walls and columns parallel. I’ve used it to produce exactly the opposite effect: To exaggerate the imparallelness you get when you aim the camera upward. That is, rather than shifting the lens upward, I instead shifted it downward and then tilted the camera upward even more than I would with a traditional lens! The result was interesting.
3. If I do the opposite of that — shift the lens up, but point the camera body download — parallel columns tilt away from each other at the top, rather than toward each other, like on a traditional lens!

[popsfreshenmeyer]

Your videos are a great ressource and very professional.
All the effort you put into these is astounding.
Much appreciated :)
Stay safe and peace out!

[stephenbaker]

Thanks for being to the point and using excellent graphics to make things clear.

[RCAvhstape]

These technical photography videos are my favorite, John, great job.

[shawndonnelly]

Thank you very much for the video. I have 24mm TS EF lens but have only used it a few times. When you need it, it is handy.

[budgiefriend]

I didn't know lenses could do that.
Thank you for the insight.

[antugolder]

I think it is the best channel for Learning film making

[KuenHLee]

Tilt-Shift lenses are really one of the most underrated lens categories in my personal opinion. I often having hard time to find anyone around me that can appreciate them as much as I could. It’s partly also that I am personally obsessive ( kind of OCD actually ) that I have been only shooting with TS-E lenses for many years. Thanks for mentioning about these lens categories here. Wished more people actually know these lenses are not really for the purposes of making miniature toy town. I have the original TS-E 45, TS-E 90, TS-E 24mk2 & TS-E 17.

[KendrickHarrisKenfinity]

Alright, it's awesome and definitely intriguing to find out exactly how tilt shift lenses are used. And can create unique shots and panoramas. Stay safe and keep doing what you're doing!

[RecklessRowly]

I use Tilt Shift lenses for shooting landscapes with an aparent infinite depth of field. invariably I use the tilt a lot more than the shift. It did however take me a while to wrap my head around how the tilt worked, and for the first few outings returned with nothing but blurred photos. However it was worth the learning curve.

[thomasrobbins]

I've used only tilt-shift lenses for landscapes for years. It allows for aspect ratios that match the circumstances and subject without having to crop down from a 35mm size sensor.

[rohitkumarn]

it's soo good to see you again... amazing as always 👍

[mrKeyCat]

Thank you for a very informative and very easy to understand high-quality video.