The superior sharpness and high-quality image is one of the characteristics of the prime lenses, as all tilt-shift lenses are, and more specifically of the tilt-shift lenses, due to their construction and exceptional glass quality.
We will see further in this chapter why this is happening, how this is possible and how to control it.Īnother important characteristic of this lens, a characteristic that makes it ideal for the architectural photographer, is its exceptional clarity, sharpness and lack of chromatic aberration, which are not equaled by the more common lenses. It removes the “keystone effect”, as the convergence of the verticals in case of tilting the camera is otherwise known. In other words, the use of tilt-shift lenses “removes” the wide-angle lens distortion, or rather it does not introduce it in the first place. The most important quality of this lens and what makes it so popular and needed in photographing buildings and interior spaces is the fact that it can keep the verticals of a building parallel, thus presenting the object as we see it and not with the verticals converging, as a normal or wide lens would capture it. One of the main tools for an architectural photographer is the tilt-shift lens. Why is the tilt-shift lens the best tool for shooting architectural photography Only in that case will it help you create good photography when you will use it as a tool to express yourself and your vision and not only because it is a remarkable lens. However perfect this lens might be, it is still only a piece of equipment, therefore the first thing I want to state, before even touching any technical matters, is that this lens has to be the extension of your hand, of your mind and soul, the extension of your artistic personality and the tool that can make your vision come true.
In this tutorial, I will try to elucidate the mystery created around the tilt-shift lens and to bring it closer to the photographer that does photography as a hobby but also to show to the professional photographer how he could make better use of this piece of exceptional glass.
This happens mostly because the tilt-shift is a very different lens compared to the regular lenses, a lens not so easy to use, being mostly manual and a lens that is considered professional, while in reality it could be used by amateur photographers as well if they want to get high-quality results.
From what I see around me, this is the least understood lens among the DSLR lenses and the one that is the most underused, meaning that it is used by many well below its full capacity and capabilities. At the same time, I can notice among many photographers a sort of awe combined with inhibition when it comes to talking about this lens and especially when it comes to shooting with it. There is a certain mystery around the tilt-shift lenses among those who have not used one yet. The two most popular tilt-shift lenses for architectural photography: the Canon TS-E 24mm f/3.5 L II and Canon TS-E 17mm f/4L The Tilt-Shift Lens Mystery and Charm If you are using the new AI Topaz Plugins, you can use instead Topaz Studio 2 and its B&W converter that replaces Topaz B&W Effects, also Topaz DeNoise AI Topaz Sharpen AI and Topaz Mask AI. The fine art architectural images shown in this tutorial have been shot with a Canon 5D MKIII camera, a Canon tilt-shift lens TS-E 24mm f/3.5 L II, using neutral density filters Formatt-Hitech ProStop IRND, and were processed using Photoshop, Lightroom and Topaz B&W Effects, DeNoise, Detail and ReMask.
Also hands-on demonstrations and explanations with case studies on how to use the tilt-shift lens in architectural and long exposure photography, together with more other resources and tips you can find in my video tutorial Long Exposure, Architecture, Fine Art Photography – Creating (en)Visionography that comes with a black and white processing ebook. You can find the entire study in the chapter “The Tilt-Shift Lens as Main Tool in Architectural Photography”. This tutorial constitutes a fragment from the extensive tilt-shift lens study I present in my book From Basics to Fine Art – Black and White Photography – Architecture & Beyond, which you can find on my webstore at the link above. Shooting with the Canon 17mm f/4L Tilt-shift Lens This tutorial is an essential guide to the tilt-shift lens, a study of the tilt-shift lens, or architectural lens, as it is also called.