tilt-shift lenses: have long been thinking about buying one to use when I travel to cities( Rome, NYC, etc. ); I have Nikon, so their 24mm PC i( $2,199 ) s attractive; could buy a...

Ed Chu Loc: Las Vegas NV

have long been thinking about buying one to use when I travel to cities( Rome, NYC, etc. ); I have Nikon, so their 24mm PC i( $2,199 ) s attractive; could buy a Canon camera and a tilt shift since they have a larger variety;
anyone have experience using one of these ? has anyone tried the Samyang 24mm pc at $699 ? the reports don't look great, but might be ok for my purposes; don't and won't use Adobe CC

John_F Loc: Minneapolis, MN

Are not the tilt-shift lenses mainly for Architectural photography, so to correct for the curvature of tall structures?

Ed Chu Loc: Las Vegas NV

that's why I mentioned that I would use it in the cities ( implying where ever there were tall buildings that "lean back" when you attempt to take a photo )

CPR Loc: Nature Coast of Florida

I can see it if you do a lot of architectural work but personally I just use my regular lenses and fix it in Photoshop.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

John_F wrote:

Are not the tilt-shift lenses mainly for Architectural photography, so to correct for the curvature of tall structures?

I use mine for landscape mostly. Curvature of field is corrected in software. Keystoning, which occurs when you tilt the camera up to take in a tall building or structure, can be somewhat corrected in software, but better if you use shift to avoid tilting the camera in the first place. Software correction sacrifices too many pixels to make it viable for quality results. I do very little architectural or interior work anymore. The Nikon PC-E lenses are superb for close up, and those situations were you want to extend depth of field.

repleo Loc: Boston

My very limited experience is that there is a pretty steep learning curve to using a T/S lens. I think it is definitely a case where you should consider renting before buying and do it well before any big trip. If you only want the perspective control you can get used Nikor Shift lenses (no tilt) on eBay for less than $400.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/EXC-NIKON-PC-NIKKOR-28mm-f3-5-PERSPECTIVE-CONTROL-MF-SHIFT-LENS-CAPS-SKY/253212863528?hash=item3af4a9ac28:g:VZEAAOSwR5VZlcPS:sc:USPSPriority!02186!US!-1

hpucker99 Loc: Anchorage, Alaska

repleo wrote:

My very limited experience is that there is a pret... (show quote)

I second the idea of renting. You may be able to have the lens shipped to your house before going overseas and sending it back from Europe (you will need to take the shipping box with you). I rented the same Nikon T/S lens you are interested in for a week and wandered around downtown Denver shooting the buildings and some landscapes in the mountains. For less than $200, I had the lens for 10 days. It is a nice thing to play with, but has a steep learning curve, but for me a very limited use. I like to shoot buildings and will have to use software corrections if I so desire. I don't think I need a T/S lens to shoot landscapes. I am thinking about renting the 19mm version and shooting the buildings downtown with the Christmas lights on. Right now, I just don't need another lens sitting around.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

Ed Chu wrote:

have long been thinking about buying one to use when I travel to cities( Rome, NYC, etc. ); I have Nikon, so their 24mm PC i( $2,199 ) s attractive; could buy a Canon camera and a tilt shift since they have a larger variety;
anyone have experience using one of these ? has anyone tried the Samyang 24mm pc at $699 ? the reports don't look great, but might be ok for my purposes; don't and won't use Adobe CC

FYI - Canon currently offers a 17, 24, 45 and 90mm T/S lenses, and Nikon offers 19, 24, 45, 85mm lenses. Each offers 4 lenses, just slightly different focal lengths. The main advantage of Canon over Nikon, is that you have the choice to "align" your shift movement with the tilt movement. With Nikon, in order to do that you'd have to send the lens in, along with $100 plus shipping and handling, to have the lens modified to do that, but then you would no longer be able to have the tilt at 90 degrees off the shift axis. In practice, I have only needed to align the shift and tilt axes in a handful of situations.

As far as the learning curve - there is a slight one for tilt, none whatsoever for tilt.

https://petapixel.com/2015/04/06/a-quick-introduction-to-shooting-with-a-tilt-shift-lens/

http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/tilt-shift-lenses2.htm

The "steep" learning curve lasts about a half a morning or less, which isn't really so steep after all.

do reconsider using Photoshop and/or other post processing applications - they are indispensable for creating amazing images.

JPL

Ed Chu wrote:

have long been thinking about buying one to use when I travel to cities( Rome, NYC, etc. ); I have Nikon, so their 24mm PC i( $2,199 ) s attractive; could buy a Canon camera and a tilt shift since they have a larger variety;
anyone have experience using one of these ? has anyone tried the Samyang 24mm pc at $699 ? the reports don't look great, but might be ok for my purposes; don't and won't use Adobe CC

It depends also on what camera you are using. If you have a crop sensor camera you could do with t/s adapter and full frame lenses.
I have very little experience with tilt shift lenses so can not compare one vs another.
And then is the question if you need both functions, tilt and shift. If you only need shift you can get shift adapter or tilt adapter if you only need the tilt function.
I would look into those options as well. You can check Adorama or Ebay or Amazon to start with.

Some correction here. You are using Nikon. That makes it difficult to use adapters. Same goes with Canon. But if you have some mirrorless camera it is another story. Like m4/3 or Sony E mount. Then you can use regular Nikon full frame lenses as tilt shift on the mirrorless via adapters.

Brent Rowlett Loc: Atlanta, GA

Tilt and shift lenses are used to achieve product and landscape shots with a far larger dof with images in focus front to back. Canon by far has the edge here with 2 -TS lenses plus the acclaimed real estate lens.

Until digital cameras came along having a food item in partial focus would be unheard of. With a 4x5 view camera with bellows, we made sure the foreground and background of any item was in complete focus. I use my Canon 90mm T/S for landscape, portrait, product, and just about anything. The f-32 aperture is extremely valuable with focus and light banks throwing a lot of light on food.

You can’t fix an out of focus or partially focused shot in Photoshop.

dsmeltz Loc: Philadelphia

John_F wrote:

Are not the tilt-shift lenses mainly for Architectural photography, so to correct for the curvature of tall structures?

T/S lenses are used for many things. The tilt is used for architecture. The shift is used to play with DOF. Not only how deep, but where it runs in the image. The plane of field can be made to go diagonally or from bottom to top. I have also wanted one for some time.

repleo Loc: Boston

dsmeltz wrote:

T/S lenses are used for many things. The tilt is used for architecture. The shift is used to play with DOF. Not only how deep, but where it runs in the image. The plane of field can be made to go diagonally or from bottom to top. I have also wanted one for some time.

Shouldn't that be the other way around? Shift (up and down) for persepective control /architecture and tilt (rotate) for DOF control (and minaturization effect)?

TomV Loc: Annapolis, Maryland

Ed Chu wrote:

have long been thinking about buying one to use when I travel to cities( Rome, NYC, etc. ); I have Nikon, so their 24mm PC i( $2,199 ) s attractive; could buy a Canon camera and a tilt shift since they have a larger variety;
anyone have experience using one of these ? has anyone tried the Samyang 24mm pc at $699 ? the reports don't look great, but might be ok for my purposes; don't and won't use Adobe CC

I have a Rokinon (different brand name for the same lens). It works fine and is worth the purchase. If you do not like it return it to the vendor (B&H, 30 days), or if it has outlived its usefulness, sell it on ebay for nearly as much as you paid for it.

I find it easy to use for architecture tilt adjustments.

dsmeltz Loc: Philadelphia

repleo wrote:

Shouldn't that be the other way around? Shift (up and down) for persepective control /architecture and tilt (rotate) for DOF control (and minaturization effect)?

Yes. That is right. Not enough coffee this morning to tilt or shift my brain.

Ed Chu Loc: Las Vegas NV

you made a slight error: you said "As far as the learning curve - there is a slight one for tilt, none whatsoever for tilt." not sure exactly what you meant