GEAR MINI TESTS
Featuring Gitzo’s Systematic Series 3 tripod, plus lenses like Sony’s 24-50mm f/2.8, Sigma’s 135mm f/1.4 and Laowa’s new tilt-shift and shift options
WORDS ADAM DUCKWORTH
The lens fits on normally, but it’s manual focus only with no electronics between the lens and camera. It won’t accept any fancy teleconverters if you want to get in even closer. Both tilt and shift mechanisms are locked in place by a firm knob, then are adjusted by a second knob with a scale engraved on the barrel that shows where you are. The midpoint has a nice detent on the shift but not the tilt. The shift mechanism is simple to use. Keep the camera horizontal, with the help of a spirit level or digital guide on the EVF, and shift the lens up to create the final composition. Buildings in front of you suddenly won’t look like they’re falling over backwards. They’ll have vertical lines that stay vertical in your shot – just like they should. The tilt mechanism is trickier to master if you want extended depth- of-field. Unless you are very scientific, it’s trial and error using different shift angles, apertures and focus settings. It’s much more fun to go the other way and create small-world scenes of real buildings or experiment with super shallow depth-of-field effects for a unique, dreamy look.
LAOWA 35MM F/2.8 ZERO-D TILT-SHIFT 0.5X MACRO £1269/$1249 venuslens.net
apertures wouldn’t get the full subject in focus – and lens diffraction often softened the image anyway. By shifting the lens axis, the plane of focus could be changed so middle apertures could be used but depth-of-field extended. Of course, tilting the ‘wrong’ way gives the effect of miniaturising your scene, and is often used for creative effects. But since the wholesale move to mirrorless and cinema cameras, which both call for new mounts such as Sony E, Nikon Z and Canon RF, none of the major manufacturers have offered tilt- shift lenses, apart from Fujifilm for its GFX medium format range. It’s largely due to a lack of demand. Many image makers correct verticals in post software now, despite needing to shoot the scene on a wider lens because some of the image will get cropped out. Although, a quick look at some estate agents’ photos and it seems nobody’s told the photographers! Bent walls and leaning buildings are everywhere. Venus Lens has come to the rescue with its Laowa optics. Its new range of tilt-shift options includes this 35mm f/2.8 Zero-D Tilt-Shift 0.5x Macro that comes in full-frame mounts including Sony E, Canon RF and Nikon Z, as well as fitting Fujifilm GFX and Hasselblad XCD, both of which have larger sensors so there may be some image cropping. Best of all, the Laowa 35mm is built like a tank and costs just £1269/$1249. The f/2.8 macro lens has a 360° rotatable mount so that the angle of tilt or shift can be changed at will, rather than just horizontally or vertically as in some other brands.
When DSLR cameras ruled the stills and video production world, all serious pro manufacturers, such as Canon and Nikon, offered a range of tilt-shift lenses. Most professionals demanded them. Usually in 24, 50 or 85mm focal lengths, they were used for perspective correction so that buildings didn’t look like they were falling over when the camera was angled up to get the top of the edifice. The camera was kept level while the lens shifted up or down. The tilt mechanism would often be called into play to maximise depth-of- field when reverting to super-small
STEADY YOURSELF Attach the lens to a tripod to get the best results out of
SPECIFICATIONS
Mount: Sony E, Canon RF, Nikon Z, Fujifilm GFX, Hasselblad XCD Mount rotation: 360° Image coverage: Full-frame Aperture: f/2.8-22 Aperture blades: 15 Tilt: +/-10° Shift: +/-12mm Construction: 14 elements in 12 groups Image stabilisation: No Autofocus: No Minimum focusing distance: 228mm/8.98in Filter size: 77mm Dimensions (wxl): 148.9x104.9mm/5.86x4.13in Weight: 1350g/2.97lb
the tilt-shift mechanism
64
PRO MOVIEMAKER
Powered by FlippingBook