Photo processing in tilt shift style. Online photo editing

Tilt-shift lens - whatever one may say, a useful thing. Take, for example, the effect adored by many: large-sized objects being filmed are depicted as tiny figures. in many compact cameras built-in software filters that simulate this effect. However, it is created with a tilt-shift lens. Below we provide answers to five popular questions related to tilt-shift lenses so that you can learn a little more about its capabilities before using it.

What are tilt-shift lenses?

This type of lens is often referred to as perspective corrective. Tilt-shift lenses have the ability to tilt, rotate (from English tilt), the image plane at an angle to the plane of the photosensitive layer. And also to shift (from the English shift) the image plane along the plane of the photosensitive layer.

How does a tilt-shift lens work?

The design of the lens is such (which outwardly distinguishes it from the many "relatives") that the front part is movable. It can be tilted at a predetermined angle relative to the sensor plane. As a result, you can get the depth of field in one part of the scene being shot is extremely small, in another - close to infinity.

• Note. translator - you can learn more about IPIG from the article

The ability to shift the front of the lens along the plane of the photosensitive sensor can be useful in architectural photography. When photographing a building with a normal lens, you will most likely encounter a distorted image of straight lines. The verticals will curve and converge towards the center of the frame.

The image of tall structures with a conventional lens can be distorted.

The use of a tilt-shift lens in architecture photography is an opportunity to correct the perspective image at the shooting stage. Instead of doing the correction at the processing stage.

Who makes tilt-shift lenses?

Canon offers 4 TS-E (tilt-shift) lenses that "cover" the focal length range from 17mm to 90mm. Nikon produces 3 lenses (PS-E, perspective control - “perspective control”) with focal lengths ranging from 24 to 85 mm.

Native tilt-shift lenses are compatible with both full-frame cameras and cameras with an APS-C sensor.

• PRome. translator - more about the size of modern photosensitive sensors and related features You can find out from the article.

When is it appropriate to use a tilt-shift lens?

It comes in handy when shooting architecture. It will allow you to “keep” the high walls of buildings vertical, which, when shooting with a conventional lens, “strive” to bend into an arc and lean towards the center of the frame. This distortion is the stronger, the higher the building being photographed and the closer you are to it - the photographer.

In the mode of tilting the plane of the front lens at an angle to the plane of the photosensitive sensor, the tilt-shift lens is very useful in landscape photography. In scenes where it is necessary to depict objects, both distant and nearby in relation to the shooting point, in sharpness at the same time.

How to attach a tilt-shift lens to a camera? Are there any features?

Such lenses have a typical mount. They are attached to the camera in the same way as conventional lenses. The lens itself has elements that allow you to control the tilt angle relative to the sensor plane and the amount of displacement relative to the optical axis of the lens.

Tilt/Shift lenses are fairly specialized optics that are not often used by photography enthusiasts. However, such lenses expand creative possibilities and allow you to solve a variety of specific tasks. Tilt-shift lenses are interesting because they can be used to overcome various limitations in depth of field and perspective, achieving original, unusual effects when shooting.

Features of tilt-shift lenses

The main distinguishing feature of the Tilt/Shift lens is the ability to tilt/rotate and shift the optical design relative to the photosensitive sensor. This is achieved due to the fact that the front group of lenses remains movable. It is she who is able to tilt at a certain angle relative to the plane of the matrix.

What does this give the photographer? Shift and rotation allow you to change the depth of field in the desired plane, control the perspective and correct geometric distortions. With a Tilt/Shift lens, you can, for example, get a very small depth of field in one part of the photographed scene, and close to infinity in another. The ability to shift provides two options for using optics at once - changing the perspective and expanding the viewing angle.

Correcting perspective distortions and achieving some of the unusual effects that are obtained using the Tilt / Shift lens today, in principle, is possible with software tools. But you must admit, it is much better and easier to immediately remove everything “correctly”, so as not to waste a lot of time on subsequent processing. Despite the advantages of Tilt / Shift optics, primarily associated with the ability to control depth of field, it also has a drawback - a rather high price, despite the fact that you are unlikely to use such a lens in everyday shooting.

Application of tilt-shift lenses

To understand all the advantages and features of Tilt / Shift lenses, it is better to analyze the use of such optics on concrete examples. Let us dwell in more detail on those situations when the use of such optics will be relevant:

– Shooting architecture

First of all, such a lens should be used in architectural photography. The fact is that when photographing any tall structure with a conventional lens, you have three options. The first is to simply point the optics up and then, unfortunately, distortions associated with increased perspective will be noticeable. In the upper part of the frame, the vertical lines will simply begin to “fall over”. Moreover, such distortions will manifest themselves the stronger, the higher the structure and the closer you are to it. The second option is to try to photograph the building from above, tilting the optics down. But the results are also far from the most pleasant. In the picture, the building will expand towards the top, the vertical lines will converge at the bottom.

Finally, the last option is shooting when the optical axis of the lens is perpendicular to the building. In this case, the convergence of vertical lines will no longer be noticeable, however, capturing the entire building in the frame will be problematic. Of course, you can take a picture of the building by pointing the camera lens up, and then correct the distortions that have appeared in a graphics editor. But you need to understand that software removes distortion by stretching the frame, which, of course, reduces image quality and, in addition, the building in the picture turns out to be slightly elongated or flattened.

This is where the tilt-shift lens comes to the aid of the photographer. Shift controls perspective to straighten converging vertical lines. This allows you to keep the high walls of buildings strictly vertical in photographs and, thus, get rid of distortions and “collapses”. The use of a tilt-shift lens is especially important in situations where you cannot move away from the building at a convenient distance for shooting.

— Landscapes

A tilt-shift lens is also useful in landscape photography- in cases where you need both distant and nearby objects to be in the field of sharpness. With this optic, you can control the depth of field by capturing both the foreground and the background at the same time in depth of field.

— Panoramas

Tilt / Shift lenses are in demand when shooting panoramas. To do this, the camera is mounted on a tripod and, using the shift of the optical scheme, several frames are taken, from which you can then glue the panorama. The advantage of this method is that you don't have to resort to using a pan head to eliminate parallax errors in the foreground. The gluing process itself is also simplified, since there is no need to correct the perspective.

- Object shooting

The ability to control the depth of field can be used in the implementation of subject shooting. Indeed, when shooting small objects, such as jewelry, the photographer often encounters a situation where the object (or part of it) simply does not turn out sharp. Even closing the aperture to the limit values ​​​​does not help. Tilt / Shift lens also allows you to control the depth of field by tilting relative to the plane of the photographed object. To obtain sharp photographic images of an object, it is enough just to tilt the optics at the right angle to obtain the optimal zone of sharpness.

- The effect of "toy"

Tilt/Shift lenses are used to create unusual, fun effects. In particular, for turning large objects into miniature figures. Many of us have seen on the Internet stunning images of architectural objects and buildings, as if taken from a bird's eye view, and therefore looking like small houses in the photographs. In this way, the illusion of a toy world is achieved. This effect of "miniature" or "toy-like" can be obtained due to the short and selective depth of field, using the same tilt-shift lens.

Of course, a Tilt/Shift lens is not an optic that you will use all the time. But if you are thinking about creating interesting, unusual creative effects or are faced with a specific task that is difficult to solve with standard optics, then having a tilt-shift lens in your arsenal will be very useful.

Tilt-shift is a photography genre that has become very popular over the past few years. In essence, this is photographing an ordinary object or scene from life, which tilt shift the lens transforms into a miniature in the picture.

In such photographs, the main effect can be achieved through rotation or shift. To get high-quality professional photos in the minimalist genre, without resorting to Photoshop tricks, the only right option is to use tilt shift.

Photographers have many opportunities to realize their creative ideas. All this thanks to a wide choice of models, the main task of which is to project the seen picture onto the surface of the film. IN Lately the tilt-shift lens gained particular popularity.

This is a model with functions that allow you to correct the view and have the ability to shift and (or) rotate the image plane with respect to the plane of the photosensitive layer. The angle of inclination and the amount of offset are controlled by two elements.

The lens is attached to the tilt shift camera in the same way as a normal one. By the way, in order not to deny yourself the pleasure of creating absolutely fantastic photographs, you can build a tilt-shift lens with your own hands.

Shooting process

A conventional camera provides sharp focus in only one plane. Without the tilt function, the image plane is parallel to the focal and perpendicular to the optical axis. All objects in focus are at the same distance from the camera.

And when tilted or rotated, the focal plane becomes at an angle to the image. Consequently, all objects at different distances fall into the field of view, i.e. near and far, and are displayed without distortion.

This property is called the Scheimpflug principle. According to this principle, the use of rotations allows you to change the shape. For example, if the device and the focused image are parallel, then the depth of field is the same on both sides.

But when tilted or rotated, it takes on a wedge-shaped shape, with the top of the cone at the axis of rotation. Moreover, at the top of the wedge, the sharpness is almost zero and increases with distance from the camera. For such types of shooting as landscape, architectural, tilt lens is simply irreplaceable.

Opportunities

When using a conventional camera, the plane may or may not coincide with the image. Basically, this happens when photographing tall buildings. Parallel lines visually rush to one point, and this leads to image distortion.

The building in the photo does not look natural, as if it is tilted backwards. Shift is a shift or shift parallel to the image that allows you to adjust the position of your subject without changing the angle of the camera itself. Shift can be used to keep the image plane parallel to the object, or vice versa to emphasize distortion for artistic effect.

The tilt and shift functions make it possible to use just one device for different directions in photography.

Is it possible to do tilt/shift?

Having even a little idea about photographic genres and cameras, you can try to make a tilt-shift lens with your own hands. Any amateur photographer can handle this.

In order to get a tilt-shift lens with your own hands, we need:

1. SLR or DSLR camera;
2. oversized lens;
3. corrugated rubber tube;
4. a plastic protective cover for your camera;
5. a drill or utility knife to cut out the center of the bayonet;
6. hot glue gun or other glue;
7. black tape.

The first thing to do is cut out the middle of the lid with a utility knife. Then cut off a piece of corrugated tube of the desired size, insert the device there and attach it to the tube with glue. You need to let the glue dry. Hide the gluing place by carefully wrapping it with black electrical tape. Making a tilt-shift lens with your own hands is not so difficult.

Meet the optical superheroes: They can straighten tall buildings with a single shift, give you insanely deep focus without insanely small apertures, or limit focus to a single lash. And they do it when you shoot, without messing around with software. They are popular with those who shoot architecture, products, portraits and nature, who strive for perfect perspectives, and a treasure for those who want to produce extraordinary effects.

Shift versus fall

TRENT BELL
Bell moved his 17mm f/4L Canon TS-E lens from top to bottom to capture three separate horizontal images, then stitched them together in Photoshop CS5. Taken on a Canon EOS 5D Mark II, 0.3 sec at f/11, ISO 500.

When you tilt your camera to capture a tall building or other structure, you may feel like you are falling - the parallel lines will converge as you rise. With a tilt/shift lens, you can keep the camera parallel to the building and move the lens up to capture more of the structure and less of the foreground.

How it works: The T/S (tilt/shift) lens covers a much larger image circle than standard lenses, so you have enough leeway to move the sensor or film up, down, or sideways within the circle.

How to do it: This is an intuitive action. To shoot something above the camera position, simply move the lens up. (The bubble level in the accessory shoe will help keep the camera level with your subject.) Conversely, to shoot something lower—if you're photographing a structure from a high place—slide the lens down. And yes, you are limited by how far you can move.

Scheimpflug effect

IAN PLANT
Plant used shift (to keep the trees vertical) and tilt (to keep all the trillia in focus) on their 24mm f/3.5L Canon TS-E lens with the Canon EOS 5D. Exposure 2.5 sec at f/16.

This funny though real term refers to the apparently almost infinite depth of field achieved by tilting the T/S lens in a certain way relative to the subject. In addition to great depth, it has another advantage: You can achieve the effect with a fairly moderate aperture, and therefore use faster shutter speeds. That's why nature photographers love T/S lenses - they allow fast enough shutter speeds to keep wildflowers from blurring on a windy day.

How it works: By tilting the plane of focus in the same direction as the plane of the subject, you get a much larger plane of the subject in focus, almost everywhere. Technically, this does not increase depth of field, which is simply an area of ​​“acceptable” sharpness for a lens that is normally focused. With the Scheimpflug principle, the image is actually in focus at various points along the plane of the object being photographed.

How to do it: Trial and error. First, zero out the tilt of the lens, and focus about one-third into the area you want to get sharp. Then tilt or rotate the lens in relation to the object plane: For a flower in the foreground and a tree in no man's land, you need to lean down; for a fence at an angle to you, you need to turn the lens sideways to the fence. Then play with focus again. Then fiddle with the slope again - and repeat. Check the depth of field by stopping the lens for the shooting aperture. A tripod is, of course, a must.

Reverse Scheimpflug

SATORU MURATO
Murato left much of the Boston street out of focus by raising his 80mm f/2.8 Hartblei Super-Rotator lens up rather than down. Taken with Canon EOS 5D, 1/250 sec at f/2.8, ISO 200.

It's not really an official term for this species, but it fits. Here you are deliberately bending the lens in the opposite direction to what will give you increased depth, and thus severely limit focus to one small area of ​​your image. Popular uses include portraiture, where only a part of the image, such as the eye, is in focus, or miniature effect, where limited focus can make a street scene look like a toy city.

How it works: When the lens is tilted or rotated away from the subject plane, the focus is locked to a narrow pivot point on the focus plane. Again, this does not technically limit the depth of field, since the blurry areas of the image were left out of focus, not out of the depth of field.

How to do it: As with the Scheimpflug Effect, we use trial and error. Start by focusing when the lens is straight, centered on the one feature you want to keep in focus - for example, near the person's eye in a portrait. Then tilt or rotate the lens in the direction opposite to the plane of the object - for example, the plane of the face. For a toy-miniature landscape, it helps to shoot from a high vantage point so you're looking down. A larger aperture limits the area of ​​focus more, so also check the depth of field in the preview.

Vampire Effect

Mike Baxter
Baxter kept his Canon EOS 5D out of sight with a sideshift Pentax FA 33-55mm f/4.5 lens mounted with a Zörk shift adapter; 1/2 sec at f/16, ISO 200.

OK, we made up the term, but it fits. You can use the lens shift to shoot in the mirror without Dracula's ghost! - the appearance in the mirror of you or the camera. This is a handy trick for indoor decor photography as well as artistic still life photography with mirrors. Handy for photographing certain products as it allows you to shoot literally around objects.

How it works: If you hold the camera parallel to the mirror, but out of the way, and then shift the lens sideways towards the mirror, the image will appear to be taken head-on. Although, the objects in front of the mirror will look rearranged from the central projection. Awesome!

How to do it: Exactly as it sounds. Set up your composition (a tripod is almost a must), then move the camera a step to one side or the other so that you and it come out of the reflection. (Sometimes you can do this by lowering the camera and shifting the lens up.) See which view looks best in the mirror - when you're left, right, or crouched. In the case of a very wide angle T/S lens and/or a very large mirror, you may not be able to move enough to dematerialize yourself.

Now that we've shown you how great it is to use tilt-shift lenses, are you going to get one?

Canon and Nikon are practically the owners of tilt/shift lenses for DSLRs. Canon makes 17mm f/4, 24mm f/3.5, 45mm f/2.8 and 90mm f/2.8 TS-E lenses. Nikon offers 24mm f/3.5, 45mm f/2.8, and 85mm f/2.8 PC-E Nikkor. These are all manual focus lenses, although they can be used in auto exposure modes. Hartblei makes 35mm f/2.8, 65mm f/3.5, 80mm f/3.5 and 120mm f/2.8 Super-Rotator T/S lenses for many DSLR manufacturers, plus 45mm f/3.5 for several medium format cameras. Schneider makes shift-only, 28mm f/2.8 PC Super-Angulon lenses that can be mounted on a variety of cameras using the T-mount.

Among modern lenses, in addition to the widely used "fixes" and "zooms", there are also lenses for special purposes - the so-called "tilt-shift lenses". Most often, these lenses are used on 35mm SLRs or medium format professional cameras.

Perspective control with Tilt/Shift lenses

Shift is a function that allows you to shift the optical axis of the lens, thereby controlling perspective images. Typically, this function of the TS lens is used for architectural or other technical shooting.
The use of tilt-shift lenses helps to move the scene to different parts of the image plane, correct "falling buildings", change the shape of an object, control perspective, etc.

Tilt / Shift (TS) lenses are high-quality, expensive optics that make it easier for the photographer to photograph complex subjects (architecture, still life, indoor photography, etc.). Also Tilt / Shift lenses are widely used in such a genre as advertising photography. Such lenses are not autofocus lenses, they are manually adjusted and are usually classified as wide angle lenses.

Principle of operation

The optical design of Tilt/Shift lenses is such that the high-quality image field is much larger than the frame area, so that the photographer can shift the frame within this field by moving or tilting the lens relative to the film plane. The cost of Tilt / Shift lenses is comparable to the cost of a modern SLR camera and ranges from a thousand dollars and more.
To say that Tilt / Shift lenses fix something in the frame is not entirely true. Rather, they allow us to restructure the plot according to our usual perception. As you know, our visual perception does not accurately reflect the geometric construction of the world, as a mirror does, but produces a psychological processing of the seen picture in the brain.
To illustrate the above, consider a simple example. Looking at a tall building close up, we lift our heads up, examining it piece by piece. In our minds, the vertical walls of a building remain vertical. If we photograph the building from this position, tilting the camera upwards, then in the photograph it will look like “falling”. By using a TS lens, we can keep the camera horizontal without tilting it. To get the whole building into the frame, we simply move the TS lens up.

The Tilt/Shift lens is also useful when shooting mirrored surfaces, since such lenses allow you to avoid the presence of the reflection of the camera and the photographer himself in the frame.

Controlling Depth of Field with a TS Lens

tilt- This is a function of a photographic lens that allows you to control the sharpness in the frame by changing the tilt of the optical axis of the lens. The main application of this function is subject photography. Also the Tilt function is used to get artistic portraits, this function is used less frequently in landscape photography.
Using Tilt/Shift lenses, which help to go beyond the usual depth of field and perspective, and belong to the category of artistic lenses, photographers can achieve an interesting effect: real objects depicted in the picture take the form of miniature toy models.

Such pictures are usually taken from high-altitude points - mountains, pillars, roofs of buildings, etc. The Tilt / Shift lens focuses on a certain part of the visible field, blurring, and quite strongly, everything else. People who do not want to spend money on expensive Tilt / Shift lenses can achieve a similar effect when processing a photo in Photoshop, blurring the edges of the photo a lot. But a picture taken with a Tilt/Shift lens will be much more beautiful and interesting than a fake one.
Tilt/Shift technology is used by truly creative photographers. It allows them to take unusual photographs that are inaccessible to traditional lenses, turning the world around us into an illusory miniature.