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The lens is flawless. An excellent wide angle fixed focal length straight lens, as well as a great architectural lens and a "specialty" lens for "making miniatures". Check out tilt-shift photography on Google for some very interesting images (also done in Photoshop). The adjustment knobs move fluidly and very minor adjustments are easy to make to eliminate key-stoning, particularly for architectural imaging. This is a lens that takes getting used to in that it's technically "challenging". It takes time to understand nuances of the ratios, angles, focusing techniques, etc. It is very similar to using a bellows style field camera...incredibly useful in the right hands. There are many brilliant articles written on "how to use" these lenses. I highly recommend researching the articles online. But, then again, if you're looking at this product, you probably already know that and have done your research. I highly recommend this lens for "specialty" use. Remember that this is a manual focus lens.Read full review
I come from a 1980s and 90s background of medium format (Mamiya 7, RB67 ProSD and shift lens) as well as some experience with a 7.5 inch plate, shift large format camera - as well as all that 35mm stuff! I took up the DSLR route in 2003 with a Canon 10D, switching from my Nikon systems and have never looked back. I have owned many prime and L series zoom lenses for Canon, recently using the 16-35mm as my always-on lens but have had good success with 20mm and others at f8 apertures and below for general photography. I take primarily urban portraiture, travel, landscapes and some architecture and use my 5DII for some filming too and have been on the lookout for a lens that is incredibly sharp, is the perfect wideness for me and has good shift/tilt capabilities - Canon answered my dreams with the 17mm TSE. This goes beyond a specialist lens for architectural photographers as it is extremely sharp at f7.1 and below as well as being not too large for me to carry around as my main prime - 6ft5" and used to 15kg + camera bags! I have only had it for about 6 weeks and have decided it will now replace my 16-35 and the 15mm fisheye as it is just the width I tend to want to go to and sees as my mind sees. OK this lens has a lot more going for it and I bought it because in tests in the store I was able to operate the shift/tilt while looking through the viewfinder, handheld! Everything falls in the right places and I have just returned from a Tokyo trip and used it every day handholding at f8 and below, shifting and rotating the shift, manually focusing and manually exposing ALL without taking my eyes off the finder! Yes it is possible and I have 100s of pinsharp well exposed images to show for it from 5 days or so in very busy, difficult areas in Japan and Sydney. I have posted some on flickr here http://www.flickr.com/photos/garyhayes/ - So the drawbacks - well if you just read the last para, yes you have to manually focus - you have a super equipped body and cannot use the autofocus?! I know. But at f8 and below virtually everything is in focus from 2 ft to infinity (using basic hyperfocal techniques), you can manually focus, depress the shutter gently and get a beep to say you are locked, but in critical situations I use the live view and zoom 10x, takes seconds. The more difficult drawback is exposure. If you manually set the lens in its non shift/tilt position you will find up to 2 stops up or down when you go up to the full 12 degrees of shift - I have now worked this out and find 1 stop under in horiz down shift mode and 2 stops over in portrait up shift, so I can now quickly lock focus/exposure pre shift and then adjust quickly, the whole process I have down to 10 seconds or so...the other big drawback for many will be the $2.5k price range BUT given the amount spent on other lenses I am now selling my ultra wide L series zoom, the 15mm and perhaps a couple of others. I took my full lens batch around Tokyo and found I used the 17mm 80% of the time, even for candid shots of groups on the street, grab shots of events as well as amazing corrected buildings and temples...highly recommended, the sharpest Canon lens IMHORead full review
Having been a diehard Nikon shooter for all of my forty plus years in photography, the appearance of this lens a few years ago caused me to take pause. Realizing that Nikon was unlikely to introduce its own 17mm tilt/shift, I purchased one of these used and a Canon 6d body. The build quality is truly amazing. I look forward to getting to a venue where a 17mm is needed so that I can explore the lens' potential fully. In the meantime, I have purchased three other Canon lenses and another body to round out my system. So now I am a Nikon AND a Canon shooter!
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
A standout lens for Architectural or Professional Real Estate Photography. This is "Not" a lens I'd recommend for an amateur or someone that is more concerned with ruggedness than perfection. As a prime lens, it's not autofocus compatible. For some, that will rule it out. The tradeoff is that production time and image quality as well as composition, can't be replaced by doing the fake tilt shift method. Stuck shift/tilt locks are a known liability with this lens. In my opinion, most are caused by user error. I purchased my used lens in excellent condition, but it was advertised as having a stuck shift lock but otherwise, was fully functional and had very low hours. I did this knowing that most likely the owner had unscrewed the knob to far back and most likely a simple fix would repair it. Luckily my hunch was right and I saved hundreds of dollars as an easy 1 minute fix corrected it from being stuck. I you get this lens, be care to just slightly turn the lock knob just enough so that that it won't let the lens move. This only takes a slight bit of torque. Start by tightening it until the adjustment knob won't move without much force. The objective is to barely snug it so it won't move. If you over tighten it, you'll end up with the infamous stuck lock. The actual build of the lends is robust, but keep in mind, this is a delicate precision instrument and should be treated with a high degree of care. If you want exceptional image quality and composition and are willing to be gentle, make no mistake, a tilt shift is a game changer for the professional. Read full review
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
This is the first lens I go to for most of my Architectural photography. Geared rise and shift works well. The large front element sticks out of the housing so I use a Dinkum flag and it is easy to block out the direct light from the lens.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
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