via Personal View.
Two readers and Digitfoto had a talk with the guys from the German B.IG. company that developed the BIG shift lens. They confirmed that the lens is indeed directly based on the [shoplink 33839 ebay]Voigtlander Heliar 15mm f/4.5 (here on eBay)[/shoplink].
Reminder…these are the specs:
| Specifications BIG Shift Lens 4,5 / 15 mm MFT | |
| Focal length | 15 mm (equivalent to 30 mm film) |
| Luminosity | 4.5 |
| Minimum aperture | 22 |
| Lens construction | 8 elements in 6 groups |
| Focus Limit | 50 cm |
| Diameter | 65 mm |
| Length | 45.5 mm |
| Weight | 200 g |
| Filter thread | 52 mm |
| Lens hood | integrated |
| Price | 999, – |
21 Responses
I wish this was 3 mm wider and had tilt. A 24 mm equivalent tilt shift would have killed on m43.
I don’t see myself enjoying a 30mm shift only lens.
closer, still… sucks
yeah 30mm eq. is not super useful.
Some photographers can spend a year with just one prime and work around the limitations just fine. Give them 30mm and they will find it useful. Very much so.
what i mean is a 30mm eq. shift lens. these things are mostly used for architectural photography and 30mm is not the most useful fl in this field. im pretty sure any potential user of this lens would have preferred a 24mm eq. give them a 30mm shift lens and they would work around the limitations, give them a choice between 30mm and 24mm and they would choose 24mm.
T/S lenses are used for architecture, not just Shift 😉
As for 24mm being more useful for architecture, I’d like to hear from experts before concluding so fast.
Any how, if I ever want one, a T/S, its for landscaping (edit: specially for ultra deep DoF) : anywhere between 30 and 180mm eq would do, preferably 50 to 90mm.
tilt and shift serve different purposes and arch. photography uses both. this lens is shift only so obviously tilt is out of question.
For years and years, the standard architectural T/S lens for 35MM had a focal length of 35mm. I believe this was to minimize curvilinear distortion.
That said, I would love a 24MM equivalent with tilt and shift.
Actually, I think the focal length is just fine.
Remember the Rokkor 35mm Shift lens?
http://rokkorfiles.com/35mm%20Page%201.htm
Agreed. 24 or 28mm would be great. Anyone have any thoughts about this, though?
http://www.photographyblog.com/news/novoflex_tilt-_and_shift_bellows_system_for_cscs/
Wondering if a DX Nikon lens like maybe a Tokina 11-16mm f2.8 could be mounted using adapters, and provide enough coverage for sufficient tilt & shift on m4/3?
I’m sure it would be possible, but only for close focusing, which is not likely to be a strong point of a w/a zoom.
When I was at the Focus show earlier this year, I noticed a tilt adapter that allowed Nikon lenses to be used on m43 (I think it was from Lensbaby). As far as I know it gives infinity focus.
There is plenty of space between Nikon and m43 flange distances to enable a third party mfr to produce a tilt and shift adapter.
Nice but 50cm minimum focus makes it a restrictive tabletop optic. I wonder if it will take a short extension tube? Anyway, this will be a fine general purpose architectural and mid range as well as infinity landscape TS lens
Put it on nex if its based on a full frame lens
yeah! and got full vignetting when shifted!! ;D
The lens is made for 135- so it *might* not vignette all that much on APS-C.
If you stuck it on a FF DSLR though- you’d certainly get vignette.
Has anyone had any experience with the tilt or shift adaptors available on ebay for Olympus Om lenses, nikon lenses etc? And is anyone aware of an adaptor that offers both tilt & shift, have only found adaptors that offer either or.
Thank you,
Tristan.
If this had tilt function too I would be all over it. My Canon FD 35 TS will have to do for now, even though it is a bit long on m4/3.
I’d go for 12mm tilt. Or tilt/shift. But shift isn’t much use on MFT. IMHO.
Regardless of focal length preferences for composing architectural shots, this lens (mounted flush using a standard leica m adapter) is a sub-par performer on micro four thirds cameras. Expect blurry frame edges and – on higher resolving sensors – blue / magenta color cast.
This of course gets MUCH worse once you use the lens off-axis.
It performs OK with film, but does not adapt well to digital (not only m43). This is the case with EVERY adapted RF lens with a focal length of 35mm or lower.
unfortunately for me I would want / need tilt… 🙁
I will just have to keep waiting for one to arrive… I actually hope Schneider comes to the party for tilt shift lenses for micro four thirds..
And how are the corners with that 15mm super wide meant for Leica and film?
…I haven’t heard any praises about it, but different things.
My experience using the 12mm with a shift adapter has shown that you get strong colour casts when you shift, I imagine due to the rear element being so close to the sensor and the oblique angle that light hits the sensor.
You can correct using a special program but I get more than acceptable results using a grad filter on Lightroom – green to correct a magenta cast etc.
I am an architectural photographer and 24 mm is an incredibly useful focal length. 30mm perhaps less so although I do get a lot of use from my Olympus 35mm shift on my canon 1ds iii.
For architecture, it’s the shift you want. Tilt can be useful for depth of field but shift is the main player to correct converging verticals.