Fotodiox Tilt Shift Adapter Review - Your Next Lens Isn't A Lens
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 20 ส.ค. 2024
- Tilt shift lenses are jaw-droppingly expensive... but tilt shift adapters are not only affordable, they can do things that lens versions cannot. Will one be useful in your kit? A review of the $200 Fotodiox Tilt Shift Adapter.
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It’s all about image circle. A 645 medium format lens has a larger image circle than dedicated TS lenses which has a bigger image circle than standard 35mm lens. The canon/Nikon TS lens have a 67mm image circle. The Pentax/Mamiya 645 lens has a 80mm image circle. A 6x7 lens even more. There really isnt much point in putting a 35mm lens on a TS adapter unless it has a smaller APS sensor. You can stitch x2 35mm medium format frames together which increases field of view to 17mm and turns a 24mp image to a 50mp image. Winner! If you use a medium format lens the Kipon TS adapter has 15mm shift as 10mm is not taking advantage of the entire lens
Yes. I had a GFX medium format camera (44mm x 33mm sensor) and bought a Samyang 24mm TS (Canon clone), mostly for the tilt with landscapes. (GFX has very thin DOF.). I sold the GFX and now have an X-T5 (crop sensor, 40MP). Kept the Samyang lens and use it very happily on the X-T5, mostly for panoramas. Gives me a field of view of ca. 13mm (= 19 mm full frame equiv), with no pano distortion. Plus I can still use the tilt if needed.
The changeing of the plane of DoF doe by tilting CAN NOT be accomplished in post!
Thanks for a thorough review and your thoughts on usability. Fotodiox should use your video as info.
Lensbaby is more versatile than you seem to think. The sweet spot that you can move around by tilting the lens, is only an effect of some of their optics. But they also make an "Edge" series of optics that are allegedly quite sharp corner to corner. Currently there are the Edge 50 and their latest offering, the Edge 35. They used to make an Edge 80 as well, that you might find on the used market. Unfortunately there's still no Edge 24 or Edge 15, so if you need a wide angle tilt lens, other manufacturers are required.
I’m with you, Lau.
Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it.
I have a tilt shift, but my Lensbabys are much more fun !
Been keen on a lensbaby for a while, seems like a really good time. Astr Hori manke a 50/1.4 tilt in most mirrorless mounts in an all-in-one non-modular lens baby composer which seems real nice for the price
Shooting on real anamorphic and tilt shift is so much different than doing it in post or faking it in camera i.e. fishing line.
lol though I don't own a lot of lenses, I do have cine and anamorphic lenses, and now I am starting to try out tilt shift lenses.
There will be very few full frame lenses that have a large enough image circle for this to work without vignetting and really bad edge sharpness. Maybe for longer focal lengths but I reckon for wide angle landscapes forget it. You can get 645 etc lenses but the widest lenses are 45mm with very rare 35mm focal lengths.
Wow, I had never even considered having 2 focal planes. To me, that sells this guy. Thanks!
It's a cool idea, but darn hard to duplicate with moving subjects. The depth of focus is so narrow... but fun to play with.
It is one plane, but you can angle it through the scene.
Vignetting depends on the lens construction, not on the focal length. Stopping down helps against vignetting, but if your goal is to knock some things firmly out of focus, it is not helping but a trade off.
I tried three Nikkor lenses:
50mm f1.4: it vignettes strongly even when it is straight, with 2+ stops darker corners. Tilting brings in the edge of the image circle that the lens projects onto the sensor.
50mm f1.2: it vignettes even when it is straight. Tilting brings this vignetting in some more, and this darkens the corners several stops.
55mm f3.5 micro nikkor. Not much vignetting. Handles being angled both focussed at infinity and close focussed wide open, but this is not so wide.
I use a Ukranian Arax tilt adapter. Strongly recommended. At this point in the war, they can still ship. Recommended. 65 euro, and better than other tilt adapters. No shift.
The Sovjet Zenitar 50mm f1.7 handles tilt extremely well. No vignetting to speak off in the most extreme settings.
The Mamiya 55mm f1.4 lenses handle tilt really well too, but they are very radioactive, the oldest type more than any other lens I know off.
Thanks for your comment-- and pointing out that lens construction is a factor, too. I'm a bit surprised by your results. I own the Nikkor 50mm f/1.2 as well, and I don't get vignetting when straight... only light vignetting tilt and moderate on shift. I can't seem to find my f/1.4 at the moment... but my f/1.8 performs better than the 1.2. I'm using a Sony a1. I'd be curious to know what vignetting your see without the adapter, and if that's playing a role. The f/1.2 are a bit notorious for variability. Since I made this review there have been a lot of inexpensive tilt and tilt/shift adapters introduced.
@@hurricaneimagesmedia I think the point that the tilt pivots around matters too. There are adapters with a ball, like lensbaby, that pivot around a point between the lens and the sensor. The one in your video seems te be constructed so that the pivot point is virtually in the sensor, which is like film back tilt on a large format camera. My adapter is from Arax, and it pivots between lens and sensor as well, essentially this is like tilting and the shifting up.
I also saw chinese adapters that were incorrectly derived form fancy adapters that have the virtual pivot point behind the sensor.
It all matters a lot for the final image. It is stupid that most tilt shift lenses shift perpendicular to the tilt direction. Such a missed opportunity.
Anyways. The construction of the adapter will also matter for which part of the image circle that the lens projects, lands on the sensor, and so also the influence of vignetting will be different.
As soon as there will be a m42 to sony tilt+shift adapter that can shift in the same direction as the tilt, for under 200 euro, I'll buy it.
Thanks for the detailed opinion, sounds like it's worth trying.....wasn't sure about this product , and the other options were waaay out budget.
This is a very tangential video. Study a video dedicated to tilt shift photography
The charm of anamorphic is shooting extremely wide shots on a lens that isn't stupidly wide so you avoid fish eye style distortion. It's really cool, but as you said pretty expensive. But there's some "affordable" options these days. Still the price of a camera body but better than it was 😅
@SyntheticFuture - thanks for your note. Yes, things have changed a lot in the anamorphic world in the last couple of years. And my opinion on anamorphics have shifted a bit (though to make them truly practical for filmmaking I think you need at least a pair for different focal lengths). I reviewed an anamorphic adapter awhile back and landed on the favorable side in terms of professional use... though even that video is dated now, as the inexpensive options have gotten sharper and quicker.
Super interesting. I may need to check one of these out. Thanks for the video!
Yeah, while its three functions (funky blur, hide camera, and aperture pull) are things that I'll only use occasionally, I love that it can just sit on my camera, not taking up any extra room because I need a lens adapter anyway. That it de-clicks every lens is almost worth it by itself.
Thanks for the video. Minor clarification for those who may not know. Cine lens being "not so different for your use with photography lens" really depends on context because they are different specially in actual film production use. Same with real cine anamorphic lenses. Yes for the average TH-camr these are overkill but it is an exaggeration to say that using photo lenses is the same as cine lenses and using a string is the same as using anamorphic lenses.
Btw Anamorphic cine lenses are not really primarily used for tgeir glare effects. Those are mere creative choices made by DOPs later on. True Anamorphic lenses were used so that you can shoot 35mm film to shoot a wider aspect ratio. The image is sqeezed to the 35mm film and later projected via a special lens to project a wider cinematic picture.
Thanks for your note, Henry. Yes, I think my stance has evolved somewhat since I made this video. I'd still say that for most filmmakers you won't find much "practical" difference between a cine lens and a photo. Focus breathing would be the biggest difference I see, and it can be lessened in post; cine gears are obvious differences, and for a couple of bucks you can buy a custom fit one for your photo lens. Precise focusing marks are a sign of a quality cine lens, but who on God's Green uses those anymore? And a consistent set (where each lens has the same color and contrast) is another perk of quality cines, but prices for a set put one in a whole new level of production (and vintage Nikons are actually quite similar). But I do appreciate how all of these little things add up to something bigger, and can be helpful. My thinking has shifted much farther with anamorphic, and I appreciate more that wider aspect ration you mentioned. Over the past couple of years a number of budget anamorphic lenses have really pushed the boundaries, making for fewer compromises.
You can do all this in post … maybe in the lens is different, but I basically I saw your face all the time, so I have not yet a clear idea of what this adaptor can do. Thanks anyway.
Hi there! Is there an option that offers you the tilt feature but with no adapter to other lens system feature? I am an architecture photographer and I'd like to turn my lenses into tilt shift lenses. Thanks so much!! Congrats on the channel!
Unfortunately, I don't believe there is a version that connects a lens from the same manufacturer as the camera. It's been a while since I checked for that, though-- if you find one, drop a comment to let me know. Best of luck.
I feel like you made this review for me. I shoot nikon on a sony a7iii 😂. I too have a large collection of vintage lenses. I've recently found myself doing more and more architecture work and found i need a tiltshift lens. The de-click on apature is an absolute game changer. Currently a nice feature on the k&f adapters with canon fd lenses. But to be able to use any of my Nikon lenes as a tilt shift and then a de-click lens for video all for $200 is a steal.
That's been my feeling, too. I will say that the aperture ring is very narrow, and with what would be usually considered a nice amount of friction is difficult to adjust on the fly if you're planning on pulling aperture while filming.
@@hurricaneimagesmedia good to know.
I have to add to the comments. This is mad professor stuff, and not reliable and could cause you to have to buy another lens to work properly if one you already have causes vignetting etc. Quite honestly, forget it - get saving and buy a proper TS Lens. I got my 45mm after saving up for months and selling a lens. I was blown away with it, I took a shot of a cellphone diagonally towards the lens, the near right corner angled into the lens. The shot included the phone, and about four inches of table behind it and two in front. It was a wood grained table and the phone was in a leather case opened like a book. I placed a bunch of car keys behind and to the left, in the top right corner of the frame. The camera was approx 12 inches above the table, and 18 inches away from the nearest part of the subject. I focused halfway up the phone using live view, magnified. I then, using live view, moved the viewpoint to the part of the phone nearest to me, and angled the tilt of the lens down slowly, until that area came into focus. I then moved the viewpoint back to the original position to double check it was still in focus, it was. After taking the shot, looking at the RAW was frightening me. You could see CLEARLY every stitch on the leather phone case. I pixel peeped the entire frame and absolutely could not find any single part of it which remotely had an out of focus area. Every bit of wood grain was sharp as a razor, so was the phone itself, even tiny specs of dust on the lcd screen of the phone were crystal clear. In all my years of photography, I was completely unprepared and shocked by this.
With all of that in mind, please, don't be like the mad professor in back to the future - please go off and buy one of these things, a proper TS lens, and make shure you know how to use it. I include a link to a website which gives you some idea of how to use these, the bit you need to see starts around 8 mins 20 seconds into the video. Please watch the whole thing and you'll see what inspired me to buy mine.
th-cam.com/video/Pm9mvOJ672E/w-d-xo.html
In fact, I added a 24mm TS lens to my 45mm a few months later by selling another of my standard zoom lenses. Still having fun with these and I keep finding new subjects for them all the time. Think carefully before spending on one of these adaptors / convertors, nothing beats the genuine article.
Great video, thanks!
As much as I would love to get one, I use both a Nikon body and Nikon lenses, and it seems that they don't produce any purely same-mount compatible adapters :/ Understandably, they make adapters, but since they have the tilt/shift line going, they could make straight tilt/shift options within the same camera system!
Well, I thought I had found a fun new option, but sadly, unless there are any Nikon-Nikon tilt-shift intermediary adapters, I'm out of luck.
Alas, I've never seen a Nikon to Nikon version either. It does seem like they've missed an opportunity here.
Technically it would be possible to make such adapter for Nikon F mount lenses to Nikon Z mount cameras.
However you cannot make an adapter that has the same lens mount on both ends, so Nikon F to Nikon F for instance won't work. Nor would Nikon Z to Nikon Z mount work.
That is because any adapter between lens and camera changes the distance between lens rear element and camera sensor and that affects the lens focus functions.
The adapter would then work like a macro extension ring: the lens would magnify close up subjects more, but cannot focus on fat away objects anymore.
So check their website for an adapter for Nikon F lenses to Nikon Z cameras. But beware that with modern lenses, that need electronic aperture control instead of mechanical aperture coupling, this Fotodiox adapter cannot change the aperture on the lens. What aperture the lens then shoots with, is different per lens.
@@TimvanderLeeuw Good points and great explanation-- thanks!
@@TimvanderLeeuw Yep. Nikon Z camera to F lens is now available. The adaptor takes the space that the nikon ftz adaptor would. It only works with G lenses (I can't see why it would not work with oder D and AIS lenses, but not tried it) as they are mechanical aperture. :Later dslr lenses had electronic apertures, so would not work with this adaptor, or cameras like F6.
To make a Z to Z tilt shift unit, additional optics would be required, else lens would not focus at infinity. How feasible & what the cost would be, I have no idea.
You missed the main point of tilt. It is primarily used to actually maximise the depth of field with lens wide open by changing the plane of focus into a wedge.
Creating blur is a gimmicky use
Yes, that is an interesting use of the tilt, though I'd argue it's a bit funky as a "depth of field" maximizer. Since it tilts the entire plane, objects that are vertical don't necessarily stay in focus from top to bottom. Take, for example, a tree in a field. If you tilt the lens to maximize the "in focus" area of the field, then the tree goes out of focus at the top. Now, if your subject is the tree (not the field), you can correct the perspective of the tree-- and keep more in focus-- using the tilt, but vertical objects in the background may look odd.
I want one of these but I want to use my x mount lenses. Can only find Nikon, cannon etc to x mount adapters.
The X mount system is a mirrorless camera system. There are no adapters for any mirrorless lenses to any other camera system. Only for DSLR lenses to mirrorless camera systems.
That's across the entire industry, not just these Fotodiox tilt-shift adapters.
The reasons are basically optical / mechanical limitations.
If you'd have such an adapter for you Fuji X mount lenses, on whichever camera, the distance between sensor and lens elements becomes larger than what the lens optics are designed for.
The adapter then will work like a macro extension ring, and you lose the ability to focus on faraway objects.
On top of that, all of Fuji's own lenses require electronic lens control to control aperture and focus.
Only purely mechanical lenses such as from 7Artisans or Laowa can be focused manually and have actual mechanical aperture control on the lenses. (don't let the aperture control ring on the lenses fool you: it's still controlled by the camera).
Great review!
Thank you!
Do they make these for Fujifilm? I’m in need of tilting so that I can get all of the products (playing card decks) sharp and in focus. Focus stacking is too much work, so this adapter would be perfect for me. Definitely going to check if there is a Fuji version. EDIT: Wait, since this is an adaptor it increases the distance between the sensor and the lens right? So I would probably not be able to use my native lenses with it anyway right? I’d have to get a DSLR lens? (By native lens, I mean a Laois 65mm macro lens that is fully manual. So the lack of electronics would not be a problem anyway).
I'm not an expert on this one, but if you're shooting with a mirrorless camera, I don't think distance is a factor here, but I don't believe you can find a version of this that will adapt a Fuji mount lens to a Fuji camera. I think it has to "adapt" a lens format.
did you solved the question? i am also looking for on how to put this adapter on a fuji
Due to flange distance you will need a different lens
At 4:34 I thought is that the Asian Cultural Center just off of Oakland California's china town?
Thank you for making this.
:-) Yup, I'm an Oaklander.
Thank you again for this review video. I've been using one on my Panasonic Micro Four Thirds cameras, but I'm considering adding a full-frame Sony to my bag, but wondering if I can set the Sony to cropped sensor mode to make this work.
Hi SilverLight, I'm not 100% sure what you're asking, but this adapter will work in cropped mode with the Sonys. Of course, you'll be adapting a non-Sony lens to your camera with this unit.
@@hurricaneimagesmedia That's great! I'm totally okay with using Nikon lenses (adapted to Sony) as those are most of my favorites! I just watched your video again (listening with more carefulness) and heard that you're using it with the Sony A7iii, and that's the exact camera I'm looking for!😃
i'm guessing there are good reasons canon and others keep making expensive tilt shift lenses.
for me, i bought a used one for $550. not regretting it
With many of the expensive lenses, it does seem like it's easier to make minute adjustments and lock them in-- something that can be important in architectural work. And I suspect that the lenses themselves cover a slightly larger area than full frame, reducing the likelihood of vignette. They also come with the lens-- and you have to factor in the price of a good lens if you don't own one already. But the adapter approach wins in terms of versatility, working with a variety of lenses, and you have to wonder why we're left "guessing" at what makes that expensive Canon tilt shift better.
didnt manage to find a lens working with this adapter - very sad. anyone can help. tried a manual lenses but was unable to get a sharp picture.
Hi Milski, what's your set up? What camera and what lens? Technically, since there's no glass in the adapter, the only potential issue that might affect sharpness is distance to the sensor. Or if you're working with anamorphics (it doesn't seem to like my adapter). If the adapter is aligned straight, everything should be sharp.
@@hurricaneimagesmedia i tried to set it up with a nisi 15mm on a sony alpha II . But im new to this so i was just wondering why it doesnt work. Thanks for your answer!
I don't have anything as wide as the Nisi, so I can't say for sure, but it may be that it's too wide for the adapter. If the light hits the sides of the lens (inside the barrel) it might cause it to bounce around and create softness, similar the diffraction created by narrowing the aperture too far (f/18 should be softer than f/8 on any lens). But I'm mostly guessing.
is there a version for Sony e-mount cameras with e-mount lenses ? I can only find the ones that allow yiu to mount canon or nikor lenses...
I don't think so-- I think you have to convert from one type of lens to another. Frankly, I'm not sure why this is.
Wouldn't one of these adapters prevent your sensor from getting the entire image circle produced by the lens? Or am I misunderstanding how it works
I'll admit, this adapter works like magic to me (meaning I don't understand how something without glass in it can shift the plane), but the short answer is no. Even with a 20mm lens on a full frame the adapter doesn't vignette in TILT. On wider lenses, the SHIFT will vignette. I believe typically, the lens has a wider circle than the sensor will capture, which is perhaps why this works. I have a Sigma 35mm designed for cropped sensors and it's almost vignette free on my full-frame.
It depends on the image circle the lens produces. This does not depend on the focal length but on the construction of the lens. Some lenses of the same focal length have different sizes of projections. So some lenses tend to vignet, others can simply fall short, and again others cover the sensor royally and can be tilted and shifted all around.
I'm afraid that not being able to control aperture is a bit of a showstopper for me, at least for using the Fotodiox TLT ROKR with lenses I currently own!
Do you mean control the aperture from the camera? The adapter has a clickless aperture ring.
@@hurricaneimagesmedia The lenses which I have that I could use with one of these adapters are Canon EF mount lenses, and they need to be powered from camera to control aperture.
They do not work with a mechanical aperture control ring on the adapter.
Looking at the Fotodiox website, it looks like the version for Canon EF mount lenses doesn't have an aperture ring, and their product description warns for this.
What type of lenses are you adapting with the Fotodiox TLT ROKR?
@@TimvanderLeeuw I have the Nikon-mount version, plus older AF-D Nikon lenses, which gives me two options for changing aperture.
@@silverlightphotoco I know there are many lenses that have manual aperture control, just not ones I have at the moment that would be compatible with this adapter! 😀
@@TimvanderLeeuw I totally get it. I've collected a lot of lenses since I'm using a Panasonic Micro Four Thirds system ( I have a website where I'm testing lens-sensor settings for each one) and I used to buy Canon mount lenses, but stopped due to this lack of manual aperture control, etc. What camera system are you currently on?
Can I get GFX body mount to Nikon F/G lens for this adapter?
Sorry, it wouldn't work for you. The Nikon lenses are only full frame, so you'll already see the edges on a medium format, even before shifting the lens.
what would connecting one of these to a tilt shift lens do?
Good question! I imagine the tilt would get crazy narrow (which might be helpful if your lens isn't very fast, but overkill if you're already working with an f/2 or faster). On the shift, it will probably more the lens too far, resulting in one side of the frame going black....
😀 what you describe as “shortcomings” may be better described as “lack of user knowledge”.
Tools are made to help people, they do what they are designed to do. Don’t blame a tool for user ignorance.
i purchased one of these adaptors & am having issues with light leaks, any suggestions on how to fix this issue?
It sounds like the adapter is loose enough to wiggle? Is that true? And is it on a Sony camera? It should be a snug fit (mine is). And there shouldn't be any light leaks or other things (like flare). Your best bet is probably to return it if you can, or exchange/repair under the warranty. If neither of those apply, I'd reach out directly to Fotodiox via Facebook to see if they can help.
Hello, if you are using fx lenses, when you shift, is it still sharp in edges? I wonder if circle image of fx is made for fx sensor,... Or do you use the adapter in combination with fx lenses and smaller DX sensor. In my experience, to have a properly shift ability, image circle of the lens has to be bigger than the sensor format... Medium format lenses for fx sensor or fx lenses combined with DX sensor... 4x5inch lens for medium format sensor... Which combination are you using? Thanks. Best regards. Bernard
Yep-- that's the thing you have to watch out for. The TILT movement doesn't vignette, but it will vignette when pushed all the way to the side in SHIFT direction. The amount varies on the aperture (wide open = a lot; shut down = a little). To be fair, some $2K tilt-shift lenses do this, too. That is a clear drawback. But you can get most (70%?) of the SHIFT degree out of the adapter if you stop down a little.
Good advice. What FD lens would you recommend for Architectural? I have apsc sony a6600 camera
I'm not familiar enough with apsc lenses to give good advice here, but Christopher Frost is probably the best resource on TH-cam for lens reviews (he's done over 400 with clinical accuracy). He's talked me into more than one lens....
Larger image circles (eg full frame for an apsc) can avoid vignetting. Focal lengths are traditionally wide for architecture although if that's not what you're looking to do it comes down entirely to what you want from it. An adapter like this is really interesting to me since it opens such a wide variety of interesting used lenses to swap around.
You kind of miss the point when it comes to anamorphic and cinelenses 😅
Hi Chiel, thanks for your message. Can you explain a little more? I didn't go very deep into my thoughts on anamorphic and cine lenses, but I'm curious about the advantages you see.
@@hurricaneimagesmedia sure, when it comes to cinelenses it’s all about being easy to work with features like long focus throw, follow focus gears, standardized size for filters and matteboxes (in a set) also focus breathing can be an issue for a lot of photography lenses. Anamorphic lenses is for me more about the actual squeeze and de squeezing of an image together with visual artifacts, like oval boke. This is for a lot of people the main reason to choose anamorphic over cilindrical lenses, the look and feel. Flares is nice but like you sayed you can do it in post, not the main dish here. Hopefully that clears some things up ✌️
More demo and less talk please