Need lense! crisp and in perspective

[19nash85]

I am taking pictures of Racing seats. they tend to get some distortion because the bottom is closer then the backs. To fix this I was recommended by a man from Canon at photoshop world Vegas to use a TS (TILT SHIFT) lense. Sounds nice. Im using a NIkon D50 so I found the Nikon version which is a 85mm lense which may put me pretty far from the seat, and it is not an AF lense.
Another person suggested a Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D because it produces sharp pictures.

What would ya'll suggest? My boss is basically willing to do anything to make these seat pictures look better then they do now.

thanks everyone

 

[Sw1tchFX]

shoot at f/22.

 

[Sideburns]

Yes, shoot at a lower (higher number) aperture. Use a tripod if you need to. This will broaden your depth of field.

 

[The_Traveler]

I don't understand exactly what you mean about the distortion.
Could you post a picture that shows what the problem is?

Thanks,

Lew

 

[PaulBennett]

I don't think that depth of field is the 'distortion' referred to here. I can imagine the near corner of the racing seat in a 3/4 shot would loom overly large to look appealing. This perspective distortion of near objects looking larger than distant objects is what makes noses look large even with normal lenses in portrait work.

Tele's will flatten images lessening this effect without needing shift or tilt. Back in the old days, the Nikon 105mm 2.5 was the ideal portrait lens as it flattened just enough to flatter and could in fact be used here. To maintain proper perspective, I would certainly suggest something in the 85mm up to 200, but don't understand why distance to the object or autofocus would either matter or be an issue.

Incidently, Nikon had a 'perspective control' lens...IIRC 90mm for taking straight on shots of tall buildings with the camera and lens completely level to the horizon. The shift lens kept the sides of the building completely parallel yet the image captured the building from bottom to top. Like a shift lens without a bellows. Using a bellow is a less appealing possibility yet still in the realm of possibility with the aformentioned D50 camera. I picked up a Nikon bellows and never found a real use for it, but it does provide tilt and shift for 35mm photo work.

 

[fmw]

Distortion like you describe is caused by placing your camera too close to the subject. The solution is to back away from the subject and then use a longer focal lens length to fill the frame.

 

[sabbath999]

Perhaps you should use a lens, not a lense. That might help.

 

[usayit]

listen to fmw... slightly longer focal length, shot from a farther back stance, with a smaller aperture (higher number), on a tripod. That should do it.

btw...

lens versus lense... either is actually correct

Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source
Main Entry: lens
Variant: also lense /'lenz/
Function: noun
1 : a curved piece of glass or plastic used singly or combined in eyeglasses or an optical instrument (as a microscope) for forming an image
2 : a device for directing or focusing radiation other than light (as sound waves, radio microwaves, or electrons)
3 : a highly transparent biconvex lens-shaped or nearly spherical body in the eye that focuses light rays entering the eye typically onto the retina, lies immediately behind the pupil, is made up of slender curved rod-shaped ectodermal cells in concentric lamellae surrounded by a tenuous mesoblastic capsule, and alters its focal length by becoming more or less spherical in response to the action of the ciliary muscle on a peripheral suspensory ligament —lensed adjective —lens·less adjective

 

[19nash85]

Thank you to everyone who gave there advice. I will give it a try. The distortion I was referring to is that the front of the seat looks too big and the back looks too small. I will try moving the camera back and turn the apt. up. thanks again

 

[19nash85]

sorry "Their"