Review of a $300 tilt lens option

Gavjenks

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Hey all! I thought I'd share my enthusiasm with this setup that I just recently bought:
Lens: 80mm f/2.8 Biometar Pentacon 6 medium format manual focus lens ~$150
Adapter to Canon: this one Amazon.com: Tilt/ Swing Adapter for Pentacon Six Lens to Canon EOS Camera: Camera & Photo ~$150
Total: $300 versus for example $900 even used for a Canon 90mm TSE


  • The adapter has just as much tilt as Canon TSE lenses (8 degrees, which is enough to get basically 90 degree rotation of the focal plane).
  • It cannot shift (but I don't care about that nearly as much). If you do want shift, there is a tilt and shift adapter, too, but it costs ~$300. Still way cheaper than a TSE lens, and the same adapter would work for multiple pentacon 6 lenses
  • Aperture is as wide as any normal tilt shift lens
  • This is one of the sharper lenses I own! Even at f/2.8
  • The adapter spins with clicks every 30 degrees, so you can aim the tilt in different directions.
  • Controls are all very intuitive.
  • The lens is medium format, so it covers even my 6D's full frame sensor easily with tilting, like a normal tilt shift does.
  • Thing is built probably stronger than a tank. A tank wouldn't know what hit it. But still reasonably compact. With the adapter, it becomes about the size and weight of a normal modern lens, maybe a tad heavier.

Here are some sample photos I snapped around town the last couple of days since I got this in the mail. Sorry, no opportunity for portraits since then (maybe I will do a self portrait if I don't find any friends or models in the near future).

$A.jpg$B.jpg$C.jpg

(last one is without any tilt)



Pentacon 6 also has some nice sharp lenses out to about 50mm if you want wider tilt lens capabilities.

Overall, I'm super happy with this. Whole system cost is 1/3 the price of a Canon tilt shift. For 1/2 the price instead, I could have gotten shift too if I cared (note that the canon lens is also manual focus). And quality is high enough that it doesn't really matter to me if the lens is technically less sharp than a Canon L tilt, because it will probably be years before I am good enough at using it for the lens to be the limiting factor in sharpness anyway.

AND it's modular, so if I grab a 50mm later, the price is only incremental, and I don't pay for tilt again. Very much recommended for anybody who wants a real, legitimate tilt option--not a lensbaby toy, for an affordable price.
 
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
Sounds like a good solution, at a fair price.
 

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