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Cheap Perspective Control lens/accessory for Nikon DSLR


talkinglittlegirl

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<p>The Nikkor PC is currently out of my budget (Which is USD100 to USD200) and I got a couple of questions I wish to ask you guys...Hope you can give me some good advice.</p>

<p>I shoot a lot of architectural pictures and apparently wide angle is not giving me the result I want. I did a serious research and upon recommendation of some fellows on the net, it seems like Perspective Control/Correction, PC in short, is something I need!<br>

So...after rounds of digging around the net, I discovered a couple of things:<br>

the old PC Nikkor 28mm f/3.5-to my surprise some of them are as expensive as the ones manufactured today. why is it so much sought after?<br>

the cheap lensbaby---I wonder if this cheap tilt-shift baby can do architectural pictures? most of the sample pictures i see on the online galleries have exaggerated bokeh...hmm...<br>

I wonder if there is an adapter or some sort of cheap accessories for my Nikon that can do a PC job? Or a dirt cheap lens?<br>

Or any old second hand dirt cheap lens that fits my nikon mount?<br>

Otherwise, what about some cheap vintage (but must give sharp images) with built in PC capabilities?</p>

<p>Thanks for reading... :)</p>

 

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<p>$200 can get you a very nice ladder. Works great for those shorter buildings... :-)<br /><br />Actually, I'm only half joking. With a more traditional wide angle lens, even a <em>modest</em> change in your point of view (elevation, relative to your subject) can bring the perspective problems closer to being satisfactorily handled in post production. If you're shooting, say, a classic farmhouse or a two-floor brownstone, even a 10-foot A-frame ladder can do wonders. </p>
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<p>Arsat 35/2.8 is probably one of the cheapest PC lenses, but it has become less cheap in the past years. Used to be $250 but is now $350 or so. I briefly used one before finding a bargain on the 28/3.5 PC-Nikkor.</p>

<p>Qualitywise it wasn't too hot at extreme shifts, but as I said, I only used it briefly.</p>

<p>Note that 35 isn't wide on DX. Especially if you're using a DX body, it might make more sense to do the corrections in postprocessing. The PTLens plugin for Photoshop is way cheaper than any PC lens. Depends on your standards, of course, but I've done 12x18 inch prints from D200 pictures I've put through PTLens and have been satisfied with the results.</p>

 

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<p>Not the way to go cheap.</p>

<p>You could look at a used 4x5 view camera and wide angle lens. If you find a 120 or 220 film adapter you could shoot negative film at 6x6cm or 6x9cm and have that scanned. That is the cheapest way to go and gives better control than any PC lens on a 35mm camera.</p>

<p>This also would be a great training to shoot 35mm with a PC lens later.</p>

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<p>Ni Hao, Saint Chatterbox (that last part rings a bell, I used to be called that in school....see my lastname :-)).</p>

<p>I have no idea how well this works, or even if at all, but take a <a href="http://araxfoto.com/accessories/shift/">look here</a> . It is a shift adapter for Nikon F mount to use Pentacon Six lenses, which are available relatively inexpensively. <a href="../equipment/canon/tilt-shift">According to this,</a> it should work. It says 10mm of shift, not sure how much perspective correction that allows.</p>

<p>The have a <a href="http://araxfoto.com/accessories/tilt/">tilt adapter</a> as well.</p>

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<p>Shift lenses are unfortunately not one of the cheapest things you can buy. I recommend that when possible, you go to the opposite side of the street, ask to enter the building and shoot from a window in the second or third floor, as appropriate. This is no joke; you can in many cases get a better result that way than by shooting with a shift lens from street level. If this isn't possible, can you perhaps back away and shoot with a short telephoto? Another possibility is to use an ultrawide and just keep the lens level just as if you were using a PC lens, just crop the result in image editor to reduce the amount of empty foreground. The last resort is to try using an ultrawide, tilt it up and "correct" the convergence in an image editor.</p>

<p>I have the 24mm and 35mm Nikon PC lenses which I use for architectural wide shots and landscapes, and they're wonderful (in particular, the 24) but the shoot-from-the-window approach would actually result in better images, if I weren't so shy about it. ;-)</p>

<p>Before you despair, remember that if you were into bird photography, a shift lens would feel very inexpensive compared to equipment that you would then need. ;-)</p>

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<p>At the end of my film days, I used a Mamiya 7 with a 50mm lens, and the carwfully leveled the camera to keep all vertical lines vertical. Had a lot of sidewalk and street in the bottom of the frame. But, then in the darkroom, I only printed the top half of the frame. Voila! The 50mm wide angle became a 100mm shift-lens. Of course, it helped to have 6x7 negative to work with. I'm just saying, a 24mm lens on a DSLR is a 48mm shift lens.</p>
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<p>1) <strong>Shift lens with an adapter for P6 lenses (Soviet or Zeiss Jena)</strong> . - I have such an adapter (it is 11mm like the PC-Nikkor), but remember that a WIDE angle on a P6 lens is 45-50mm long. If yours is a small sensor camera this will be far too long for a useful architectural lens. I have one and I just don't find a lot of use for a shift on a 180mm Sonnar ("crop" equivalent of 270mm).<br>

2) <strong>Shift</strong> is the salient function for architectural photography. Even if the Lensbaby was decent optically (it's a nice special-effect toy, not a working lens for something like you're talking about), it has TILT, not shift. Tilt is useful for things like product photography which is the sort of thing 90mm tilt-and-shift lenses are made for.<br>

3) <strong>Check if it will work on your body</strong> : Older PC-Nikkors do NOT mount on all digital Nikons, in fact, I'm not sure that they mount on more than one or two of the newer digital bodies, if any. So, not only are they expensive, you need to research it carefully before you buy. Again, unless your camera is full-frame (24x36mm sensor), even 28mm is long. For architectural work over the years I found my 35mm f/2.8 PC-Nikkor to work fine on my film Nikons. I would have liked to get the 28mm, but the difference in focal length wasn't enough to justify the swap and cost.<br>

4) <strong>Consider 35mm PC-Nikkor</strong> : However, the 35mm PC-Nikkor is cheaper used than the 28mm, so you might look around, if you discover that it can be mounted on your body. These lenses are manual everything anyhow, so as long as it fits, get the older models.<br>

5) <strong>You need 24x36mm sensor for this purpose</strong> : In the long run, if you want to stay with what the Germans call the "Kleinbild" (small picture) format as opposed to a view camera, you do need to get a 24x36mm sensor. 15x22mm or so just doesn't cut it for this application. It's why I just bought a 24x36mm body (albeit a Canon EOS 5D) to use with my 35mm PC-Nikkor.</p>

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<p>Thanks guys for your response in just a few short hours!<br>

Currently I'm just using a very amateur machine, the D70s, but am considering to move to FULL FRAME shortly :)<br>

So ok, if I'm doing archi shots, Lensbaby isn't my choice (however I'd love to play with one when I have extra money...it really looks cute!)<br>

The Arsat adapter looks cute, for less than USD90, what else can I ask for? However, i need some recommendation about the lens side. Kiev C? Penta 6? Well, I need to find out more....and to make sure they can attached to my D70s... Where to get some cheap P6 or Kiev lens and which ones to get?<br>

The Arsat is a great alternative to the new PC-Nikkors which sells for more than USD1000, however, with this money, why don't I consider getting the old PC-Nikkor 28mm f/3.5?<br>

Finally, I know the old PC-nikkor isn't that wide on my DX, but do u think it gives good results on a FX? If so I'd like to consider that since it's just about USD700 which is half the price of the new PC-nikkors.<br>

Thanks.<br>

(Of course I still love the idea of experimenting with cheap alternatives first before splashing my cash for a good lens this moment)</p>

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<p>The cheapest solution I can think of that includes good optics is an enlarger lens in a homemade shift device. Typically it's an 80mm or so lens, so it's limited compared with a wide angle shift or tilt/shift lens. But if you have enough working room it's useful, such as some outdoor spaces with buildings that are no more than two or three stories tall.</p>

<p>It's more difficult to describe than make. Basically you need two sheets of foam core or gatorfoam, approx. 8x10 in size. Cut a hole in one sheet to accommodate the enlarger lens and jam nut or other means to secure the lens to the board. Repeat this with the other board, cutting a hole large enough for the camera body lens mount and something like a T-mount adapter. Use large rubber bands to hold the shift position of the lens board relative to the body.</p>

<p>Good rainy day project, especially if you already have the raw materials handy (I did). I've made variations of this rig, including one with a homebrewed bag bellows for tilts and swings. It works, but isn't convenient. It's better suited to tabletop photography but can be adapted to architectural and landscape use within limits.</p>

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<p>Simple convergence is easy to correct in Photoshop, assuming you start from a scanned or digital image. Try to keep the center of the image vertical to minimize the amount of cropping needed later. There's no software solution for the DOF control provided by a tilting lens.</p>
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<p>Remember that the new Nikon 24mm PC-E only partly works with your D70</p>.

<p>Check Ken Rockwell's review of it for more info (can't link to it for some stupid reason), he lists compatibility with many older and current Nikon bodies. (cheaper bodies often limit the rotation and maximum shift, for instance)

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<p>nah...photoshop is really a monster. i don't really want to spend hours in front of the monitor doing the editting after working outside all day :)<br>

i know even the most pro use photoshop to do part of their jobs, however, i'm still a newbie and too much photoshop is not too good for me.....i worry i might get too addicted to it later.... haha...<br>

just joking however i wish to have my prints as original as possible. ..i'm still waiting for some more answers about the Pentacon 6 mount lens recommendations while I'll keep researching about it too :)</p>

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<p>How about this:<br>

1. Use your regular wide angle lens<br>

2. Correct distortion in PhotoShop or a software like DxO (which has corrections for most available lenses, more useful for lenses with funky distortion).<br>

3. Correct perspective in PhotoShop<br>

4. Congratulations if your happy wíth the quality. <br>

You can not simulate tilt in post though. Please share your results if you care to try.</p>

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<p>On your answer for P6 lens recommendations, I think JDM already mentioned the limitations with the ARSAT adapter. The normal range for medium-format, which the Pentacon Six lenses are designed for, is roughly around 80mm. The widest non-fisheye lenses are around 40-50mm (<a href="http://araxfoto.com/lenses/mir-26/">example</a> ). A 45mm lens on a DX camera will have the equivalent FOV of almost a 70mm lens, i.e. not very wide-angle. You have to decide if an equivalent FOV of a 70mm works for you for your architectural shots. Assuming it works, the ARAX price for the combo is roughly around US $350.</p>

<p>If you need a wide angle, the Nikkor 28mm f3.5 PC is available used at keh.com for $450 in EX condition (which, from KEH, is usually quite nice shape). This would be 32mm equiv FOV in DX, and of course, 28mm in FX.</p>

<p>Unfortunately, not much solution in the $100-200 range in terms of equipment. But, if you have decent light for your D70 pictures, I wouldn't discount the half-frame solutions people have mentioned, including the article I linked above.</p>

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