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Hello all.. 


What are people using for architectural lenses on the SL3? I have my old 17 and 24 shift lenses from my Canon system, but am very curious about other options, as I feel the Canons are getting a little long in the tooth. Anyone tried the Laowa offerings? Are they any good?

 

love to see some example work!

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On my SL2 I have been using an even older Nikkor 28mm shift, and love it. My local dealer has both the R35mm shift, and a gorgeous 28mm shift, but the price to me means I stay with my Nikkor. While possibly not the architectural pic you were meaning, I am compiling a portfolio of local street art, and my disdain for converging verticals means using my 28 Nikkor.

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I have been using the Canon TS-E 17 and 24 vII. they are still better than all the Laiwa offerings in image quality.

recently I have added the 14-24, this lens renders fine detail, but like the 17mm it is difficult to use pol-filter.

when I need the polarizer filter I will use the 15mm from IRIX. it is an affordable rectilinear lens, with sharpness similar to the Canon 17 TS-E

this is a sample on the 15 IRIX

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this is the 14-24 sample

 

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Is anybody using perspective control instead of T/S lenses? I have the impression that it works decently but that the geometry in the image can be weird. 

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1 hour ago, jaapv said:

Is anybody using perspective control instead of T/S lenses? I have the impression that it works decently but that the geometry in the image can be weird. 

Geometry with shift lenses can also be weird, and LPC (Leica perspective control) can "shift" much more than a typical TS lens, which leads to an odd initial look that requires some compression in the post. The advantage of shift lenses is that you can correct only partially to work around the weird look caused by excessive shifting (called "rise/fall" in technical camera jargon). Of course, tilt cannot be replaced by LPC.

I regularly use LPC when traveling without a tripod and shooting handheld. It helps a lot when shooting buildings inside and outside.

I have a Canon TS 24 and get sharper images with a Leica lens and LPC.

Some Laowa lenses seem pretty good for shift/rise/fall. If I were shooting architecture with a Leica on a tripod, I would try them out.

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occasionally spaces are so small that the 17mm is not enough, but so is the 14mm.

this image is a composite of 3 horizontal images with 17mm, shift up and shift down, and stitched in post.

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As a consumer I am not in favor of such images, especially not when used on booking sites. Photographing a tiny space with a uwa. Whenever I see such images, I will neglect the offer.

A bit more offtopic, but still may be relevant when using uwa for such purposes.

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A few things here...LPC can help with converging lines there were formerly addressed by shifting..I have tried it and do not like how it interacts with the image.  As a 20+ year view camera photographer (still use a 5x7 - good visual discipline), Tilt has been as important as shift.  With different forms of tilt, you can create more visual "looming" in the foreground in addition to near/far focus.  Today, for near/far focus needs, I see many people using focus stacking and re-combination.  does not work for me as well as a good Tilt.

Prior to my L-mount transition, I used the original Canon TS/E lenses in 24mm, 50mm, 90mm...I had the 17 for a while, but it did not fit how the images I make.  Canon finally updated the 24/50/90 some time ago with much better image quality over the entire image circle and somewhat better physical controls.  When I moved to L-mount, I added the sigma adapters to use the same lenses.  Shift is easy...just move up/down for framing while holding the camera level.  Tilt is harder - based on your camera position and near/far focus goal, you have to configure your camera to allow magnification across the frame while you tilt/focus/check the near and far (topic for a later post).  For me, it works very well.  Here is an image I took last week in Iceland with my SL3/Canon 50mm TS/E second generation.  After setting the tilt so that near/far were in focus, and choosing a camera position and tilt angle that helped the foreground iceberg chunk "loom"..the result worked..I was pleased with the result.  It would be hard to use focus stacking here to achieve the same result, especially since I was trying to capture a wave in the background and have the right level of perspective in the image..

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16 hours ago, Olaf_ZG said:

As a consumer I am not in favor of such images, especially not when used on booking sites. Photographing a tiny space with a uwa. Whenever I see such images, I will neglect the offer.

A bit more offtopic, but still may be relevant when using uwa for such purposes.

I am looking for a house. In time you learn to interpret such images correctly. 

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On 3/12/2025 at 12:07 AM, Photoworks said:

occasionally spaces are so small that the 17mm is not enough, but so is the 14mm.

this image is a composite of 3 horizontal images with 17mm, shift up and shift down, and stitched in post.

 

Yeah i do that a lot. The new panorama feature in capture one is shockingly good! 

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On 3/10/2025 at 11:55 PM, Photoworks said:

I have been using the Canon TS-E 17 and 24 vII. they are still better than all the Laiwa offerings in image quality.

recently I have added the 14-24, this lens renders fine detail, but like the 17mm it is difficult to use pol-filter.

when I need the polarizer filter I will use the 15mm from IRIX. it is an affordable rectilinear lens, with sharpness similar to the Canon 17 TS-E

this is a sample on the 15 IRIX

this is the 14-24 sample

 

Will check out the 15! Yeah it looks as though i’ll be sticking with my 17, i just wish there was an easier way to attach filters.

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On 3/14/2025 at 12:37 AM, georgecp said:

A few things here...LPC can help with converging lines there were formerly addressed by shifting..I have tried it and do not like how it interacts with the image.  As a 20+ year view camera photographer (still use a 5x7 - good visual discipline), Tilt has been as important as shift.  With different forms of tilt, you can create more visual "looming" in the foreground in addition to near/far focus.  Today, for near/far focus needs, I see many people using focus stacking and re-combination.  does not work for me as well as a good Tilt.

Prior to my L-mount transition, I used the original Canon TS/E lenses in 24mm, 50mm, 90mm...I had the 17 for a while, but it did not fit how the images I make.  Canon finally updated the 24/50/90 some time ago with much better image quality over the entire image circle and somewhat better physical controls.  When I moved to L-mount, I added the sigma adapters to use the same lenses.  Shift is easy...just move up/down for framing while holding the camera level.  Tilt is harder - based on your camera position and near/far focus goal, you have to configure your camera to allow magnification across the frame while you tilt/focus/check the near and far (topic for a later post).  For me, it works very well.  Here is an image I took last week in Iceland with my SL3/Canon 50mm TS/E second generation.  After setting the tilt so that near/far were in focus, and choosing a camera position and tilt angle that helped the foreground iceberg chunk "loom"..the result worked..I was pleased with the result.  It would be hard to use focus stacking here to achieve the same result, especially since I was trying to capture a wave in the background and have the right level of perspective in the image..

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LPC doesn’t really do anything for me.. I don’t shoot in JPG for the most part, and correct my images in Capture One anyway, so I’m always keystoning. The shift is more for architecture and interiors when i need to capture a tall building, or shoot from the side to avoid a mirror and things like that, which can’t really be cheated. 

 

Good use of tilt! I don’t think I’ve ever actually bothered trying it. I should. 

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I definitely want to learn more about tilt.  I have the 120 TS for the S system, which works on the SL, but it is more for product work than landscape.  I use it on the coast, but have a lot to learn, it’s not as easy as one would think. Thanks @georgecp for the great example.  I would love to see Leica create a wider T/S lens and I do really like the “Schneider” 28 PC R lens as it is more current in the R system.

I have looked at the cannon and nikon T/S lenses and they seem to be easy to obtain, but getting the right adapter seems harder.  Does anyone have currently available suggestions for both lens and adapter?

As an aside, I haven’t tried it yet, but I do have a tilt shift adapter for Hasselblad V lenses to try on the CVII 50.  Since it is not a ‘ful frame’ 120 it shouldn’t have vignetting problems at the edges like film might.  I’d rather have a good flexbody, but those are hard to find now with the full focusing system.  

Great thread.

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1 hour ago, davidmknoble said:

As an aside, I haven’t tried it yet, but I do have a tilt shift adapter for Hasselblad V lenses to try on the CVII 50.  Since it is not a ‘ful frame’ 120 it shouldn’t have vignetting problems at the edges like film might.  I’d rather have a good flexbody, but those are hard to find now with the full focusing system.  

oh boy, I used to have that one! I think there is a place for digital Hasselblad, back in the film days the range of movement was too small with wide-angle lenses, the ring of the end of glass would show up in the corners quickly.

 

a bit of notice on the older shift lenses from Nikon, they are too soft for modern times. 
For the newer Nikon 24mm PC-E, novoflex made an adapter, but I don't know if the electronic contacts still work on the newer SL cameras

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 3/17/2025 at 10:12 PM, davidmknoble said:

I definitely want to learn more about tilt.  I have the 120 TS for the S system, which works on the SL, but it is more for product work than landscape.  I use it on the coast, but have a lot to learn, it’s not as easy as one would think. Thanks @georgecp for the great example.  I would love to see Leica create a wider T/S lens and I do really like the “Schneider” 28 PC R lens as it is more current in the R system.

I have looked at the cannon and nikon T/S lenses and they seem to be easy to obtain, but getting the right adapter seems harder.  Does anyone have currently available suggestions for both lens and adapter?

As an aside, I haven’t tried it yet, but I do have a tilt shift adapter for Hasselblad V lenses to try on the CVII 50.  Since it is not a ‘ful frame’ 120 it shouldn’t have vignetting problems at the edges like film might.  I’d rather have a good flexbody, but those are hard to find now with the full focusing system.  

Great thread.

I've used the Sigma L mount adapter and it's been great, no complaints at all!

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  • 1 month later...

LPC or equivalent perspective (keystone) correction in post in photoshop or other software are 100% equivalent in the outcome of the perspective. The only difference is that perspective (keystone) correction interpolates pixels which leads to reduction of resolution in some areas (compressed pixels) and less sharpness in others (stretched pixels). 
I use both methods all the time. Basically even in every iPhone image because I dislike images by accidentally tilted camera (which is hard to completely avoid). 

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I mostly use shift lenses on my GFX, more than on my S1R, but I want to mention, if very wide view angles are required (e.g. skyscrapers), I replaced my TSE 17 and 24 by the Loawa 20 PC which I find a a bit sharper in the shifted corners than the two Canon lenses and rather low distortion.

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