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Use of Tilt-shift lenses or Lens Baby?

Stephen Pruitt

Stephen Pruitt

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Hey guys. . .

I'm sort of intrigued by the thought of using tilt shift technologies in my films.

A few quick questions:

1. How much do you find yourself using. . . or wanting to use. . . such things?

2. What is the best single focal length for a tilt-shift lens in cinema work? (If I buy one, it will be just one.)

3. How good is the Lens Baby for this sort of work?

I'm using Canon lenses, and won't be changing any time soon.

Thanks!

Stephen
 
Hi Stephen, I shot a fashion gig a few weeks ago, and used a 45mm 2.8 tilt-shift lens for some of the work. I was quite happy with the results, and can see how I would incorporate that lens into my work. All the images below except the first one was shot on this 45mm TS. Goes to show the tilt-shift has many different uses than just to make things look miniature :-)

I borrowed a lens baby once from a guy, and to be honest I had a lot more fun, and got better results from the tilt-shift.

all these were shot on an Epic 5K WS

A003_C030_0509G9.0000627.jpg

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A007_C073_05104S.0000464.jpg

A007_C073_05104S.0000186.jpg
 
Stephen Pruitt said:
Hey guys. . .

I'm sort of intrigued by the thought of using tilt shift technologies in my films.

A few quick questions:

1. How much do you find yourself using. . . or wanting to use. . . such things?

2. What is the best single focal length for a tilt-shift lens in cinema work? (If I buy one, it will be just one.)

3. How good is the Lens Baby for this sort of work?

I'm using Canon lenses, and won't be changing any time soon.

Thanks!

Stephen
Click to expand...

Watching the last episode of Thrones, there ere a few scenes, with prolly 12 feet high (or whatever cubit measure they use) doors, behind talent, with the doors "falling over" very, very perceptibly. Now, whilst that could have been artistic choice, it is not a unique observation. It takes a bit to learn use of TSE's and then sometimes, one can see where they wouldn't be likely he most common place choice. Nonetheless, is it that most kits to not include TSE's AND they are just too time consuming to setup properly, especially as regards undesirable talent disproportions?

Thank you very much

Fury
 
I like using Hasselblads on a Tilt Shift adapter for portraits. You can see some samples here:

HASSY T/S

I'm not so into the miniaturizing effect, but the unexepected focus planes in a portrait I'm into.

Those were shot on a Hassy 150 2.8 tilted all the way to 8 degrees.
 
Okay. . . assuming one uses a tilt-shift, what is the most useable of the lens lengths? 45mm?

Thanks gents!

Stephen
 
The LensBaby is more for distorted effects, especially if you use the original one where you manually flex the lens around to create live shifts. Tilt-shift lenses are sharper and more controllable for one you want a diagonal plane of focus to throw things in or out of focus that normally would fall the other way.

I sometimes use a tilt-shift lens for a faux deep focus effect. In those cases, the 45mm tilt-focus is more useful than the longer or shorter ones (usually there is a 24mm, 45mm, and 90mm, at least with ARRI and Panavision) -- just because you need the tilt-focus less with a wide-angle lens to create a deep focus look, and with a telephoto lens, it just looks odd to tilt the focus (though HBO's "Six Feet Under" did a lot of shots with the 24mm tilt-focus).

I used a 45mm tilt-focus for these shots in "Big Love":

biglove25.jpg


biglove26.jpg
 
The Canon 24mm TS-E II is one of the sharpest lenses I've ever used, love it and my 17mm on the Epic. Rumors abound that Canon is also finally going to upgrade their 45mm. If that's the focal length you're considering, you may want to hold off. The current designs of the 45 and 90 are ancient.

This Schneider is a beauty as well...

CB
 
I have the lens baby PL mount kit - I've 'used' it on 2 jobs… I spent several weeks of practicing with the kit in my own studio, before I felt comfortable using it in front of clients / agency. It really is for more distorted effects, and if you aren't extremely skilled or lucky; the effects aren't repeatable.
May never use it again, so the pelican case sits in the studio.
 
2 very different tools - the Lens Baby offers some interesting defocus effects but it hard to reproduce from shot to shot pending what model you use. We use it on music videos and creative projects where you don't mind committing to a look. I do feel like that is an effect one can replicate in post - maybe not exactly but certainly in the ball park. I use a lens baby more when Im shooting stills. The aperture is a set of discs that you need to change out when you need more or less light. harder to deal with in a motion shoot. Fun lens to play with and relatively not that expensive.
 
Christopher Barrett said:
The Canon 24mm TS-E II is one of the sharpest lenses I've ever used, love it and my 17mm on the Epic. Rumors abound that Canon is also finally going to upgrade their 45mm. If that's the focal length you're considering, you may want to hold off. The current designs of the 45 and 90 are ancient.

CB
Click to expand...

+1

If You want to stay Canon I would also recommend the 24mm. Not only because it is the sharpest by far, but also IMHO it helps with "focusing" attention of the viewers in the wide FOV, or masking things when you need it (this is nicely shown in the fashion show shots above). You are more likely to need this with wide angle then with the longer lenses. Also - the original purpose of the TS lenses was architecture, to correct the focal plane along huge surfaces that are on a angle to the camera and assist with out-of-plane distortion (again far more evident in wide POVs)...

Just my 2 yen...

:sifone: Peter
 
Thanks so much for the examples and the comments, gents.

I REALLY like that shot of the mirror and the billboard. THAT is something I feel like I could use with some frequency.

Thanks again!

Stephen
 
Stephen Pruitt said:
Thanks so much for the examples and the comments, gents.

I REALLY like that shot of the mirror and the billboard. THAT is something I feel like I could use with some frequency.

Thanks again!

Stephen
Click to expand...

That David Mullen is one crafty fellow.

I'll +2 the comments about the Canon 24mm f/3.5L II TS-E. I have that lens, it's very sharp.
 
Stephen Pruitt said:
Thanks so much for the examples and the comments, gents.

I REALLY like that shot of the mirror and the billboard. THAT is something I feel like I could use with some frequency.
Click to expand...

Funny thing was that the concept of the shot was simple but the billboard was so high in the air that to get the composition, I had to have the front of the car lifted about three feet in the air, onto blocks, which wasn't easy... and the actors were leaning back in the car like it was a space capsule because of the angle.
 
Well, bigger budgets obviously have their benefits, Mr. Mullen! Pretty funny what you had to go through to get it!

Stephen
 
Also endorse the Canon 24TSE, for form factor as well, but a bit circumspect on use in other than still work. It is a specialized piece, to be sure, with great reward when properly thought out...

Thank you very much

Fury
 
Great shots, Ken!

What lens was that on the second shot?

Stephen
 
The Lensbaby is very dynamic. The original is simply pressed down with your fingers and it's extremely difficult to use it unless the Red is on a tripod. I have another one that has springs that allow the tilt/shift to be fixed. But with both models the iris is a simple replaceble disc, so adjusting for exposure is a time consuming PITA unless you want to change shutter speed.

I have the Canon 17mm Prime T/S and it's a pretty awesome lens. Not sure I'd shoot a fashion show with it, though.
 
Okay, so I borrowed a friend's Canon 45mm TS-E Tilt-Shift lens and tried it out on our One. The effect I'm aiming for apparently requires a greater range of tilt than it was able to lend my shooting. (I was trying to get both a flower up close and a bench thirty feet away in simultaneous focus.) Is there a Canon EOS-mountable medium-length tilt-shift out there that yields a sizable bit more range in the tilt?

Thanks!

Stephen
 
Check out Horseman shift/ tilt.
Havn't used it myself, but if I'm not mistaken, it has been mentioned in Reduser before.
 
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