How to Use a Tilt-Shift Lens

Tilt-shift lenses straighten the sides of buildings in pictures.

Tilt-shift lenses are specialty lenses designed for architectural, landscape and in some cases product photography. In addition to the traditional functions of the camera lens, tilt-shift lenses have two other adjustments designed to retain correct perspective in pictures. In shooting a vertical image of a building with a normal lens, the sides of the building appear to lean toward the middle of the picture. A tilt-shift lens can be adjusted so the building retains its straight lines.

Things You'll Need

• Tripod (recommended)

Instructions

1. Attach your camera to a tripod and compose your picture as you normally would. The tripod is used to retain your shooting position during composition. The lenses are not too heavy to be handheld, but using a tripod will ensure accuracy as you make adjustments to the lens.

2. Loosen the two knobs on the lens. One controls the vertical axis of the lens; the other controls the horizontal axis of the lens. With the knobs loosened, carefully adjust the lens by sliding the forward portion of the lens sideways or up and down.

3. Look through the viewfinder after you have made the adjustments to the lens to see if the building has returned to a straight vertical position. Once the image has been corrected, tighten the knobs and you are ready to take the picture.

References

• Canon: Tilt-Shift Lenses
• Cambridge in Colour: Using Tilt-Shift Lenses