Tilt solution for m4/3

[Inkanyezi]

I recently purchased a Peleng tilt adapter for my micro 4/3 camera, and I am very pleased with its performance. It converts any M42 SLR lens to a tilt lens that can be tilted eight degrees in any direction. It works best with short focal lengths.



I haven't done a lot with it yet, I had it just for a few days, but I have tried it with those short lenses that I have, a Vivitar 28 mm f/2.5, a Tamron 24-48 mm and a Fujinon 55 mm. So far, it works great.

[Dave Humphries]

That's quite impressive.

Although not appreciating the thread title and seeing the picture first, I thought it was going to be a story of a dropped lens

Cheers,

[rpcrowe]

The Peleng website mentions "This Tilt macro ring - adapter designed by Hartblei to use all lenses with original Canon mount on Canon SLR and DSLR cameras. "

I wonder what they mean by "original canon mount"?

[Inkanyezi]

The Peleng website mentions "This Tilt macro ring - adapter designed by Hartblei to use all lenses with original Canon mount on Canon SLR and DSLR cameras. "

I wonder what they mean by "original canon mount"?

Yes, it would have been helpful to state which mount, as there are several.

I guess it might be the EOS mount, and as the adapter adds space, it can be used only for closeup work.

When adding space, just as when working with longer focal lengths, the angle of the subject plane is more limited, so for macro work it might not be quite as impressive. Only the mirrorless cameras or lenses for cameras with thicker bodies would allow focusing to infinity. Hence a medium format lens can be tilted on a DSLR body and still focus to infinity, or any SLR lens on a mirrorless body, as the NEX-7 or Olympus Pen.

Mirrorless cameras have an advantage over DSLR when tilting, as they are better suited for manual focusing and focus can be checked over large part of the image area. DLSR cameras with live view of course also may have facility for manual focusing and checking over different parts of the frame.

Daisy, 18 mm across, center spot 5 mm

[Inkanyezi]

The reason for getting the adapter was that tilt is a feature I have long wished. I worked with large format cameras in the sixties, and I also have used a Rollei SL66, which has tilt as well. I take a lot of flower pictures, and I wanted a way to stretch sharpness along a field of flowers, or over a wide flower very close, but not straight from front.

Now that I have it, I realize that I need better lenses. Both my short lenses, the Tamron zoom and the Vivitar, display far too much field curvature and chromatic aberration toward the edges of the image. It is impossible to get really crisp sharpness to the edge of the photo. So I'm now looking for SMC Takumar lenses of 24 and 28 mm.

The image below is taken with the 28 mm, and the closest edge is a bit blurred, and chromatic aberration may be discerned at the petals of the closest daisy. One may also appreciate that depth of field is very shallow at the closer end of the image. Only the flower and the tips of the grass are in focus, while farther away the depth of field reaches down to the bottom of the lawn. I would have liked to have the adapter in the spring, as now there are fewer flowers, but the new toy also needs a good bit of learning to be used efficiently, so I guess I can be better prepared next spring.

[Inkanyezi]

Flowers is the main reason for getting the contraption. I want to use it to stretch depth of field, so that I can show flowers in their habitat, particularly the urban biotop of thousands of small flowers that grow in the most awkward places; those that find their space where nothing else can grow.

This image is a knotwort, one of the most common species around the world, and it is documented very well, but seldom you see an image of where it grows; its living space. It is a brave little wort, and here it has found a place where no feet will trample it, no wheels grind it down, its very own place on Earth, in the crack between the stones. A crack less than a millimetre wide, just enough to extend its roots to the water somewhere below.

[Inkanyezi]

The image above was taken with a new lens I got recently, a multicoated Pentacon 29 mm f/2,8. It is far better than the Vivitar 28, which I have dumped. As can be seen in the picture, it renders decent sharpness all over the image plane without obvious colour aberration. It's there, but to a lesser degree. It also has a flatter focal plane, which is a crucial feature for the tilting effect. The drawback is that it is a rather long focal length for a 4/3 camera; I would have wished something shorter. Of course I have the 24-48 zoom, but it is not as sharp to the edges, and I would like even shorter. There is an Arsat 20 mm tilt/shift lens from Hartblei, but unfortunately it is beyond my budget at the moment. When I finally might afford it, they might have discontinued it.

Anyway, this combo seems quite usable for serious creative work, so I'll stick to using what I have instead of drooling over what I cannot get, even though it is reasonably priced at only $495.