One example of a situation where a TS-E lens is useful is when shooting photos of buildings. When viewing a skyscraper through any conventional lens tilted up, the building seems to taper away due to perspective distortion. A TS-E lens allows you to adjust the degree of perspective foreshortening or even eliminate it altogether. Using the shift mechanism, a photographer can correct or increase perspective distortion by shifting the lens up to -/+ 11mm from the normal position with any of the three TS-E lenses. With the TS-E 90mm f/2.8, being a telephoto lens, correcting perspective distortion on buildings may not give the photographer much difference in most cases when compared to a conventional lens as the longer focal length and compressed perspective will minimize any unparallel lines to a minimum to barely noticeable. The first two photos shot (below, top) with the TS-E's shifting mechanism will tell you something. The tilting mechanism was also utilized in order to give the picture more depth-of-field. No Tilt & Shift utilized With Tilt & Shift utilized     No Shift being utilized With Shift mechanism utilized In the second pair of photos (bottom, above) showing the yellow facade of a shop, the level of perspective correction accomplished with the TS-E 90mm lens was hardly noticeable as compared to the first photo where the Shifting mechanism was not used at all. The best part of using a TS-E lens is its ability to combine both the Tilt & Shift features for any subject matter. In this series of photos showing a can of mackerel, the first was shot without any T & S features used. Mild perspective distortion was visible here. On the second shot, the Shift mechanism was employed to correct the distortion. No Tilt & Shift employed With Shift utilized     With Shift at slow shutter speed Tilt & Shift utilized In the third photo, selecting a smaller aperture of f/5.6 for more depth-of-field coverage had resulted in slower shutter speed that was not fast enough to reduce camera shake. By employing the Tilt mechanism, adequate depth-of-field was made possible at the f/2.8 setting (fourth photo). Do you really need a TS-E lens for your 35mm photography? If you are making a living with architectural, stock images and product photography, it makes sense to invest in all three TS-E lenses. If you are just a hobbyist shooter, you only need one of them - the choice left entirely in your hands. Text and photos by Philip Chong. Copyright 2001 by Canon Marketing (M) Sdn Bhd << Back to Main . 1 . 2 . 3 .