Nikon currently offers 19 mm, 24 mm, 45 mm, and 85 mm PC lenses with tilt and shift capability. Canon currently offers 17 mm, 24 mm, 50 mm, 100 mm and 135 mm tilt/shift lenses. Olympus produced 35 mm and 24 mm shift lenses. Other manufacturers, including Venus Optics Laowa, Olympus, Pentax, Schneider Kreuznach (produced as well for Leica), and Minolta, made their own versions of PC lenses. In 1973, Canon introduced a lens, the TS 35 mm f/2.8 SSC, with tilt as well as shift functions. The first PC lens manufactured for an SLR camera in any format was Nikon's 1961 f/3.5 35 mm PC-Nikkor it was followed by an f/2.8 35 mm PC-Nikkor (1968), an f/4 28 mm PC-Nikkor (1975), and an f/3.5 28 mm PC-Nikkor (1981). The mathematics involved in tilt lenses are described as the Scheimpflug principle, after an Austrian military officer who developed the technique for correcting distortion in aerial photographs. PC lenses for 35 mm cameras typically offer a maximum shift of 11 mm some newer models offer a maximum shift of 12 mm.
However, many PC lenses require a small aperture setting to prevent vignetting when significant shifts are employed.
Typically, the image circle is large enough, and the mechanics of the lens sufficiently limited, that the image area cannot be shifted outside of the image circle. PC lenses are generally designed for single-lens reflex (SLR) cameras, as rangefinder cameras do not allow the photographer to directly view the effect of the lens, and view cameras allow for perspective control using camera movements.Ī PC lens has a larger image circle than is required to cover the image area (film or sensor size). Short-focus perspective-control (PC) lenses (i.e., 17 mm through 35 mm) are used mostly in architectural photography longer focal lengths may also be used in other applications such as landscape, product, and closeup photography. The terms PC and TS are also used by some manufacturers to refer to this type of lens. A lens that provides only shift is called a shift lens, while those that can also tilt are called tilt–shift lenses. This movement of the lens allows adjusting the position of the subject in the image area without moving the camera back it is often used to avoid convergence of parallel lines, such as when photographing a tall building. In photography, a perspective-control lens allows the photographer to control the appearance of perspective in the image the lens can be moved parallel to the film or sensor, providing the equivalent of corresponding view camera movements. The 1961 35 mm f/3.5 PC-Nikkor lens-the first perspective-control lens for a 35 mm camera of Sports Illustrated, Vincent Laforet and many other photographers have used this technique. The selective focus that can be achieved by tilting the plane of focus is often compelling because the effect is different from that to which many viewers have become accustomed. Some photographers have popularized the use of tilt for selective focus in applications such as portrait photography. Such lenses are frequently used in architectural photography to control perspective, and in landscape photography to get an entire scene sharp. Canon and Nikon currently offer four lenses that provide both movements.
Nikon introduced a lens providing shift movements for their 35 mm SLR cameras in 1962, and Canon introduced a lens that provided both tilt and shift movements in 1973 many other manufacturers soon followed suit. Movements have been available on view cameras since the early days of photography they have been available on smaller-format cameras since the early 1960s, usually by means of special lenses or adapters.