Review: Canon TS-E 90mm f/2.8L Macro by Northlight Images

[keithcooper]

Gimmicky to me is -just- the feeling that the effect is too intrusive an element of the shot. There is no element of 'deviousness' in my use of the term (could just be my British English usage ;-) They just shout 'Hey. look, I used a tilt/shift lens' a little vehemently... Much like after trying out an IR converted 5D2 for a while, where I had the feeling 'Ah, more luminous trees [tick] now, what next?...'

How - sure I can see that, but the shots in the plane video link still mind me to say 'why' after I've seen more than two or three.

Kudos still, to anyone making a living from using such lenses though.

 

[stevelee]

Well, I guess some might call it tacky or gimmicky. I don't understand that. Tacky would be a matter of personal taste, of course. Gimmick? I'm not sure for myself. Done right, it is great to my old eyes. I don't see anything devious about the style that would make it a gimmick. A valid tool in the right hands. Here's a video of a pro using TS at an air museum. Shots not possible with a standard lens.

You did ask how and why. The answers to that are everywhere.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTDCW_8AsSo

Great video and a good answer to my question. Really nice use of the TS.

Tacky, is as you say, a matter of taste. I agree with Keith on "gimmicky." I did express the hope that I could transcend those even if I were shooting wedding pictures. Just because I didn't care for the ones I saw on line a while back doesn't mean that no one could do them well or even to my taste.

As I may have suggested earlier, my puzzlement came from a rather narrow definition of "portrait" rather than a more general sense of people pictures.

Thanks for your replies.