TS-E 17 f/4L vs TS-E 24 f/3.5L II

[mackguyver]

I had to take my wife to the local University last night so I thought I'd take out the T/S lenses to take a couple of photos of Doak Campbell Stadium at Florida State and the Unconquered statue in front of it. I ended up having very little time and didn't have a flashlight which made leveling the tripod tough. I forgot to take off the UV filter on the 24mm so there's flare and worse flare (with the 1.4x III).

All shots are f/16, 100s, ISO 100, Shift +4 (I think, it was dark), no Tilt. The idea was to frame the whole stadium each time and these are very lightly edited with minor cropping and no retouching. I'll probably edit out the stars and flare at some point. Also, note that this isn't vignetting - it's the glow of the stadium lights, which were turned on inside the stadium.

Hopefully this will give people a little better idea of the different looks of these lenses based on focal length.

TS-E 17 f/4L about 4ft/1.2m from the pedestal:

TS-E 24 f/3.5 II about 50ft/15m from the pedestal:

TS-E 24 f/3.5 II + 1.4x III extender about 120ft/37m from the pedestal:

 

[privatebydesign]

Hopefully you will throw an 11mm version in there when it arrives Mackguyver.

 

[mackguyver]

Hopefully you will throw an 11mm version in there when it arrives Mackguyver.

You know it! I might have to have the lens about 1/2" from the statue to get similar framing at 11mm, though!

 

[StudentOfLight]

Given the choice between TS-E 17mm and the new the 11-24mm, I'm leaning more towards TS-E.

I'd be interested to see a comparison of shift-stitched TS-E shots vs the new 11-24mm when it's available. If the 11-24 outperforms the normalized shift-stitched shots then it is clearly worth every penny.

 

[privatebydesign]

Given the choice between TS-E 17mm and the new the 11-24mm, I'm leaning more towards TS-E.

I'd be interested to see a comparison of shift-stitched TS-E shots vs the new 11-24mm when it's available. If the 11-24 outperforms the normalized shift-stitched shots then it is clearly worth every penny.

Given the heavy projection distortion evident in shifted 17mm TS-E outer edges I would hope the 11mm would deal with that considerably better, throw in the 50MP sensors and the possibility of cropping 11mm images instead of shooting shifting images does become a real possibility for many subjects.

I am looking forwards to comparison 17TS-E and 11-24 images with great interest, I will almost certainly get the 11-24, though I am not brave enough to be a first adopter of anything, and the newer combinations of gear real are a bit of a windfall, it is only Feb and Canon users have had some spectacular announcements.

 

[No Mayo]

Great example of focal length character with a strong foreground subject! Thanks for posting this, but this also has the effect of making me very aware that I don't have the 17… yet.

 

[agierke]

hey mackguyver,

there is an in camera digital level on the 5D3 that you can access by hitting the info button twice. no flashlight needed and pretty accurate.

just an FYI for future consideration.

 

[mackguyver]

... the 50MP sensors and the possibility of cropping 11mm images instead of shooting shifting images does become a real possibility for many subjects.

This is a very exciting possibility!

Great example of focal length character with a strong foreground subject! Thanks for posting this, but this also has the effect of making me very aware that I don't have the 17… yet.

Sorry about that! I had the 24 for a while before realizing that the 17 would open up a lot of opportunities. I would probably buy them the other way around if I did it again, but I got them both during refurb sales. The focal length is really important for this type of work (especially when you're being paid) as the client typically wants you to focus on specific details. If I'd just had the 24 and the client wanted the statue to be the focus, I probably would have flipped it to portrait mode to get closer and made a pano to get a wider field of view.

hey mackguyver,

there is an in camera digital level on the 5D3 that you can access by hitting the info button twice. no flashlight needed and pretty accurate.

just an FYI for future consideration.

agierke, thanks for that, and I was actually using the in-camera level, but the problem was pretty complicated. I am using the Uniqball tripod head now which is designed for tripod collars. I forgot the adapter that turns the mount sideways so you can use it with camera plates (which are 90 degrees from tripod collars), so the head was really hard to use and level, paricularly in the dark. Plus, 2 of the 3 shots were taken in soft grass, adding to the challenge to get it level. I got things very close using the in-camera level, but in the end, I cheated a bit using DxO's level and perspective correction tools to true up the lines a degree or two on the 24mm and 33.6mm shots.

 

[privatebydesign]

I had the 24 for a while before realizing that the 17 would open up a lot of opportunities. I would probably buy them the other way around if I did it again, but I got them both during refurb sales. The focal length is really important for this type of work (especially when you're being paid) as the client typically wants you to focus on specific details. If I'd just had the 24 and the client wanted the statue to be the focus, I probably would have flipped it to portrait mode to get closer and made a pano to get a wider field of view.

Or do what I did with my comparatively modest budget, get the 17TS-E and the 1.4TC, it isn't ideal but it gets me 17 and 24 rather than 24 and 35. Actually the 17 with a 2X is often very usable and that gets me a 34mm TS-E too, but it is all horses for courses.

As for tripod heads, especially with the T/S lenses. I have been eyeing up the Arca-Swiss D4 for a while, but the size, weight and price are all a bit too high for my needs, in searching I have found this head Sunwayphoto GH Pro https://www.google.com/search?q=Sunwayfoto+GH-Pro&sa=N&biw=1872&bih=1071&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&ei=ujbeVI3yEceWgwTDhoPgCw&ved=0CCwQsAQ that looks like it might fit the bill, there is a good thread on LL about it too.http://www.luminous-landscape.com/forum/index.php?topic=97119.40

I really don't like the Manfrotto 410 and 405 and the 400 is just gigantic, but you can't beat a geared head with the TS-E lenses.

 

[mackguyver]

I had the 24 for a while before realizing that the 17 would open up a lot of opportunities. I would probably buy them the other way around if I did it again, but I got them both during refurb sales. The focal length is really important for this type of work (especially when you're being paid) as the client typically wants you to focus on specific details. If I'd just had the 24 and the client wanted the statue to be the focus, I probably would have flipped it to portrait mode to get closer and made a pano to get a wider field of view.

Or do what I did with my comparatively modest budget, get the 17TS-E and the 1.4TC, it isn't ideal but it gets me 17 and 24 rather than 24 and 35. Actually the 17 with a 2X is often very usable and that gets me a 34mm TS-E too, but it is all horses for courses.

As for tripod heads, especially with the T/S lenses. I have been eyeing up the Arca-Swiss D4 for a while, but the size, weight and price are all a bit too high for my needs, in searching I have found this head Sunwayphoto GH Pro https://www.google.com/search?q=Sunwayfoto+GH-Pro&sa=N&biw=1872&bih=1071&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&ei=ujbeVI3yEceWgwTDhoPgCw&ved=0CCwQsAQ that looks like it might fit the bill, there is a good thread on LL about it too.http://www.luminous-landscape.com/forum/index.php?topic=97119.40

I really don't like the Manfrotto 410 and 405 and the 400 is just gigantic, but you can't beat a geared head with the TS-E lenses.

I suppose that's what I was alluding to in terms of getting the 17, first, or really only. You lose the 48mm option with the 2x, but otherwise you have what you need, particularly for real estate work.

As for the heads, I have tried many and geared heads are by far the best for this work, but they aren't good for much else. The Uniqball has impressed me so far. It's a jack of all trades, master of none, but it's quite good at everything. The only catch is that it's really hard to get 100% level shots every time like you would with a geared head. I can get very close (99%), but not always perfect. I find that DxO's tools can save me from these slight misalignments, but would definitely get a geared head if this made up the majority of my work... I'll have to see how 2015 works out in terms of my commercial work. My health still sucks (joint problems galore), but I'm trying to get back in the game with some of my longtime clients...

 

[RGF]

For a flash light I use my iPhone. Not sure if android have this function but it is very handy.

 

[RGF]

Sorry about that! I had the 24 for a while before realizing that the 17 would open up a lot of opportunities. I would probably buy them the other way around if I did it again, but I got them both during refurb sales. The focal length is really important for this type of work (especially when you're being paid) as the client typically wants you to focus on specific details. If I'd just had the 24 and the client wanted the statue to be the focus, I probably would have flipped it to portrait mode to get closer and made a pano to get a wider field of view.

I had both but was upgrading my long lens and felt I needed the cash. So I sold them. No I regret that and have repurchased the 17. Next I'll buy the 24 when I get some cash (plus the 5DsR, 11-24, 100-400 II, 7D M2, ..) the list keeps growing and growing and ..

 

[mackguyver]

For a flash light I use my iPhone. Not sure if android have this function but it is very handy.

I tried that (and yes, Android Lollipop finally has a built-in flashlight) but I needed an extra hand to hold the camera, turn the ballhead lever, and hold the phone

That's why I like headlamps 8)