Would a tilt-shift EF to RF lens adapter be possible?

[ColinJR]

It's an old link, but I recently came upon this article about a Canon patent of a tilt-shift adapter. Now that the RF mount is a thing, it makes me wonder what, if anything, would hold them back from releasing such an adapter for RF now?

Adding shift capabilities to any EF lens is very appealing, especially with a good wide-angle zoom, especially if AF works too.

 

[Kit.]

Tilt-shift needs lenses with the image circle considerably larger than the sensor. It is possible, though, to get some benefits of it with EF lenses on APS-C cameras (EOS M series, for example).

 

[privatebydesign]

.....it makes me wonder what, if anything, would hold them back from releasing such an adapter for RF now?

Adding shift capabilities to any EF lens is very appealing, especially with a good wide-angle zoom, especially if AF works too.

Yes, the simple fact that very few EF lenses apart from the current TS-E's have an image circle projection that would cover the corners of a 135 format sensor once you applied any tilt or shift!

 

[ColinJR]

Seeing as how most of Canon's TS-E lenses have a large enough image circle for the "medium format" sensor in the Fuji GFX, I wouldn't be surprised if some of Canon's regular primes also had a large enough image circle... An adapter + primes would be considerably less expensive than going all in on the TS-E lenses (also, sigh, a reason why they may not make such an adapter).

The existence of such an adapter might be reason to pick up an M camera, however.

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

bly less expensive than going all in on the TS-E lenses (also, sigh, a reason why they may not make such an adapter).

The existence of such an adapter might be reason to pick up an M camera, however.

I would not recommend a EF-RF adapter for a M camera, its not going to fit.

 

[Kit Lens Jockey]

Has anyone made an adapter like this yet? Obviously shifting would require a lens with a larger image circle, but would you be able to get away with just a tilt adapter with normal EF lenses, or do you still need the larger image circle even to just tilt a lens?

 

[neuroanatomist]

Has anyone made an adapter like this yet? Obviously shifting would require a lens with a larger image circle, but would you be able to get away with just a tilt adapter with normal EF lenses, or do you still need the larger image circle even to just tilt a lens?

A tilt adapter would also require the lens to have a larger image circle than required to just cover the sensor (and it’s progressive, the more tilt available, the larger the image circle needed to support it).

As a side note, unlike tilting the lens, tilting the image plane (e.g., view cameras with tilting backs) does not require a larger image circle.

 

[SteveC]

A tilt adapter would also require the lens to have a larger image circle than required to just cover the sensor (and it’s progressive, the more tilt available, the larger the image circle needed to support it).

If anyone doesn't see that this is the case, then think about what's happening: by tilting the lens, you are pivoting the center line of the image cone away from the center of the lens. So, since your sensor is no longer centered in the image cone, the image cone must be wider than otherwise, or the sensor won't be entirely within it.

It seems to me that this would be more readily doable with an EF lens on an EF to EF-M adapter, since the full-frame image is already considerably wider than the crop sensor.

 

[Don Haines]

Yes, but you would only be able to use part of the sensor

 

[LDS]

Seeing as how most of Canon's TS-E lenses have a large enough image circle for the "medium format" sensor in the Fuji GFX,

Fuji "medium format" is just 43.8 x 32.9mm - I believe TS-E lenses would have much more issues with a "real medium format" 6x6 camera. Moreover the lenses support both tilt and shift, which requires a fairly larger circle, so using shift only may not bring the lens to the limits even with a little larger sensor.

You can easily measure the image circle of a lens, simply placing it at the correct distance and projecting a light source. I don't believe many normal lenses will have a circle large enough to justify an adapter - and even if they have, they might not be corrected enough.

There could be also mechanical issues, the adapter may need to rotate to set the direction of movements, and knobs must remain usable and don't interfere with the camera body. With the 24 TS about half of the lens barrel is dedicated to the movements.

 

[heheapa]

Laowa Magic Shift Converter (MSC) - LAOWA Camera Lenses

Name Magic Shift Converter (MSC) Lens Structure 5 elements in 4 groups Focal Length Multiplier Increase by 1.4x Aperture Impact Reduce by 1-stop Focus Mode / Aperture control Manual Dimensions 69.6 x 44.1mm Weight about 360g Mounts (new) Canon EF-Canon RF / (new) Canon EF-Nikon Z / Canon EF-Sony...

www.venuslens.net

not sure if anyone aware of this. There is already EF to FE converter that does the shifting in the market and the result is amazing pleasant.

However, the issue is EF lens doesn't have the manual aperture control so the usefulness for EF lens on Sony FE is limited.

If Canon is able to come out such converter with aperture control then it will become a very interesting converter and should help to drive their wide angle lens sales also.