Perspective Control and Digital Cameras

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Submitted By: ignatz2

Joined: Sep 21 2005

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Perspective Control and Digital Cameras

Posted: November 17, 2007 - 7:06pm

Do PC lenses, such as Canon's TS/E series, function with digital cameras as they do with film?

It's my understanding that digital sensors work best when light strikes them at a right angle, whereas film is relatively tolerant of light reaching the film plane at a wide range of angles. If that is so, any lens that provides a swing movement would be degraded when used on a digital camera, as opposed to an old-fashioned film burner. Even a lateral or vertical shift would be disadvantaged. Is this why Canon's digital-ready TS/E lens line is just one lens, as opposed to the three EOS and FD mount lenses in earlier cameras? I'll give up my F-1N only when dead anyway; but it occurs that if I want perspective control functions, I might be better off buying them for the FD mount (if I can find them)then for an as-yet-unchosen digital camera.

Submitted By: ignatz2

Joined: Sep 21 2005

Posts:

Re: Perspective Control and Digital Cameras

Posted: November 17, 2007 - 7:24pm

Perhaps I should have Searched more before posting. The thread titled "Wide angle lens," etc.,in another Forum, addresses my concerns in large part. Still, I am curious about the tradeoffs of controlling perspective with digital chips, rather then film.

Submitted By: David B. Brooks

Joined: Apr 19 2011

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Re: Perspective Control and Digital Cameras

Posted: November 18, 2007 - 9:54pm

You are correct about a concern that using a perspective control lens with a digital area array sensor could possibly result in artifacts in the image produced. But that is only likely if the corrections are at the extreme of what is possible.

On the other hand I have not found a perspective distortion I could not correct in Photoshop CS3 quite accurately and without noticeable loss of any image quality, if of course you begin with a high resolution image of good quality.

Submitted By: ignatz2

Joined: Sep 21 2005

Posts:

Re: Perspective Control and Digital Cameras

Posted: November 23, 2007 - 4:56pm

Thank you. I see I was wrong about the extent of the EOS TS/E lineup. If correction in Photoshop is practical, well, so much the better.

I'm going to have to educate myself in Photoshop, or some lighter cousin like Elements, sooner then I thought. My not-insubstantial Kodachrome inventory is older then I realized; the 64 is marked for use by 2004 and the 25 for use by 1999. (!) This was not the pro film, and it's all been sitting quietly in a basement for some years. So, early on in my software education, color cast correction is going to be of great interest.