Update on the B.I.G. Photo 15mm Shift Lens for Micro Four Thirds

Ahead of Photokina, we reported about an upcoming German-made 15mm shift lens for Micro Four Thirds. We also showed you some pictures of the first prototype that was shown on photokina. The lens was based on the 15mm f4.5 Super Wide-Heliar from Voigtländer, and was fitted with a custom-made shift mechanism and Micro Four Thirds mount. However, the German blog “Pen and Tell” now reports that the project has been put on hold — allegedly because the manufacturer found that the 15mm Voigtländer didn’t work as expected.

Upon a personal call with B.I.G. Photo this information was confirmed. I was told that they are currently looking for other solutions to make the lens work, but as of now they cannot say when and in which form it will be realised. Which means that we’ll have to wait. Until then, no wide-angle shift lens for Micro Four Thirds, sadly — unless you adapt something like the huge and expensive Canon 17mm f4 TS-E, which, frankly, does not seem to make much sense at all.

Tagged as: 15mm f4, micro four thirds, photokina 2012, shift lens, Voigtländer

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bt1138

I don’t understand something.

These lens movements can be reproduced in photoshop. And these are VERY expensive lenses. Where is the point of these at this point? Toys for purists?
- Felix Esser
  
  There are two points. 1) Yes, you can reproduce the angular shifts in Photoshop, but you will lose resolution and picture real estate in doing so. Even with a 36 mp full-frame camera, this is not always the best idea. 2) Yes, most shift lenses are pretty expensive, but then again they are more complicated to build that a normal lens, and they serve a very specific purpose. They are not toys for purists, they are instruments for those who depend on them, i.e. mainly architectural photographers.
  
  Btw., most shift lenses are combined tilt-shift lenses, and there’s no way you can reproduce the effect of a tilt lens in Photoshop, at least not if you’re using it for the purpose of maximising depth-of-field, as is e.g. required in product photography.
  
  So you see, these lenses do in fact have a point. Not everything can or should be done in Photoshop.
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