Customer reviews from usa.canon.com
Canon - TS-E 45mm f/2.8 Tilt-Shift Lens - Black
Average customer rating
4
(6 Reviews)
Rating breakdown 6 reviews
5 Stars
3
4 Stars
0
3 Stars
3
2 Stars
0
1 Star
0
83%of customers recommend this product.
(
5 out of
6)
Customer Reviews for Canon - TS-E 45mm f/2.8 Tilt-Shift Lens - Black
Customer Rating
5
Fun lens for creative results
on December 19, 2016
Posted by: nystedtphoto
from Watertown, MA, United States
I've owned this lens for about 4 years now, and I will occasionally use it for architecture photography, when I have the time to get the shot right (and the results are stunning) but 95% of the time I use it during weddings for interesting atmosphere and unexpected portraits results. The blur it can create is not for everyone, but I love it, and so do many clients. It does take some practice getting used to, but I find it relatively easy to handle with a little patience.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting usa.canon.com
Customer Rating
5
Go places with this lens that few others dare!
on February 14, 2009
Posted by: amfoto1
from San Jose, Calif.
I bought the 45mm TS-E lens for one use and ended up using it most of the time for completely different purposes. WIth film cameras, I mostly used it as an urban landscape or architectural lens. But now with 1.6X crop sensor digital cameras I find it an excellent macro or near macro lens! The shift and tilt capabilities are a real bonus, to give even greater control over the plane of focus.
It's become my main "table top" small product lens.
I also use the 24mm TS-E. Now that lens is more of an architectural lens for me.
If I were shooting with full frame digital cameras, I'd want the 90mm, too, for macro and near macro work.
These lenses are extremely well made. They are manual focus only, but that's not an issue for the types of shooting their designed to do. Besides, every EOS camera I've ever used TS-E lenses on gives a focus confirmation, making it easy to use the lenses manually.
The only thing I'd like to see done differently if the TS-E lenses were ever revised would be to build in another rotation, that allows the user to set the tilt and shift planes ligned with each other, or set 90 degrees out of phase. As it is now, the lens comes with the two adjustments at 90 degrees, but you can send them in to Canon Service Department to have them aligned, if you wish.
Build quality and the "feel" of all three TS-E lenses are the same, excellent, although only the 24mm gets an L designation.
The TS-E lenses are about as close as you will come to view camera movements on a full frame or crop sensor digital camera. A full featured 4x5, for example, will have more types of movements possible, as well as a bit more range of movement. Still, it's a lot more practical to use the TS-E lenses and EOS cameras out in the field!
If you've used a view camera in the past, these lenses will be easy to use. If not, there will be a bit of a learning curve using them. Read the manual and, if still scratching your head, pick up a book on using view cameras.
Pros: Super-sharp images, Superior build quality
Cons: tilt-shift planes should be user adjustable
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting usa.canon.com
Customer Rating
3
Think of it like a 4x5 lens
on April 6, 2016
Posted by: Charles M
from Charlottesville, VA, United States
It's not that sharp. The maximum aperture is just okay. There's some notable chromatic aberration, and it's hard to fix in post. Of course, there's no autofocus. For all its foibles, though, I like shooting with it. The movements are simply not available on many lenses, and they open up a bunch of creative options. The 45mm focal length is practical for general-purpose photography, and if you pair it with an APS-C sensor and/or extenders, you get a really neat portrait lens.
My advice is to think of this lens like the lens on a technical camera. You focus and compose wide-open, but the lens really wants to be used around f/8 to f/11. Once it's stopped down, the optical performance is really pretty good. My main complaint is CA. There's some lateral CA and it can be hard to fix since it won't be in the center after you shift. More irritating is the longitudinal CA, which gives green and magenta bokeh. It's really hard to fix and means you have to be really careful of your backgrounds when you tilt with gusto.
Also, when I'm shooting un-tilted and un-shifted, I really do miss autofocus. I'd like to see an autofocus system in the next version for people (like me!) who mostly shoot the lens as a regular old prime and only use movements occasionally. The autofocus points on my cameras still work, so the only thing preventing autofocus is the lack of an autofocus system.
My advice is to think of this lens like the lens on a technical camera. You focus and compose wide-open, but the lens really wants to be used around f/8 to f/11. Once it's stopped down, the optical performance is really pretty good. My main complaint is CA. There's some lateral CA and it can be hard to fix since it won't be in the center after you shift. More irritating is the longitudinal CA, which gives green and magenta bokeh. It's really hard to fix and means you have to be really careful of your backgrounds when you tilt with gusto.
Also, when I'm shooting un-tilted and un-shifted, I really do miss autofocus. I'd like to see an autofocus system in the next version for people (like me!) who mostly shoot the lens as a regular old prime and only use movements occasionally. The autofocus points on my cameras still work, so the only thing preventing autofocus is the lack of an autofocus system.
It's not advertised as such, but you can use Canon extenders with this lens. It doesn't correctly record the aperture, but the image quality is fine at f/8.
Would I recommend it to a friend? Well, I don't think any of my friends would really want a tilt-shift! But if someone knows they want a tilt-shift, this lens certainly comes recommended.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting usa.canon.com
Customer Rating
3
Needs improvement
on March 4, 2011
Posted by: cb_photo
from Illinois
I've owned a 45mm TS-E for 7 years and find it fun and an enjoyable experience to use. However, it needs improvement in several areas. It needs a circular aperture, rotatable tilting, and Canon's SSC lens coating. With these improvements the lens will be world-class.
Focus across the image plane is adequate but could be sharper. At large apertures there is significant color fringing.
An updated version of this lens would be welcome.
Pros: tilt & shift
Cons: Semi-sharp images
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting usa.canon.com
Customer Rating
5
Creative lens
on April 17, 2013
Posted by: Calm1954
from Oregon Coast
I have fun with this lens. In fact, I was grabbing my 85mm for street scenes and portraits, now I find I am grabbing this lens. I like the tilt shift and the ability to throw bokeh where I want to in the photo. Makes for fun effects. I am still learning how to use this lens, but I have a lot of fun using it. Not hard to use with a 5D mark III.
Pros: Superior build quality, Super-sharp images
Cons: manual focus, no af
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting usa.canon.com
Customer Rating
3
Not crisp
on March 11, 2011
Posted by: Arnold
from NY ny
I have a lot of canon lenes this one was not up to snuff the 90 mm T's is far better not crisp for macro w
Cons: Semi-sharp images, not crisp
No, I would not recommend this to a friend.
Written by a customer while visiting usa.canon.com