Canon TS-E 17mm f/4 L

The Lens that Made me Switch to Canon Having been a diehard Nikon shooter for all of my forty plus years in photography, the appearance of this lens a few years ago caused me to take pause. Realizing that Nikon was unlikely to introduce its own 17mm tilt/shift, I purchased one of these used and a Canon 6d body. The build quality is truly amazing. I look forward to getting to a venue where a 17mm is needed so that I can explore the lens' potential fully. In the meantime, I have purchased three other Canon lenses and another body to round out my system. So now I am a Nikon AND a Canon shooter!

Uncompromised Class Glass A standout lens for Architectural or Professional Real Estate Photography. This is "Not" a lens I'd recommend for an amateur or someone that is more concerned with ruggedness than perfection. As a prime lens, it's not autofocus compatible. For some, that will rule it out. The tradeoff is that production time and image quality as well as composition, can't be replaced by doing the fake tilt shift method. Stuck shift/tilt locks are a known liability with this lens. In my opinion, most are caused by user error. I purchased my used lens in excellent condition, but it was advertised as having a stuck shift lock but otherwise, was fully functional and had very low hours. I did this knowing that most likely the owner had unscrewed the knob to far back and most likely a simple fix would repair it. Luckily my hunch was right and I saved hundreds of dollars as an easy 1 minute fix corrected it from being stuck. I you get this lens, be care to just slightly turn the lock knob just enough so that that it won't let the lens move. This only takes a slight bit of torque. Start by tightening it until the adjustment knob won't move without much force. The objective is to barely snug it so it won't move. If you over tighten it, you'll end up with the infamous stuck lock. The actual build of the lends is robust, but keep in mind, this is a delicate precision instrument and should be treated with a high degree of care. If you want exceptional image quality and composition and are willing to be gentle, make no mistake, a tilt shift is a game changer for the professional. Read full review

Essential for Architectural Photography This is the first lens I go to for most of my Architectural photography. Geared rise and shift works well. The large front element sticks out of the housing so I use a Dinkum flag and it is easy to block out the direct light from the lens.