Rokinon 24mm F/3.5 Tilt-Shift For Nikon

The Rokinon 24mm f/3.5 Tilt-Shift for Nikon is a specialty manual-focus lens for Nikon F-mount cameras. Key features include:

• +/-8.5º tilt adjustment, +/-12mm shift adjustment

• Fields of view: 83.5° full-frame; 56.9° crop-frame

• Eleven-group/sixteen-element optical formula

• Great for architectural, product, and fine-art photography

Full-Frame Coverage. The 24mm is compatible with both full-frame and crop-frame cameras. It provides a 83.5° angle of view on the former, and a 56.9° angle of view on the latter.

Fully Manual Controls. The manual focus and manual aperture rings mean that this lens provides no electrical communication with the camera, so lens information is not included in EXIF data, and there’s no focus confirmation beep or light.

Tilt-Shift Function. The tilt/shift function gives you perspective and depth-of-field control. It offers +/-8.5º tilt adjustment, +/-12mm shift adjustment, and the ability to rotate the two stages in 30º increments up to 90º. This makes it possible to tilt and shift on the same plane.

Optics. The eleven-group/sixteen-element optical formula features two aspherical elements and two extra-low dispersion elements, providing images with great corner sharpness and minimal optical aberrations. The UMC anti-reflective coating helps to prevent lens flare and ghosting.

Common Uses. Tilt-shift/perspective-control lenses are most commonly used for architectural and landscape photography, as well as some product photography. The ability to manipulate the focal plane also makes these lenses a popular choice for fine-art photography.

OK, let’s start by saying the stuff above is taken from manufacturer’s marketing materials. The section on Optics is true – but only when you’ve stopped down to f/8 or so. Wide open the lens is ade…

OK, let’s start by saying the stuff above is taken from manufacturer’s marketing materials. The section on Optics is true – but only when you’ve stopped down to f/8 or so. Wide open the lens is adequate optically, but certainly not anything like the sharpness of the . Stopped down, though, the aberrations go away and at f/8 it’s a match for the lens.

Soooo, if you’re shooting landscapes or architectural photos stopped down this lens is a very nice alternative. You can rotate the tilt and shift planes independently, it focuses smoothly, and is quite good. If you’re shooting wide open at f/3.5, though, you probably will want to pay the extra money for the .
May, 2013