SAMYANG

Why I Chose the Samyang Tilt/Shift Lens for Cityscapes

“Why did I choose a Tilt-Shift lens? Even if I like the retouching part, I like to frame my pictures as most as possible in the field.”

Maybe it's due to my character, as I'm a little maniac, but I like when everything is straight! It's also a personal taste, some people love the wild angle and distortion effect but I'm not a huge fan of that.

Having a tilt-shift lens allows me to keep everything straight when I take the pic but also to crop less in post-prod.

It allows me also to be closest to the ground, which would magnify the distortion effect with a normal lens.

That's the main and only reason why I use this lens and it helps me to produce hundreds of images I'm glad of.

However, you can also play with the tilt effect to create a "miniature" effect. And even if I use this lens for many years, I have never tried it. It can be a great thing to try in the future?

All images have a story and I'm sure it is the same for any photographer. Through my photos of the city,

I try to share my love of Japan and particularly of a Japan devoid of people. But each photo outing allows me to spend a moment of intimacy where I feel like I have the city all to myself. 

“City, Alone: Welcome to My World!”

SAMYANG TILT/SHIFT LENS 24mm F3.5 ED AS UMC

The Samyang 24mm F3.5 Tilt-Shift in the camera has changed my world. It meets the specs and features I needed for cityscapes or landscapes. 

It’s a manual focus lens which ensures the excellent quality of pictures.

Tilt / Shift

Tilt-Shift camera lens allows the user a smooth adjustment of the focal plane angle. 

The focal plane angle ranges from -8.5 to +8.5 degrees while the parallel shift of the lens optical axis by ±12 millimeters. 

Samyang provides its user an excellent angle view of 90-degrees. 

Although, you can operate it on 30, 60, or 90 degrees against each other. 

Despite that, the bayonet mount can also be rotated to the right by ± 90 degrees, also at 30 degrees addition. 

These were the basic specifications for Samyang 24 mm f/3.5 Tilt-shift camera lens. Let’s dive into in-depth details.

Wide 24mm Focal Length

I think the Samyang Tilt/Shift 24mm F3.5 ED AS UMC lens was manufactured especially for landscape photographers. 

Although it can be used for architecture photography and environmental portraits, it is specially designed for landscape photography.

he reason behind this is its excellent 24 mm focal length. Besides that, the tilt functions also add a significant value to its use for landscape photography. 

To achieve an optimized result, I recommend operating the lens at least f/5.6 or f/8.

Chromatic Aberration

Due to high specs, Samyang 24mm f/3.5 Tilt-Shift shows only a minor chromatic aberration. 

And this only happens when you operate this lens at extreme full frames. This minor chromatic aberration is not a big deal.

When you are capturing a bright source, your final result will have some flares, especially on narrow apertures. 

This lens also has in-built 6 non-round apertures, which you will notice when you are capturing a bright out-of-focus source. 

Having a bright unfocused source in your frame will be captured with hexagonal shapes of blurred light spots.

Build Quality

The most salient feature of Samyang 24mm f/3.5 Tilt-Shift is its lens build quality. It provides a manual focus-only lens. 

It enables the focus ring to function extra smoothly. Consequently, photographers are at a greater advantage by this distinction. 

Also, the focus ring-built is very nicely done. It is of perfect size, extremely smooth, and has an ideal amount of dampening.

The lens comes with a DOF (depth of field) scale marked on it. It shows f/5.6, f/11, and f/22 on the scale. 

An efficient range of short-distance focus distance markings (in ft and m) are marked too. It can exceed the infinity mark.

Conclusion

Overall, the lens build quality is unparallel for its price range. The movements are very smooth, and the lens is solid and has a very nice feel. 

The knobs provide a good grip and work efficiently. Despite it, the knobs are differently colored, providing ease to distinguish them. 

The whole body is made from high-quality plastic, which gives it a very nice look. It's worth its price.

8 years ago, when I start to focus my photography on Japanese structure and building I have hesitated a long time on buying a Tilt-Shift lens. But due to their attractiveness, 

I purchase this Samyang 24 tilt-shift and since this day, this lens has never left my backpack (unless I go for a hike in nature).

It helps me to accomplish photography that I will never be able to do on-field with a general lens or that I would be able to do only when I crop and reframe in Lightroom with a non-tilt-shift lens!

So if you like to capture the cities like me, I really invite you to discover this Samyang Tilt/Shift 24mm F3.5 ED AS UMC lens.