How should you meter exposure with a tilt-shift lens?
Asked 4/28/2012
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Canon notes that metering with a TS-E lens is only reliable when tilt and shift are set to zero. If that is true, how should exposure be measured when actually using tilt or shift? Does tilting or shifting change the amount of light reaching the sensor, or is it mainly the camera’s metering system that becomes inaccurate? Also, if you meter a scene with the lens centered and then apply tilt/shift, will that exposure still be valid?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
14y ago
2 Answers
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It is very simple: Metering does not work when the lens is shifted, metering does not work when the lens is tilted. The workaround is also very simple: Shoot in M mode. Adjust the exposure to your satisfaction with the lens untilted and unshifted. Then shift and/or tilt, and take the actual photo.
Note: It is the metering that is affected by tilt/shift, not the actual exposure. If 1/200, f/f5.6 is the correct exposure with tilt/shift set to zero, 1/200, f/5.6 is still the correct exposure when the lens is tilted and shifted.
Originally by user3458. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user3458
14y ago
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Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
With Canon TS-E lenses on an SLR/DSLR viewfinder, the usual issue is the camera’s metering system, not the exposure itself. A practical method is:
- Set the lens to zero tilt and zero shift.
- Meter and set exposure in Manual mode.
- Apply the desired tilt/shift.
- Take the photo using the same shutter speed and aperture.
In normal use, if 1/200 s at f/5.6 is correct before tilt/shift, it remains the correct exposure after tilting or shifting. The warning is that the camera meter may no longer read accurately once the lens is moved off-center.
On mirrorless cameras, or DSLRs in live view, this is less of a problem because metering is done from the image sensor itself rather than a separate reflected-light meter path. In those cases, metering with tilt/shift applied is generally reliable.
So: tilt and shift mainly confuse certain camera metering systems; they do not usually require a different exposure just because the lens was tilted or shifted.
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