Canon TS-E 17/4L and 24/3.5L II
Related: Canon, Canon Lenses, Canon TS-E 17mm f/4L, shift lens, tilt shift
On the way from LensRentals.com are the two new Canon tilt/shift lenses: the TS-E 17/4L and the TS-E 24/3.5L II. These two will be the newest additions later this month to DAP as I shoot them in the field and provide my usual insights. I might even run up to Yosemite with them this weekend, if the nasty virus my children gave me from school relents.
There is extensive coverage in DAP on many other tilt and/or shift lenses, required reading if you’re considering a tilt/shift lens. In my view, no serious landscape photographer should be without at least one tilt/shift lens, with the tilt being the key feature because it is the only way to evade the stringent constraints of depth of field (by aligning the plane of focus to the sensor). See my July 10 2008 blog entry on the Nikon 24/3.5 for some examples.
You can rent the 17/4L or rent the 24/3.5L II at LensRentals.com. At about $2500 for the 17/4L and about $2200 for the 24/3.5L, both DAP and renting are your smart move before buying such pricey optics.
My impression, based on the Canon-supplied MTF charts, is that these two lenses will be very strong performers, but then again, Canon doesn’t provide MTF when shifted, which is rather silly given the intended usage. Anyway, real images made under real conditions with real lenses are all that matter— not computer-generated MTF of the optical design. Still, I have high hopes for these two new offerings.
Click either lens to buy 
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