Tilted Focal Plane

Highly tilted focal planes and dramatic selective focus effects that go way beyond the usual depth of field effect can be easily accomplished on SLR and DSLR cameras with the use of tilt lenses.

Where can you get a tilt lens?

You've pretty much got three options:

• You can pay BIG BUCKS for a professional tilt lens from Nikon or Canon.
  
  
• You can make your own
  (I recommend Bhautik Joshi's Tilt-shift: A DIY Guide.)
  
  
• You can save yourself a lot of money and/or work and buy a ready-made JOHNNYOPTIC TILT LENS.

Johnnyoptic Tilt Lenses

I am offering hand-built tilt lenses for sale in a range of focal lengths from 28 to 135 mm.

Standard tilt lenses are $85 plus shipping and are available for Nikon or Canon EOS.

Tilt lenses made from "premium glass" (Nikkor primes, very fast or very wide lenses, etc.) are available at additional cost.

What do you get?

Johnnyoptic tilt lenses are made by replacing the original mounts from old manual-focus lenses with flexible (tiltable) mounts. They are not "adapters" but complete functioning lenses that attach to your camera and allow for freelens-style tilting. Removing the original mount is necessary in order to position the lens at the correct distance from the sensor to achieve focus and allow for tilt. The result is a lens that works just like freelensing (i.e. manually focused and with no electrical connection to the camera), but with an air-tight and light-tight seal that also makes it much easier to hold and use. These lenses can be focused from infinity up through macro shots. The aperture is typically locked wide open which provides the most dramatic tilt effect.

Choosing a focal length

Focal lengths are available from 28 mm and up.  Choosing a focal length for a tilt lens is no different from choosing a focal length for a regular lens: The right focal length depends on what you want to do with it.  

Some general guidelines:  Wide angle tilt lenses are more sensitive to small changes in the tilt of the lens.  Therefore they can produce very dramatic tilted focal plane effects. However because of their sensitivity, they are more difficult to control.   Short telephoto tilt lenses are better suited for portrait work and for producing the classic "miniature effect."

For general use, I recommend starting with a tilt lens with a near "normal" focal length:   35 mm for crop-sensor DSLRs and 50 mm for full-frame cameras.

What's in Stock?

Johnnyoptic tilt lenses are generally made-to-order.  Tell me the mount and focal length, and I'll give you a specific quote with the price and an estimate on when your lens will be ready (usually two to three days). 

This is just a partial list of some common configurations:

• A Canon EOS-mount 28 mm f/ 2.8 -- $85.
  
  
• A Canon EOS-mount 50 mm f/ 2.8 -- $85.
  
  
• A Canon EOS-mount 50 mm f/ 1.8 made from Olympus glass, with a fully functioning aperture ring -- $100.
  
  
• A Nikon-mount 40 mm f/ 4.0 -- $85.
  
  

These babies are so much fun to shoot with

Here's a sample that was shot with a 48 mm johnnyoptic tilt lens that was recently sold.

How to order

To order a tilt lens, send an email to johnnyoptic@yahoo.com with details regarding your camera/mount and your desired focal length.  

At any given time, I have a few tilt lenses ready to ship.  However most lenses are made-to-order which will take a few days.

When your lens is set to go, I will email you a photo of the lens and a sample image shot using the lens.   I will also send you a PayPal invoice at that time.   Once the invoice is paid your lens will be on its way to you.

Please feel free to email me at the address above with any questions.