DIY Tilt-Shift!


I present to you my finest work of camera modification – the Vivitar 24mm F2.0 Olympus OM-mount lens, adapted to the Minolta/Sony Alpha mount!


My beloved Vivitar 24mm F2.0 wasn’t stopping down properly, after a few operations in the past year, so it was time to change its mount from the Olympus Zuiko OM mount to the Alpha mount which I use. It was a favorite on my Olympus OM-2000, and will continue living a well-used life!


So, I unscrewed the back of the Vivitar and placed the spacer on my Sony body cap to get the alignment right, then drilled. I intended to just replace the rear mounting with the body cap, using the same screws… but found that the body cap was too thick, so it could not focus to infinity.


Hence, I had to remove another layer, including the aperture ring, off the lens. Now it could focus to infinity, but the screw holes did not match anymore! Then, I found, the lens could shift about in place, and tilt about… I had made a 24mm F2.0 tilt-shift lens!

Yeah, eat that, Canon and Nikon, which only offer a 24mm F3.5 tilt-shift. 😀

The red tape is used to hold it in place; if not, it would pop out too easily. Another layer of red tape was applied underneath the main layer so there are no exposed sticky surfaces.


My sad OM-2000 with the leftover parts from the lens.


So what does a tilt look like? Like this, yo!


Happy (belated) Birthday Rames! Note just where is in focus… there’s another point in focus near the corner of the table, defying normal focus rules.


Note where is in focus – the railing near me, and the railing in the middle of the train!


Shoe and distorted focus plane.


Extreme shifting, with the body cap removed, can cause trippy effects and excessive light leakage.


A sideways tilt can narrow the field of focus, with pleasant effects to lights.


Tilting changes the shape of bokeh! The lens is quite notorious for bright-line bokeh, but nothing too unpleasing.


Ted took this.


Justin with his Sony Alpha 100, doing the tilt-shift. Note the left-hand grip allows for minute adjustment in angle.


George explaining something. Oh and Happy Birthday smashpOp!


Same distance, different blurring.


Ramli burger stall. I think this is without the body cap.


Yes, one can camwhore with it without adjusting focus, as it hangs out just enough for close focus. I was on a custom WB for this one, and got this by accident.


24mm on APS-C crop gives a very nice, natural 36mm angle of view on 35mm film. This is the same as on handphone cameras and standard digital cameras. Only slightly wide.


With extreme tilting without the body cap, flare can and will intrude.


The radial blurring is probably one of the qualities of this lens that I’d want to get more often. Shifting required to get the center of the radial blurring off the center.


From up at Masjid Jamek STAR LRT station.


Extreme tilting, for toy-like effect.

13 thoughts on “DIY Tilt-Shift!

  1. KJ Post author

    i’mm luving ur lens.. LoL so.. how’s the 200mm? hehehe =P HS tilting lens? haha =P too heavy for this! =P

    Reply
  2. Will Post author

    Cool, but what’s the advantage of doing this over using Photoshop?

    Btw, I checked out the Olympus 20X superzoom. Only RM1799!

    Reply
  3. Albert Ng Post author

    smashpOp: Welcome!

    KJ: Hahahaha no way! Yes, you can smear someone at the end.

    Rames: I was just waiting to use your picture as an example.

    Michelle: Yeah, you me and your sister apparently.

    Will: Try replicating this in Photoshop; it doesn’t work in 3D.

    Lex: Yes I will!

    percy: Digicolor, Mutiara Complex, Batu 4 of Jalan Ipoh, definitely has it.

    Reply

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