Nikon PC-E NIKKOR 24mm f/3.5D ED tilt shift lens review using the Nikon Z7

Keith Cooper reviews the Nikon PC-E NIKKOR 24mm f/3.5D ED tilt shift lens. Tested on the Nikon Z7 mirrorless full frame (FX)camera.
Discusses the features and performance of the lens, including a basic guide to ways of using the lens.
There is a more detailed written version of this review at:
www.northlight-images.co.uk/n...
00:00 Start and lens introduction
05:16 Using shift
06:58 Hand held use and levelling
07:26 Diagonal shift
09:02 Horizontal shift
10:04 Tilting the lens
12:15 Prices new and used
13:10 Stitching shifted
14:31 Choice of aperture
15:47 Lens hood and flare
16:38 Chromatic aberration and corrections
17:46 Geometric distortions
18:41 Vignetting test
19:59 Lens mount considerations
20:36 The promise of the Z mount
21:19 Overview and learning more about tilt/shift
Keith has written many articles and reviews covering the use of tilt and shift lenses.
www.northlight-images.co.uk/ph...
There is a lengthy review of the PC-E19mm at www.northlight-images.co.uk/ni...
Keith's comprehensive book about the tilt/shift lenses is now available:
www.crowood.com/products/phot...
Now also in the USA at
www.amazon.com/Photography-Ti...
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[@joseandresbasbus9628]

Hi. Thank you for your review. I have also purchased your tilt&shift book. I use the Nikon 24 mm f3.5 since 2008. I have sent it back to Nikon USA to ask for factory modification so that I can use both tilt&shift at the same orientation. Since I shoot landscape, I apply both tilt&shift in parallel so that to extend depth of field. When shooting arquitecturas, if I need to swing, I try to compensate the lack of shift raise by raising the center column of my tripod. Nikon USA charged me U$D 150 for the modification. They change the internal cables and flexibles (for longer ones) and they rotate the lens back so that to align both buttons. They also charged me the same amount for modifying my 45 mm f2.8 and 85 mm f2.8. This was done in 2011. You also mentioned in the review that the lens focuses “beyond infinity”, which is true, and you add “it is useful for tilt usage”, but you forgot to comment about it when you talked about shift. So, I would like you explain a little bit about how useful it is to focus beyond infinity when tilting the lens (assuming that you intend to gain depth of field). Thanks in advance. Jose

[@KeithCooper]

Thanks - glad it was of interest. I'll include some more detail in the main (written) review. Tilt beyond infinity just allows a wider range of swinging the focal plane - it's in the book ;-) See also some of my articles/videos - there is only so much 'general' tilt shift stuff I include in the reviews.

[@TheCaboChannelMexico]

Thank you for all the tilt shift lens videos and added information from an elderly Brit in Mexico! I am about to dip my toe into the TS market; much as I desire the 19mm, I may have to end up with the 24mm version and your many videos are of immense help, so many thanks Keith

[@KeithCooper]

Thanks - glad they are of interest!

[@GreggObst]

Thanks for this very informative video. I just purchased this lens for use with my historical architecture photos and I bought your book as well. Looking forward to learning lots with the book.

[@KeithCooper]

Thanks - the 24mm was lent to me after I'd finished the book, so you might want to check the actual pc-e24 review as well at www.northlight-images.co.uk/nikon-pc-24mm-review/

[@n1k1george]

Excellent tutorial on the subject! Thank you!

[@KeithCooper]

Glad it was helpful! If you've not seen it, the full written article has much more detail www.northlight-images.co.uk/nikon-pc-e-45mm-review/

[@nataliatartachnaya]

Thank you Keith! Great review!

[@KeithCooper]

Thanks- glad it was of interest!

[@cadakun6498]

What a master. Thank you. God bless you.

[@KeithCooper]

Thanks!

[@anewcareerinanewtown]

Excellent review

[@KeithCooper]

Thanks - I'm still trying to find an 85mm to complete the set of Nikon ones

[@jean-claudemuller3199]

Thank you Keith for this comprehensive and very true review. I use the 24 PC-E since launch date and use also the 45 PC-E, 19 PC-E and a 50 shift medium format Mamiya. This 24 PC-E is the "weakest" of all my TS lenses. It's the weakest in terms of vignetting and corner sharpness as you showed it, but it has also a somewhat weird feature being tack sharp at low distances and much weaker at long distances even on the center of image circle what is not best for landscape and architecture. I find my 19PC-E absolutely stellar and vest of class. It is way better in vignetting, corner sharpness, sharpness on all distances etc. Consequence is that for architecture and landscape I use a lot the 19mm and quite no more the 24mm.

[@KeithCooper]

Thanks - I have a 19mm review at www.northlight-images.co.uk/nikon-pc-19mm-f4e-ed-review/ - it predates my my making videos though ;-) I find I use the Canon 17mm quite a lot, even though the 24mm mk2 is a sharper lens. I do look forward to seeing what Nikon and Canon can do for the Z and RF mounts

[@jbairdexp]

As always Keith, an interesting watch. A tilt shift lens has always been one of those lenses that's on the list, but never makes it to the top. Looking forward to seeing your thoughts on other Nikkor lenses. :-)

[@KeithCooper]

Thanks - I've a review of the 19mm (predates my making videos) and am trying to get hold of the 45mm and 85mm to complete the set www.northlight-images.co.uk/nikon-pc-19mm-f4e-ed-review/

[@Jacques-Ingela2024]

👏🏻 Keith. You have made the most well-informed introduction to Tilt shift that has ever been made. Thanks for a great time with your video. I will buy the book and wonder if there is any discount? Well Done !! Best, Jacques

[@KeithCooper]

Thanks - glad it was helpful! However, it's the publishers who sell the book - my last direct involvement was in approving the layout proofs after writing it ;-) That was only for the 'real' paper version - any electronic versions are nothing to do with me...

[@Heiko_K]

Hello and thank you for this (and the other) videos on tilt-shift lenses. I find your videos very informative and "on the point" and much better than many other reviews. I had actually once owned a PC-E 24mm but had to sell it, now I would like to get one again. I´m currently looking to see if it´s worth spending less money on the Nikon lens and going for a Samyang, but I´m not quite sure yet. I´ll check your other videos to see if there are currently any other options. looking forward to new videos from you, take care, Heiko Knoll, Germany.

[@KeithCooper]

Thanks - glad it was of interest. Do have a look at the articles as well though, they usually have more detail - the Samyang 24mm was covered several years ago - long before I was ever persuaded to make some videos ;-) I've only recently started doing the videos and most of my testing is in the written articles and reviews going back several years (and of course, my book ;-) ) The next T/S lens is likely the Nikon 45mm, since I'm covering the few that were not available when I did the book.

[@markyork5839]

Thanks Keith. Very informative.

[@KeithCooper]

Thanks - there is more detail in the main written review if you've not seen it. www.northlight-images.co.uk/nikon-pc-24mm-review/ Just spotted that I'd forgotten to put the URL in the video description

[@markyork5839]

@@KeithCooper Cheers Keith. I've subscribed to your channel, and so will be reading more...

[@davidsilva8695]

Excellent! Thank you.

[@KeithCooper]

Thanks

[@kapurar]

An excellent video! Thank you!

[@KeithCooper]

Glad it was helpful! - I wish Nikon would get their act together and update the T/S lens range though...

[@kapurar]

@@KeithCooper I wish they would make some native Z mount lenses.

[@chrisvalford]

Hi Keith, always find your videos informative. The 24mm PC-E was one of the first lenses I purchased for my Z7 and have used it a lot. Can you suggest a (bellows style) lens hood as being Barcelona based we get very strong sunlight here.

[@KeithCooper]

Ah, I'm in the UK and it's never been a serious issue here ;-)

[@mikemalloy1681]

I am going to order your book if it is available on AMAZON, in the USA. Very good presentation.

[@KeithCooper]

Thanks - I'm told it should now be available in the US The PC-E24 is one I couldn't get hold of when I did the book - I should be getting the 45mm to look at next.

[@krishnakumarprojector3328]

Thank you so much for such an informative video. What is the effective focal length we achieve using full shift effect both sides?

[@KeithCooper]

Do you mean shifting and stitching? 'Effective focal length' has no real definition in this respect and I can't remember the FOV to focal length calculations off hand. Broadly speaking, the diagonal FOV goes from 84 to 101 degrees (in the specs), which is what you'd get with a lens around 17-18mm (on a 36x24 sensor). Of course that's with fitting the multiple shots into the image circle and depends on aspect ratio.

[@krishnakumarprojector3328]

@@KeithCooper @Keith Cooper thank you for the response, and apologies as I couldn't frame the question properly. Yes my question was after shifting and then stitching how wide would the resulting image be on an fx 36x24 sensor? I couldn't quiet understand the effect of 11.5 mm shift available on the lens and its effect in terms of real focal length for comparison purposes. I note some other lenses like Nikon 28mm pc have only 8mm shift.

[@KeithCooper]

I'd say that the 'focal length' for shift is not necessarily a good way of looking at how shifted images cover the image circle. The amount of shift available for any particular lens is dependent on how big the image circle is See here - It includes several of the diagrams that I use in my book www.northlight-images.co.uk/how-to-use-a-shift-lens-on-your-camera/

[@krishnakumarprojector3328]

@@KeithCooper thank you so much for your responses.

[@saszseb]

Keith, can you turn the lens to 45° or only 30°, 60°, 90° like Canon TS-E 24mm lens?

[@KeithCooper]

The lens is the same as the Canon - see the actual review for more detail www.northlight-images.co.uk/nikon-pc-24mm-review/ Just like the Canon, it's only click-stops at 30º intervals - you can of course set it to any rotation, just it's not a preset

[@openeye126]

somehow I thought i saw you using a 58 laowa Macro somewhere ... also Laowa makes the Magic converter for Z mount ( with f-stops )

[@KeithCooper]

Ah, I have nothing with Z mount It was this www.northlight-images.co.uk/laowa-58mm-2x-macro/

[@openeye126]

@@KeithCooper thank you !

[@thomaseriksson6256]

Thank you, I got that lens. I have not the 19mm yet. Mostly becouse I cannot use the Lee 100mm on it. I will look at an used one.

[@KeithCooper]

Such filters are often problematic with UWA lenses with big front elements. If you want wide and filters look at the Laowa 20mm shift. If I needed it, I'd prefer a behind lens ND such as I could use with the TS-E17 and EF-RF adapter - that said I'm simply not a big fan of filters to any significant degree

[@thomaseriksson6256]

​@@KeithCooper I will take a look but optically the Laowa is not as good as Nikon. I use 6x to 10x ND filters to get a long exposure time and ND Grad filters. There was good info on mirrorless and new PC/TS lenses. If Z8 is a good camera I may get one. But it’s a matter of cost as I'm an amateur and have no income from my photo.

[@KeithCooper]

Might you not already have enough kit ;-)

[@thomaseriksson6256]

@@KeithCooper Yes that is correct. I try to only get lenses that I need but I have the common Engineer disease of getting to much gear that I have problem with from time to time, especially during periods of upgrading a camera

[@KeithCooper]

Fight it - the biggest issues [IMHO] most photographers have, have nothing to do with what equipment they use... ;-)

[@Jacques-Ingela2024]

Hi Keith. Hope you are well. I am using my TS 24 and can't get aoutfocus work? I am using a Nikon D810.

[@KeithCooper]

The 24mm is a manual focus lens? Did you mean focus confirmation? On DSLRs the AF sensor can be completely thrown off by any tilt or shift. I've no experience with Nikon DSLRs and tilt/shift lenses, so not something I've direct knowledge of. On my Canon DSLRs I check focus for shift before shifting if possible.

[@davidbehrens4732]

Keith, If you could only afford a canon 24mm f1.4 usm Ef or a used 24mm ts-e for urban architectural building photography which would you choose?

[@KeithCooper]

TS-E24 every day ;-) I don't need wide apertures at 24mm ;-) The TS-E24 has been my 'walk-round' lens for 15 years - hand held...

[@davidbehrens4732]

Thanks Keith. I’m going to get the TS-24.

[@KeithCooper]

I should have said TS-E24 II - the original is good, but somewhat soft at strong shift see www.northlight-images.co.uk/canon-ts-e-24mm-3-5l-ii-review/

[@williamc1590]

Bought one just today for 600

[@KeithCooper]

That sounds a good price! Hope it works well for you.

[@winheiMR]

Leider viel zu teuer für einen Amateur - und Hobby-Belichter, Samyang hat ein sehr schönes 24 oder 35mm für sehr viel weniger für Nikon F. Mir aber noch zu teuer.

[@KeithCooper]

My review of the Samyang 24mm tilt/shift lens [predates my videos] www.northlight-images.co.uk/review-samyang-24mm-tilt-shift-lens/ The Laowa 20mm shift lens is also an excellent lens www.northlight-images.co.uk/review-laowa-20mm-shift-lens-f4/ No, they are not cheap, but that's specialist lenses for you...