The Weird Lens That Can Invisibly Photograph Mirrors (Tilt Shift)

[@ThioJoe]

Fun fact, like 75% of the time I spent making this video was just on all the short animations. Please like the video or I will be sad 😂 Also several have mentioned that in the mirror shot, you could tell it was at an angle because the faucet was not facing centered. This is true, but if you were doing this for a movie or something, and really needed to sell the illusion, you could simply adjust the faucet or other objects so they still look like they are pointed straight-on.

[@smft9147]

This video was fucking amazing

[@hallelujahcee]

Wut

[@Conservator.]

The animations were really helpful. Thanks!

[@bostoned]

You have a beautiful apartment!

[@dkracingfan2503]

@@bostoned NO U

[@danielhastings3167]

This is the first explanation of tilt shift I've seen that actually makes sense. Thanks for taking the time to explain things so well.

[@xenorac]

Yeah, wondered about it for years!

[@Brutalexecution]

Yeah, great explanation!

[@nmb-u-]

Wait.. it is real!?

[@Shezmic]

Very informative

[@vinstinct]

The animations help

[@nobodynemoq]

I've known about tilt-shift lenses since years. However, you are the first one who managed to explain the way they work in such a simple way. Good work! Also, fun fact: the "miniaturization" effect when tilting the lens is a product of our culture. After seeing loads of photos and short focal length effects in movies, our brain is used to the fact that things that are clearly out of focus are in the different distance than those staying in focus - and that it works either by making first plan blurry or the background blurry. When we see both first plan and background blurry, we assume that the whole scene is so small that it is possible to focus just on parts of the elements we see.

[@stefanmetzeler]

I knew tilt-shift lenses were advertised as being "for architects" and I knew that they were useful for taking images of large objects, but given their price, I never really invested time into figuring out how they worked. This is a great explanation that makes me want to get one...

[@AmodeusR]

After all the "get for free" videos from ThioJoe, I don't know what I can believe or not anymore...

[@mediacoregroupph]

Here is some vids from Matt Granger and DigitalRevTv

[@joyson7]

It's all just a joke

[@rodigopizarro9414]

Same I clicked on it like oh cool then seen thio joe. And after that was like oh never mind not cool

[@MatthewKirkmkblogs]

Amodeus R. Fr

[@kenkannon5630]

@@joyson7 Everything I say is a lie :)

[@artistjoh]

I have been using tilt/shift cameras since the 1970’s. In all that time this is the best description of tilt/shift I have ever seen or read. Congratulations on making something that can easily bore people into something that inspires them.

[@saltycracker2344]

Oh no it's him! I still don't trust him since his video on how to get all steam games for free...

[@hallelujahcee]

What? Wasnt that a joke video

[@dotsvg8482]

@@hallelujahcee What? Wasnt this a joke comment

[@hallelujahcee]

@@dotsvg8482 oof i no undastand dat

[@dotsvg8482]

@@hallelujahcee Lol, it's fine

[@hallelujahcee]

@@dotsvg8482 s'okay

[@ilkoallexandroff]

For mirrorless users like Sony full frame cameras, there is a really good TS adapter, that would make almost every Canon or Nikon full-frame lens be used as a native TS lens! I made some video about it recently, it was a really fun to play with gear! Cheers from Japan!

[@elissitdesign]

My father bought a tilt/shift lens for taking pictures of tall buildings he designed in the 80s. He’s since passed on and left me one of these beautiful lenses! It’s a treasure of mine.

[@MrFrragnarsson]

I bet he used it to "untilt" the buildings, that wasn't really covered in this video, but fixes the problem mentioned in the beginning.

[@blacxthornE]

Thank you for this. Tilt/shift has always been the name for the miniature effect for me. Whenever I saw such a photo on reddit or something there was always someone trying to explain how tilt/shift is actually supposed to be more than that but without visual aid it was hard to understand what they meant. This is perfect.

[@CommonCent]

I love how the video comes across as fake but is actually a real thing 😎

[@stevethea5250]

More Payment Methods I will ensure that the same Credit Card and a valid form of ID for verification is presented upon collection in-store. I agree that Chemist Warehouse may cancel my Click & Collect order if it is found to be a duplicate purchase. Click here for more information

[@Shezmic]

He makes it so easy to understand...

[@parttimehuman]

Yeah. lol Thought it was click bait at first. pleasantly surprised.

[@navidmehdi6]

@@parttimehuman nah he's fixed up. He well known for lying in the past but he's fixed up now and provides good and clear explaination.

[@shadow20482]

​@@navidmehdi6 wanst the "lies" joke videos?

[@LFPAnimations]

I have been doing photography for years and only knew tilt shifts by the common miniature effects, but somehow never learned the many practical uses for them. Thank you for making such a great explanation. The focal plane rotation and ability to photograph tall objects without angling the camera up are both HUGE gamechangers. I really want a tilt shift now

[@nightthemoon8481]

This is literally the best explanation of tilt shift cameras I've ever seen I've literally never understood them before

[@smashexentertainment676]

tilt-shift lenses)

[@nightthemoon8481]

@@smashexentertainment676 yeah ^

[@thatfellarosto]

Ive been doing photography for several years, just stumbled upon this video today. And this video is legitimately the first time I've ever had a tilt shift lens explained to me in a way that makes sense. thanks!

[@noapoleon_]

Dude.... You cannot imagine the amount of time I lost "optimising" my cpu and gpu and ram and hdd with your videos back in 2015 xD

[@noapoleon_]

@Google Inc. What's that ? Wait let me try. Is it gonna perform better ?

[@dhyssop83]

@@noapoleon_ Yes, just do it.

[@noapoleon_]

@@dhyssop83 My pc died because of the amount of naivety in that comment

[@vlad.the.impaler.]

@@noapoleon_ nice bait m8

[@noapoleon_]

@@vlad.the.impaler. ;)

[@uniworkhorse]

I've got trust issues with Mr. ThioJoe, but I'm presently surprised to see such a beautifully written and edited video! Awesome to learn a lot about the history and tech!

[@chrisogrady28]

This is the best explanation of tilt shift I’ve seen on KZbin and totally wouldn’t have expected it from a non-photography channel, amazing work Joe, and I really appreciate being willing to go over some people’s heads in order to actually be accurate with the explanations

[@malz]

I love how do you cover the topic holistically. You say about the old days of photography, about how the focal plane actually moves, how you can use it as your advantage, and about the possibility of using just the ultra wide angle lens. If only every video on KZbin were that complete.

[@MemeMarine]

Came expecting a bullshit meme, left with an interesting photography fact

[@prasenjeetanand]

It's a joke, not possible at all

[@bill_g.]

prasenjeet Anand k

[@melody3741]

What in god's name could possibly be construed as a meme about this lmao???

[@MemeMarine]

@@melody3741 well, it didn't seem like a thing that could exist.

[@krzem]

thank you for the Epic weapon base

[@ilghiz]

Wow, I've known about tilt shift for over ten years but this is the first time I got an explanation how it works on the hard hardware level! I had heard there are tilt shift lenses but never actually knew the way they work. Thanks a lot!!!

[@MathieuStern]

Weird lenses ???? Mathieu Stern has entered the chat !

[@rogueanuerz]

wow. ice lens great vintage btw

[@michaelashcraft9098]

Aye! Love your vids

[@dalefmurphy]

You have explained the Tilt-Shift lens better than any of the other KZbin channels! Well done.

[@Mettyunuabona_]

4:06 That is probably the best visualised example of how DOP works I've seen on youtube BY FAR. I understood this but for a beginner; it explains this perfectly without you even having to explain DOP

[@Candy-uo8sv]

DOF* not DOP, DOP stands for director of photography

[@mdtalhaansari1096]

Subscribed. Not into pro photography. But I like the style. No unnecessary music, just pure, focussed info.

[@Discoveringbandsbymichaelnagy]

I'm big into photography and I've never heard of this lens but it looks and sounds absolutely amazing and I'm definitely going to be looking into getting one of these. Thanks for this great information

[@CZghost]

If it wasn't so expensive, it would be great to get hand on these. I'd love to check out one to see what it can do to photograph :) Sadly, I do not have reflex camera, only a little bit better and more expensive compact camera (it produces better images, but doesn't grant me full control over the camera - I can change white and exposure balance, but I cannot set exact values, and definitely cannot change depth of field by adjusting aperture, and cannot change focal point - all of these are maintained automatically by the camera - but it is great start and I hope one day I'll be able to buy myself an actual reflex camera and maybe also even tilt-shift lens for landscape photography. Wow, that's amazing how everything works!

[@LaViejaConsolada]

You're big into photography and you never heard about a technical camera, large format or even focal plane? xD Digital is doing a disservice to the photographers.

[@properprinting]

A couple of years ago I bought a TS-E for product photography mainly. This video showed me what's really possible with this awesome lens, thanks!

[@ikm64]

I've worked in the photography game for decades... I've yet to see a more comprehensive explanation of a photographic concept... Impressed just doesn't cover it....Wow! Seriously...

[@moldoveanu8]

Thanks for making legit videos now, and no more pranks. Much better. Awesome Chicago scenery at 4:56 👍. I'm actually impressed with the production value and content you put up here. Keep it going!

[@i_watch_everything]

Me : I dont have camera Also me at 3am : watching this video

[@borisivanakiev9728]

Sounds like me...right now! :-D

[@longliveclassicmusic]

This is a lightyears better of an explanation than virtually all photography channels I've seen. The fact that a tilt shift lens is just a wider angle lens condensed to a more telephoto lens where you can just shift around the wider focal plane is news to me. My fingers are itching to order the 90MP Canon EOS R5s when it's announced for preorder, and it's nice to know I could get the same results by just shooting wider and cropping.

[@TheVirtualTim]

They aren't cheap. Another thing I point out to people wondering about them is that they're always manual focus lenses (I have never heard of an auto-focusing tilt-shift lens). Another nice side-effect... since you can tilt the focus plane without having to stop down, you can shoot at a higher shutter speed (because you have a wider aperture) and that means you can freeze action (think of a field of flowers being blown by the wind). BTW, Novoflex makes bellows adapters for many popular camera models (also not cheap).

[@murbella7]

As an old photographer, the best explanation of a tilt-shift lens I have seen. Thanks.

[@TurpInTexas]

Hi ThioJoe, I can't speak for other camera manufacturers, but Nikon has quite a few bellows options for their 35mm cameras, at least years ago. I have both tilt/shift and bellows and prefer the bellows since you can do more things with them, like magnify as well. BTW, your presentation on these cool lens is better than anything I have ever seen in any book or video in all my years, and I'd say should be the new reference standard for people wishing to understand them. Well done sir!

[@jammin023]

Clearest explanation of tilt-shift I've ever seen - thank you! You can get tilt-shift adaptors to enable the effect with a regular lens, eg the Fotodiox TLT ROKR, but of course you need a lens with a large enough image circle relative to the sensor size to make it worthwhile: probably a medium format lens, and an APS-C, or better yet MFT, sensor.

[@TheRealGuywithoutaMustache]

These lenses are very fascinating. It'd be considered sorcery back then.

[@Discoveringbandsbymichaelnagy]

Yes its great learning something new that can really help your photography and it sure does sound like magic

[@Discoveringbandsbymichaelnagy]

@AbdooMs EG I watch a lot of videos

[@nootics]

I thought you only comment on anime stuff since I started watching anime. Nope, you're everywhere. New Justin Y.

[@miro007ist]

Stop 🛑 this now!!!! Please stop it now

[@nezunish-898]

@@nootics somehow I feel like he stalk us or I stalk him.

[@IllidanS4]

I like that you describe looking upwards at a tall tower "warped" since the parallel lines meet, while other people actually call warped the resulting perspective that comes from Y-shearing when the lines stay parallel.

[@bruceogletree7995]

Ah, what a pang of nostalgia I felt when you showed pics of your (really cool, BTW) field camera. I was a commercial photographer from 1980 to 2010 and used similar cameras in my work, the largest using 8" x 10" sheet film Truly a beast, though not even the largest of such cameras. The Scheimpflug Principle (VERY well explained in your video) was something that had to be understood well in order to have any hope of producing decent photos with these types of camera. Now you have me jonesing for a tilt-shift lens for my smartphone camera. Thinking this may be optically impossible.

[@Luis-kp2rq]

Finally somebody who explained the concept in an understandable way, thank you!

[@doomelements4679]

You have simplified TS to a very digestable manner that no other photography channel managed to do thus far. Awesome!

[@LukeEdwin]

I've known about tilt-shift lenses for a long time but never actually knew that they did all that stuff. thanks so much for this video👍 you did a great job at explaining things

[@dunste123]

Coming into this video I thought that it was a fake tutorial. Instead you blew my mind

[@shikhanshu]

thio is perhaps one of the best tech explainers out there

[@exectech]

For decades I've often wondered how one could take a photo of a mirror without the camera in the image. Now I know!

[@nijram15]

I'm doing a PhD in optics and microscopy and actually learned something. Very wel explained. Thanks!

[@colfaxschuyler3675]

This topic was freaking interesting. I thought this was going to be on manipulating the DoF to give photographs of miniatures appear to be full size objects, for things like model train environments. This was way cool.

[@a64738]

This is the best explonation and demonstraion of tilt shift I have seen, better then all the other professional photograpers trying to explain it...

[@notpurnhub7521]

this guy went from teaching me how to "download ram" to actually teaching me something useful that actually works

[@soupricemf1260]

Prun hub

[@aiden.m4a]

@@soupricemf1260 google translated your comment to praun huba

[@soupricemf1260]

@@aiden.m4a wut? I can't translate my comment T_T

[@aiden.m4a]

​@@soupricemf1260 it's a feature on YT mobile, but idk if it's a premium experimental feature

[@JasonLihani]

KZbin's algorithm brought me here and it was right. Subbed. This is the best.

[@HelamanGile]

Wait, I thought this was a joke if I realized it wasn't.

[@japhyriddle]

Yes, there are tilt-shift adapters that work with a mirrorless camera body and lenses created for non-mirrorless cameras. I used one on a Sony A7RII some years ago. This is definitely the route I would recommend if you already have a mirrorless camera body.

[@leseanpayne2805]

"Tilt shift will change the way you think of cameras" Man I'm 3 minutes in and I already realized I don't understand *light.*

[@retrobit5973]

"We better stay back here on Earth, Mr. Elon Musk"

[@hbjong3092]

Very good explanation! You can actually fake the tilt by detaching your regular lens from your camera, then tilting it while holding it close to the camera. Doing this gives you that special 'macro' look. As far as I know there is no trick to do the opposite and create a greater field of depth. Of course this is a patch-up because your sensor is exposed to dust and if you tilt your lens too far, the image circle cannot cover the sensor, creating vignette. Edit: I am from the Netherlands but I did my best on the English language, if I made any mistakes, please tell me so I can fix it 😂

[@barneylaurance1865]

This isn't really fake, this is just a way of genuinely tilting the lens. It just has all the disadvantages of the lens not being attached to the camera - letting light and dust into the camera, no electronic connections, having to hold both parts etc. Tilting doesn't have to be about creating a shallow field of depth. It's creating a focus plane that's not parallel to the sensor plane. You can use it to effectively make your focus deeper, by making it more parallel with your subject.

[@richardbenjamin8535]

the lens is a vampire. everyone knows a vampire doesn't have a reflection in a mirror

[@Djoser122]

I love you, Thiojoe. And there's something special about your black v-neck tee that really makes me watch.

[@Ardeact]

remember when this channel was putting aluminum foil on your router for bigger range

[@iansmith8183]

A great way to play with Tilt-Shift is a Micro Four Thirds camera and older lenses. Due to the very short distance from lens to sensor due to the mirror box not being required, you can buy tilt-shift adapters for other lens formats and still project the same image circle. The space the adapter needs is perfect for adding the extra functionality.

[@jasongooden917]

The new feature in next years cellphones

[@ThioJoe]

I'd actually be hella hyped

[@DEMENTO01]

@@ThioJoe same tbh

[@Kaiyats]

It would look like your holding your hand out randomly

[@TonyLewis42]

Its weird to watch videos like this from you that are super in depth technical videos and then remember how I started watching you as a fake computer help channel. You do both very well.

[@smft9147]

Thio Joe got a nice crib ngl 😳😳

[@ThioJoe]

Decorated it all myself 😁

[@datan00dles67]

you are my new favorite youtuber. i have been a photographer for years now and this explanation of a tilt shift lens is wonderful. i’ve always wanted one of these lenses, but they are way too expensive for me. amazing !!

[@srini56]

Can the Image sensor be tilted or shifted instead of the lens assembly?

[@ThioJoe]

Good question, and the answer is yes. A lot of old bellows cameras actually allow both the lens and back to be tilted

[@insertclevernamehere2506]

No. The design of typical modern digital cameras doesn't allow for that. Some specialist large and medium format system can be used that way but they are so expensive that they aren't worth considering for normal use. With the exception of the fairly budget lens baby system, good quality TS lenses are also fairly expensive with most running several thousand USD per lens. They are traditionally used in architectural photography for correcting perspective and parallax issues.

[@peterjf7723]

@@ThioJoe Produce an adaptor to fit a digital camera to the back of a 5 x 4 monorail camera, You would of course also need a really hefty tripod to support it.

[@LaViejaConsolada]

@@insertclevernamehere2506 if fact large format is far more cheap that any decent digital set. xD Digital: camera: 500 Lens: 200 tripod: 200 Computer: 1000 Printer: 200 Paper: 20 Total: 2120 ish dollars? Large format: camera: 200 (a crown graphic, for example) lens: 250 tripod: 200 chemicals, trays, and tanks: 150 emulsion for 50 photos: 30 safelight and bluelight to enlarge with the own camera: 100? Paper: 20 Total: 950ish dollars. Here you go your set for pictures of over 500 megapixels. xD

[@bestintentions6089]

First video that properly explained tilt shift lenses .nicely done

[@RayanMufti]

4:51 my favorite effect. Still don’t understand why it makes things look miniature

[@LaViejaConsolada]

It not make things look miniature. Is your brain who is telling you that it looks like miniature. Why? Because the closer you focus, the shallow your depth of field (yes, even using your eyes). So when you focus very close, which means looking to very tiny things, your brain knows that, in the same way that focusing far your depth of field is huge, is just one of the ways that the mind calculates distances. So when a technical camera mess up the focal plane and creates a shallow depth of field for something afar, your brain have no other reference of distance (because is only one image, not like your eyes that are two images put together creating a brief trigonometric calculation having in account the angles between the axis of the eyes compared) that how shallow the depth of field is. If it is large, you know that the image is far from the camera. If is not, then you'll understand that is close. Tada!

[@ap-pv7ug]

I've never heard of tilt-shift before, but as soon as you mentioned it, I went to Google images and typed in "tilt shift photography of New York City." Was not disappointed.

[@hypeedits558]

That explains all the shows and movies where they are looking into a mirror

[@MeAndMyOpinions_OverYours]

Actually it's all digital work

[@BloodyMobile]

Yep, I'm the portion that heard of those lenses, and that was it. Really fascinating what else they can do even how they do it in the first place. Great video.

[@eksine]

Damn I thought he was gonna introduce a warlock and explain that magic is real

[@easypzee]

This is the best explanation of tilt/shift lens I have ever seen.

[@DrawTaken]

So that's why "The Legend of Zelda: A Link's Awakening" looks the way it does.

[@wxb200]

This is the best video describing Tilt-Shift Photography.

[@hospie]

He's so handsome

[@SchoolFlies]

You didn’t specify, so thank you.

[@dylanstorer509]

honestly thanks so much

[@calcifer0102]

💚

[@TomTomTom9146]

This man's a genius. He's made so many troll videos that have the same format as the videos with truth that you can't differ the two, making the trolling even MORE effective!!

[@naqeta]

Remember when this guy was the "how to, for free" guy?

[@gabrieltonatiuandrade8941]

I thought this was clickbait. But it wasn't and I actually learned something interesting and new. Subscribed!

[@deldarel]

I swear, one day you'll promote your instagram account with "These memes will murder you in a dim alleyway so you'd better keep your eyes on it at all time."

[@ngeejee]

This is the online time I see practical explanation of what the TSE is supposed to do and the principal behind it. GOOD JOB!! =D

[@trentf8607]

6:30 Now if all of this sounds amazing, you might be surprised to find out that none of this is *real* (Jk it is)

[@vlusky_husky]

oh what a twist that would be

[@s.m8766]

wow, best and most thorough explanation of tilt/shift lenses I've seen!

[@MarcoGPUtuber]

Dammit, no tie.

[@CaleOglesby]

This video is more interesting and informational than the title suggests. It definitely taught me something different than what I was expecting, in a GOOD way. :)

[@cobwal]

Polarsaurusrex has done this for years already

[@tjackman]

Subscribed for funny content, stayed for incredibly well presented lens breakdowns. I think this might be your best video yet (at least in terms of amount of information conveyed)

[@icefreak2272]

wait is this real i cant tell anymore after all the extend your wifi or get pretty much anything for free videos

[@TheElusivePanda]

Forget the mirrors, this is one of the best overall explanations on tilt/shift lenses I've seen. I have the 24mm TS-E and I still learned a few things.

[@NullScar]

This is awesome news.. _for all the bloghead people._ The world has really evolved at this point. Bravo!

[@waylandsmith]

You can most certainly buy tilt shift adaptors for Canon and Nikon cameras and they're about $200. You'll need a medium-format lens to use it with, of course (since the image circle needs to be much larger than standard lense). Fotodiox makes them.

[@amarissimus29]

Ditto others; excellent explanation of tilt-shift. Much of optics is very non-intuitive and consequentially hard to explain but you managed it brilliantly.

[@asherael]

I learned to use tilt and shift working with 100 year old large format bellows cameras, its a trip seeing that ability come to digital cameras now

[@firstnamelastname-im5iz]

I learned all these techniques almost 40 years ago using a 4x5 camera for studio, product, architectural and landscape photography. Before digital, these were the equivalent of HD imaging we use today. My camera was made by Cambo and I used a 210mm f5.6 Schneider lens.

[@shailendrasharma4838]

Wow this was very new to me. This was very facinating. I never heard of this but knowing it is really worth. I will try both in future. Thanks ThiJoe for letting us know this. The more we learn the more we realize there is infinite things we actully need to learn.

[@lukabrasi001]

i remember when Thio's videos were all fake when he started his youtube career, and now he's an actually legit guy. what a world we live in

[@AbhinavanandSingh]

This is the first video that I saw of yours and BOOM, you earn a subscribe. Fantastic depth of knowledge, as well as clarity!

[@dranilsaxena]

Thanks Joe. Fantastic explanation in simple language. I admire your knowledge.

[@orglarovin]

Clear and concise explanation of tilt/shift lenses. Good job!

[@mattikaki]

Really well explained. I once in 70’s participated in a photo contest in the Finnish Academy of Arts named ”Aberrations”. Never occured in mind that using this kind of lens would have been interesting.

[@zooweezybw8131]

I actually learned something useful from this guy..The same guy that made me think u can actually download ram..You have come a long way ey❤️

[@onlysublime]

Ty! I visit photography channels and this is the best explanation!

[@zappababe8577]

You explained this so well that even I could understand it! That's an achievement 👏

[@dablet]

this was very well made and i finally understand how tilt shift lens works. thank you!!!

[@EYEmaginary]

Really didn’t know about this technique, but it’s very useful information! Thanks for sharing.