Mixing a short telephoto field of view with perspective- and depth of field control, the TS-E 90mm f/2.8 from Canon is a tilt-shift lens well-suited to producing well-corrected imagery with a slightly compressed perspective. Up to +/- 8° of tilt is possible, for focus control, and +/- 11mm of shift, to adjust perspective and composition. The tilt-shift mechanism can be rotated +/- 90° for applying movements in any direction, and a tilt-locking mechanism can be used while shooting for greater stability. The lens also employs a Gaussian-type optical design to maintain image quality throughout the aperture range and a Super Spectra coating has been applied to individual element to reduce flare and ghosting for increased contrast and color accuracy.
- EF-Mount Lens/Full-Frame Format
- Aperture Range: f/2.8 to f/32
- Super Spectra Coating
- Gaussian-Type Optical System
Canon TS-E 90mm f/2.8 Overview
Canon TS-E 90mm f/2.8Specs
| Focal Length | |
| Maximum Aperture | |
| Minimum Aperture | |
| Lens Mount | |
| Lens Format Coverage | |
| Angle of View | |
| Tilt-Shift | |
| Minimum Focus Distance | |
| Maximum Magnification | |
| Optical Design | |
| Diaphragm Blades | |
| Focus Type | |
| Image Stabilization | |
| Filter Size | |
| Dimensions (ø x L) | |
| Weight |
| Package Weight | |
| Box Dimensions (LxWxH) |
Canon TS-E 90mm f/2.8 Reviews
GREAT QUALITY
Cannot beat the scope of the lens - and retains quality even at the corners
Golden Oldie
The TS-E 90mm is Canon's first tilt-shift lens for 35mm cameras and has been around for almost 24 years now. Mine is tack sharp from the center to all four corners. I also could not notice any softness when the lens is shifted towards the maximum. I use this lens 90% for landscape and seascape work. The advantage of using a tilt shift lens for this is that you can just level your camera, use the shift for placing your frame and then tilt and focus the lens so everything in your object plane is sharp on your photograph. Another advantage of tilt-shift lenses is that you can easily shoot panos by capturing a shot when the shift is centered and then shift the lens to each side and get two more shots. These three shots can then be blended together in PhotoShop or similar programs. With it's focal length of 90mm it can also be used as a protrait lens or can be used for macros by using an extension tube. The EF12 extension tube gives you max. magnification of 0.43. The advantage with macros is that by tilting it you can get your whole subject in focus. With a regular macro lens you might already have to use focus stacking. The lens is built very solid and the front glass element is hidden well. When focussing the front of the lens also extends. The lens comes from Canon with tilt and shift mechanisms rotated 90degrees to each other. Unfortunateley this lens is not a superrotator as the TS-E24mmII or TS-E17mm, meaning that you can rotated the tilt and shift mechanisms against each other. The wheels/knobs for the tilt-shift mechanisms are tiny which makes them hard to operate with people having larger hands. This lens may also not be for you if you are looking for an autofocus lens. Working with TS-E lenses usually requires a tripod and slows your work down, which I like very much about using TS-E lenses.
Go To Lens
I shoot a lot of food and I have been using my 90 tilt shift lens for years so when I recently dropped my last one it was a no brainer to order up a new one while I was sitting on location just moments after I did this. It has and always will be my GO TO LENS for food shoots. Cheers, Mark
Great TS lens
I have only used this lens a short time so far but it brings back some of the control I had with my LF view camera. It appears very sharp and the controls are easy to use. The ability to rotate both the tilt and shift throughout a 90 degree range gives relatively precise control. The manual focus with Live View 10x works very well. I only use the camera with a tripod, mirror up, silent mode, with a remote switch, so image stabilization has not been an issue so far. I use the lens mostly for landscape photography and architectural subjects and am completely satisfied with them so far. It can be a bit slow to set up the correct focus and depth of field but I'm used to that and don't mind. I usually work slowly and methodically - it is certainly not the lens for quick grab shots or action photography or where a large number of shots with different conditions need to be accommodated. I use the 3 TS lenses I have as prime lenses along with a pair of zooms for longer isolation shots.
Another astounding lens
I actually borrowed this lens from Canon a year ago for testing and just happened to have a small assignment shooting a large antique tractor truck for a calendar while I had the lens. I was absolutely blown away by the image quality then and knew that I would have to own this lens at some point. And while I'm still shooting architecture most of the time, I don't anticipate using it much for that except for the possible detail shot of wrought iron, woodwork, etc. very occasionally. But for product shots both large and small, this lens is amazingly sharp. And of course being able to utilize the Scheimpflug principal will yield the great benefit of getting the image correct in the camera instead of compromising any pixels in post production. I also own the Canon 17mm & 24mm TS-E lenses. Those are both stellar optics and travel with me everywhere. This lens however, due to it's Gaussian design and focal length, is sharper, has NO chromatic aberration or barrel distortion, and just snaps into focus albeit manually. Pretty good performance for a 21 year old lens. The only downside is the fact that while the orientation of the shift and tilt can be altered, a small screw driver is required or you can send it to Canon's repair facility. The lens is delivered with these at a right angle to each other and upon delivery I changed this so I could tilt and shift in the same direction. A pleasant surprise for me after doing this is that the tilt and shift controls are on opposite sides of the lens and for that reason are much easier to manipulate; they don't get in each other's way. While I don't think much about macro photography, except when my children inquire about it, just yesterday I had the need to put this lens to the test. A friend who shoots portraits had an SD memory card which was causing problems so I used this lens focused to the nearest distance along with flash to shoot some quick snap shots of it. The detail allowed me to see physical damage to the card that wasn't apparent with the naked eye, and that was repairable and saved two hours worth of images for her. Again, at closest focusing distance there were no aberrations. I was amazed. And I've seen many examples of nature macro shots with creative blurring/focusing which I want to try. The only negative issue I can imagine with this lens is the size of the image circle. In certain situations I can see where an image circle larger than 58mm would be helpful. This will have little to no impact on anything I'm required to shoot. And lastly, Hollywood seems to have caught on to the value of all 4 of Canon's tilt-shift lenses since a major lens manufacturer is reworking and reselling these lenses in their barrels with gearing for follow focus and mounts for the major camera brands in that arena. I'm thinking Canon can probably thank the 5D Mark II and its' acceptance for movies and television for that.
Nice shift features
Like a Lens Baby but more durable. Crisp where it needs to be and soft where you want it. It's everything I wanted in a lens.
Still great after all these years.
For tabletop product shooting and near macro work the TS-E 90 cannot be beat. The image crispness and detail is awesome. I often crop images in post processing and have never had trouble loosing detail in images from this lens. There are alot of digital tricks you can play with software. But the optical effects of a true shifting and tilting lens cannot truly be replicated after the fact by software.
My 4x5" Sinar P2 Replacement?
I'm advertising professional photographer since 1980 and large and medium format is what I used in this time since I have my second Canon, (my first was a Canon F1 in 1978, after that I switch to Nikon for a while) the new 5D, just after his launch into the market, I saw the TS90 in Canon's website and I got both at the same time, y feel from the beguining that this duo will be my future in my specialization: Product Photographyfor advertising at high level, whith better results than my Sinar P2 with high end Schneider optics and Hasselblad. So I really know what I talking about. I'm using it to shot portaits and models too And best at all: I can still using the Scheimpflug rule, in only one way, but excellent enough to have a good depth of field for close focusing set in table top take or macro with extension rings. I love big size to show and see my work and I'm pleased each time I see a photo taken with the TS 90 it's a magnificent, superb, and awsom lens!