PMA 2009 : Canon TS-E 17mm f/4L Quick Look
Our mission at Canon's booth while attending PMA 2009 was a failed epic. We've got the "hot on the heel" Panasonic's GH1 video clips, Sigma's newest 24-70mm IF DG HSM samples and Olympus E-620 high ISO test shots, but the permission to test on the World's widest Tilt-n-shift TS-E 17mm f/4L was gracefully denied by Canon! So sorry folks, no sneak peek on the TS-E lenses, however we have Canon's tech guru, Brian Matsumoto on video explaining the 17mm's TS-E feature, briefly.
The TS-E 17mm f/4L is the world's shortest focal length Tilt-Shift lens (35mm equiv) with a completely new Canon's TS Revolving System to allow tilting and shifting lens movements to be adjusted in parallel or at right angles to each other, with detents at 45˚intervals. A popular design intended for architectural subject with lens capability that keeps parallel lines from converging. Once set, the orientation of the entire lens can be rotated freely through a range of ±90˚. The amount of tilt is ±6.5˚ while shift movement allows up to ±12mm.
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In a nutshell, the TS lens shift movement avoiding the converging lines from a low to high perspective while tilt movement allowing one to further control the depth of field. Additionally, the new TS-E lens features high-precision glass molded Aspherical and UD glass elements with Canon's new sub-wavelength coatings; thus, there are no shortage of superior optics elements in design, which is very important for lenses with wide angles coverage.
The Canon TS-E 17mm f/4L is every architecture or landscape photographer's dream glass however its price at $2,499 isn't very friendly towards your pocket. I would probably stick to my beat-up 16-35mm.