The AstrHori 85mm f/2.8 Macro & Tilt lens is definitely one of the strangest lenses to come along in a while, and yet, behind that weird design is a highly affordable option that promises to tackle the responsibilities of three or four separate lenses. Can it perform all those functions suitably and offer the performance and image quality professionals demand? This excellent video review takes a look at what you can expect.
Coming to you from Phillip Skraba, this great video review takes a look at the AstrHori 85mm f/2.8 Macro & Tilt lens, made for Canon RF, Sony E, Nikon Z, Leica L, and Fuji X cameras. While this is not the first macro lens that also comes with tilt capabilities (Canon has a few in their library), it is not a particularly common combination. The allure of combining tilt and macro capabilities comes from the fact that in macro work, one can almost never get enough depth of field. Therefore, being able to control depth of field independently of the aperture can be a significant advantage, saving time that might be spent on focus stacking or introducing additional light. And, of course, with that 85mm focal length, it is a tantalizing portrait option as well. Altogether, at $329, it is quite the interesting lens. Check out the video above for Skraba's full thoughts.
If this has quick and accurate autofocus, it would be a no-brainer to purchase for some of my reptile and amphibian work. But if not, then I don't know how good it would be for critters that are squirmy and trying to get away as quick as they can. There's time to get the tilt adjusted as I would want it for a given situation, but there wouldn't also be time to manually focus.
No AF at that price. :) Its all manual. ;)
So far as I know, there are no autofocus shift or tilt/shift lenses. And I have all of the Nikon tilt/shift lenses and know of the Canon and Schneider lenses.
Well that is unfortunate. I guess the manufacturers don't cater to those who want tilt capabilities to use on quickly moving critters.