Today at the Phase One booth at Photokina we got a chance to play hands on with the Schneider 120mm Tilt-Shift lens. Four things struck me that weren’t obvious from the press release:
- It’s much larger than I expected, physically
- It’s much lighter than I expected, weight-wise
- It’s got shockingly few glass elements
- The mechanics of the lens are some of the best I’ve felt
Anyone who has used or played with Zeiss Cine glass (for high-end video work) will appreciate the build quality of the Schneider 120mm T/S. The movements are smooth but firm with very distinct detents and seemingly zero play. The focus barrel is easy to turn but secure once you release, and the feel of the barrel and mount is first class.
If you know anything about lens design you’ll appreciate the relative simplicity and minimilist approach of this lens from an optical point of view. Despite a large casing the glass elements are quite small and only take up a small part of the overall length of the lens casing.
Another option for simliar use: the Cambo X-2 also offers the ability to use an excellent quality Schneider 120mm lens with full tilt-and-swing. The X-2 also allows you to use a large variety of other lenses with movements. Unlike the X-2 however this new Schneider 120mm Tilt-Shift lens for the DF body will not require manual stop down of the aperture to take the image after composing/focusing and would be a viable hand-held solution (for instance for creative portraiture or street photography).
