It’s only been a few years since the release of Canon’s first full-frame mirrorless camera, but the imaging company’s RF-mount lineup now features dozens of lenses, including pro-level zooms, top-notch primes, and even a handful of macro and super-telephoto models.
One product that has been conspicuously absent from Canon’s mirrorless lineup, however, is the tilt-shift lens. While TS glass isn’t exactly mainstream, it offers a myriad of benefits for certain shooters: Architectural and cityscape photographers can use shift technology to prevent perspective distortion, while landscape snappers can use tilt technology to keep deep scenes in focus without relying on diffraction-plagued apertures or painstaking focus stacking. And that’s not to mention the power of tilt-shift panoramas, used by landscape photographers, product photographers, still life photographers, and more to create seamless wide images.
Happily, it seems that Canon mirrorless users on the lookout for tilt-shift lenses won’t have long to wait. According to Canon Rumors, “new tilt-shift lenses are in the hands of a select group of photographers,” including a possible 14mm f/4 model and a 24mm f/3.5 model. CR also notes that “we are…assuming that longer focal length [TS lenses] are also in the works,” and that the 14mm and 24mm models are “just the two lenses that [CR has] been told about over the months.”
If Canon photographers are testing several tilt-shift prototypes, that’s certainly a good sign, and while CR didn’t offer any release-date predictions, I’d look for an announcement before the year is out. Interestingly, the new TS lenses are rumored to “be the first autofocus tilt-shift lenses on the market,” and while AF capabilities aren’t a huge deal for most TS photographers, it’ll certainly make the shooting process faster and more convenient for some.
In the meantime, you can always purchase some of Canon’s EF tilt-shift models and adapt them using the EF-EOS R adapter – though if you’d prefer to use a dedicated RF-mount model, you should keep an eye out for further rumors and announcements.
Now over to you:
Would you be interested in an RF-mount tilt-shift lens? What would you use it for? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
