Smarter Than I Was Two Hours Ago

Alternative title: " So That's What Electric Fences Are For..." Not quite that bad, Folks. But I did learn something today that quashed an error I have cherished. And no smell of burning... I've long cherished the hope of finding a tilt/shift lens for my studio camera system. I had one in the Linhof 4 x 5 monorail days - the Linnie would go far over the limits of the lenses I owned and could spread depth of field further than you could push butter through a loaf of bread. I experimented with movements for years on tabletop subjects. When I got to the APS-C DSLR stage of life, I was overjoyed to see that Nikon and Canon also made tilt/shift lenses. Not quite the optical contortionist that the Linhof was, but able to swivel round to a usable degree. But I was never able to afford one while I used the DSLR - I had to eat every week and no-one was buying me that lens. Now I am using the Fujifilm X system, I can only look on in envy at the Canon and Nikon shooters. I make good use of the adapter systems for the Fujifilm to let me clap on Nikon, M42, and Leica screw lenses onto the Fujifilm bodies. Most of my studio macro work is done via this route, and there are a couple other old optics I keep that are real sleepers. To be fair, I have also tried and tossed out some dreadful lenses...But I always fancied popping a tilt/shift onto the adapter and seeing just how much better it would do than my regular lenses. When I discovered the new Nikon 19mm f:4 P/C lens on the storeroom shelves I thought it was a good chance to try it - and to compare it to the Nikon 20mm f:1.8G lens as well. I even thought up a title: " Short Stuff Shootout ". Timeless journalism, eh? Okay. The 20mm f:1.8G went on a treat. Focused manually, aperture closed down manually, good and sharp, even confronted by a very deep scene. There's a good 2.4 metres of scenery there, from the VW Samba van, parked out front of the camera store to the front of the movie theatre. I compared it to the 18mm F1.8 Fujifilm lens and it did well...even though it did not have the Fujifilm lens' advantage of triggering the in-built optimizer circuit - the Nikon at small aperture would still be affected by diffraction. No real advantage for me as a Fujifilm user, but good enough to assure me that a Nikon shooter would be getting first-rate images. Maybe Nikon has an optimizer circuit in their bodies...? The Big Boy - the 19mm F:4 P/C was next - it mounted beautifully ( with a weatherproof seal ), and after I discovered how to turn the lock off, it could crank over in the tilt very smoothly. And you could see the focus area sliding out just as with the Linhof, all those years ago. But when it came to stopping down, I discovered that the aperture control ring on the adapter which works for the G lenses...doesn't work for the P/C. The thing stays wide open. Well, Duh...Of course, it would. The aperture is mounted up in the bit that tilts over and there is no way that they could run a mechanical actuator from the back of the mount out through the various articulations. It is done by an electronic command from a Nikon body. End of experiment. I know from reading that Samyang produces a 24mm tilt/shift that has a Fuji mount and a separate aperture ring - down to f:22. The next round of experimentation will have to wait until I can lay hands on one. I've seen results from straight Samyangs that are quite encouraging.