Comparing Special Lenses
Visiting Brunel’s awe-inspiring SS Great Britain in Bristol gave me the chance to try out two of my least used lenses for comparison against my wide angle 17-40mm zoom. Under the bow of the ship was a challenging place to shoot - each lens provided a distinct positive viewpoint, each very different from the others.
The Canon tilt and shift TS-E24mm, whilst not being the shortest focal length, does offer straight and parallel verticals, which are present in this situation.
The wide angle gives a lovely short focal length, allowing the full scene to be captured, at the expense of the verticals falling in towards each other.
The 15mm Fisheye is even wider, providing a distinctly curved look, the curves extending to the vertical components of the scene. A truly distorted image but one which lets the viewer see the subject at close range whilst also having almost complete peripheral vision.
But which is best? I have no idea! In this case, I’m tempted to lean towards the tilt and shift lens, but I still really like the images from the fisheye and wide angle.
