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Comment by shaggie76 | Hacker News Reader

The key thing about all TS-lenses I know of is they only support manual focus; while this may not be a problem for architecture or landscape photography I'm too casual to try to focus a portrait manually (Gregory Heisler talks about doing this in his book "50 portraits" and I love his work).

Rumour has it that Canon's RF-mount tilt-shift lenses will support autofocus though...

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I am generally pretty fast with lenses that were designed to do manual focus, like Zeiss Otus and Milvus lenses for Canon (For example). Lenses that come with autofocus does not have a long enough throw to be able to perform manual focus quickly and accurately, but it is definitely doable.

It's not that bad if you stop down to f8 or so and understand how the focus aligns, or you can use liveview and zebra stripes

When stopping down you also can use the distance markings on the focus ring effectively (it's easier to do with sufficient depth of field, and with a DSLR you can practice as much as you like). Over time you can do this intuitively, like how a professional focus puller does on a film set.

Another intuitive skill that can be easily practiced on a DSLR is metering by eye. Take a couple test photos to dial in the right exposure for the conditions then use that as a baseline when making adjustments for a reflective subject, areas in shadow, etc. With a modern mirrorless camera and EVF this skill may not be that necessary though.

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