My Tilt Shift Completed

As promised, here are a few images of my custom tilt shift lens. If you are interested in creating your own lens of this nature take a look at my images and take to the few pointers I have here. All of this lens was made with stock aluminum pieces I purchased at the local hardware store. With the help of my trusty Dremel tool, I was able to make slots, holes and grind down parts of the metal that needed adjustment. The focusing mechanism is for a microscope and was found on Ebay for $20. The bellows is just a piece of black vinyl from the fabric store and is glued to the two aluminum plates forming the bayonet mount and the lens plate. The real key is to plan ahead and make sure you have the clearances necessary for focusing and attachment to your camera. As for the lens, a medium format lens or appropriate enlarger lens will do the trick as long as there is a large enough image circle to cover the sensor during tilt and shift movement. I chose my lens based on its optical characteristics. I liked the the way the lens felt in te out of focus areas and the quality of sharpness and contrast. Please let me know if you are interested in this kind of project and need some help getting it set up!