New Canon Tilt-Shift Lenses and Tilt-Shift Camera Features May Be on the Way

May 03, 2013

Michael Zhang

canontse

The rumor mill is churning regarding Canon’s tilt-shift lens lineup. The company will reportedly be announcing replacements to its two oldest TS-E lenses by the end of this year, and the lenses are likely already floating around in the wild for real world field tests.

Canon currently has four lenses in its TS-E tilt-shift lineup: the 17mm f/4L, the 24mm f/3.5L II, the 45mm f/2.8, and the 90mm f/2.8.

Canon's 17mm and 24mm II tilt-shift lenses were both introduced in 2009 — Canon’s 17mm and 24mm II tilt-shift lenses were both introduced in 2009

The 17mm was introduced in 2009, and the 24mm was replaced with a Mark II version in 2009 (it was first introduced in 1991). That leaves the 45mm and the 90mm as the two Canon TS-E lenses in need of a refresh. Both lenses were first introduced back in 1991.

Canon's 45mm and 90mm TS-E lenses were introduced in 1991, and are in need of a refresh — Canon’s 45mm and 90mm TS-E lenses were introduced in 1991, and are in need of a refresh

Canon Rumors writes that replacements for these two lenses appear to be on the near horizon. They’ve received reports that new tilt-shift lenses are already being tested by photographers.

The new lenses may be announced around the end of 2013, and are scheduled to hit store shelves sometime in early 2014. There is also word of a possible macro-tilt shift lens, but that would probably be in the distant future.

Another interesting thing to note is that Canon appears to be working on some special camera features designed specifically for use with tilt-shift lenses. A recently published patent (discovered by Egami) shows a camera that has gridlines on the Live View that changes based on how the tilt-shift lens is being used.