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I want to try perspective control and I'm good with using film (large format too) or digital camera (full-frame) to do that. What is the most compact option, which can be used while traveling?

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    \$\begingroup\$ My main question would be, are you truly after both tilt and shift movements? Or could you make due with just one or the other? Are you trying to use shift for architecture, or tilt for the plane of focus? Are you trying to achieve selective focus for miniatures? This will help give better answers as options exist that specifically achieve some of the results above but not others. \$\endgroup\$
    – dpollitt
    Feb 10, 2015 at 2:06
  • \$\begingroup\$ The original version of this question asked about movements, which covers far more than a simple tilt/shift (ie., independent tilt, swing, shift and rise/fall, usually both front and rear). A tilt/shift is a distinct compromise with significant limitations. \$\endgroup\$
    – user35658
    Feb 10, 2015 at 8:19

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Kipon make tilt shift adapters for SLR lenses with various mirrorless mounts. I have an Olympus OM -> E mount tilt shift adapter from them.

Olympus's OM SLR lenses are incredibly compact, so pairing one with a NEX body gives a very compact tilt-shift package.

Here are some examples of the adapter on an A7R with 21mm and 50mm OM lenses:

With the A7R being full frame you can only tilt the lens, the image circle is not large enough to shift. However if you use an APS-C body you will be able to tilt and shift.

Here's a size comparison of the setup versus a Canon 5D with 50mm lens:

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  • \$\begingroup\$ The (optional) lens hood on the Canon 50mm lens overstates its size somewhat! :) \$\endgroup\$
    – user456
    Feb 11, 2015 at 16:28
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Options

The NeinGrenze 5000T point and shoot digital camera is probably the smallest option out there. It is specifically for selective focus to achieve the "miniature effect" and is not going to give you full control of either tilt or shift, although it has some tilt control I guess.

Another option would be a Lensbaby lens such as the Composer Pro. Again it is not a true tilt shift lens but can give you the effect of out of focus areas if you are going for that. Much more information is given in the question I asked earlier here: Can the lensbaby achieve a similar effect to a ± 8.5° tilt?

Finally, if you do want both true tilt and shift movements, you might just have to go all in on a SLR lens such as the Canon TS-E 24mm f/3.5L or TS-E 90mm f/2.8 which both clock in at around 20 oz and roughly 3"x3.5". If ultimate compactness is your goal, you could attach it to the Canon EOS M with a EF adapter, or to the full size APS-C Canon SL1 without an adapter.

Beyond that, I'm not sure of anything that is truly compact.

More Information

I created a blog post that outlines all of the movements of the Canon TS-E 24mm L that you might find useful: http://photo.blogoverflow.com/2012/08/tilt-shift-lenses-for-portrait-photography/

Movements of the TS-E 24mm f/3.5 L II:

  • Tilt
  • Tilt Lock
  • Shift
  • Shift Lock
  • Lens Rotation Switch
  • TS Rotation Switch

enter image description here

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  • \$\begingroup\$ For Canon (have no info about other mounts) there is also Samyang Tilt-Shift T-S 24mm 1:3.5 ED AS UMC which is not so sharp as Canon lenses, but is cheaper :) \$\endgroup\$
    – Romeo Ninov
    Feb 10, 2015 at 5:58
  • \$\begingroup\$ Seems that neingrenze website has very limited availability in 2020... \$\endgroup\$
    – rackandboneman
    Jan 30, 2020 at 22:03

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