TS-E on the cheap? For architectural photography

AmateurArchitectural wrote:

I shoot architecture, largely exteriors, for work but not for income. Mostly photos I only use at PowerPoint resolutions and for book/article illustrations. Really large prints are an occasional treat.

I really want to move to a TS-E, firstly because I much prefer to compose and problem-solve in-camera rather than in PS, and secondly because I loved my old Nikon shift and want to play with tilt too.

My question is, is it too bad a waste of a beautiful lens (17mm TS-E) to put it on a 7-year-old EOS400D?

- Will I be able to focus through the 400D’s little view-finder?

- Is the image quality in camera too low to be worth it?

My alternative is to shell out another £1000+ to get the 6D and the 24mm TS-E instead (17mm on FF the angles are too un-natural-looking for my kind of architecture), and consign my EFS to spare.

Any advice welcome!

(If you want to see the sort of thing I shoot, there's some here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/barnabas_calder/)

I would go for the 6D and 24mm TS-E.  Full frame and wide glass go very well together.  You get other pluses like better high ISO performance.

Another option would be to research used bodies that have adequate live view implementation (factor in screen size and resolution) that you could use in the meantime.  If you find a few models that work that are readily available in your area at an acceptable price, you could go for the 17mm TS-E now and buy a slight body upgrade later.

Otherwise, I recommend that you continue to save your money by sticking with post processing.  You do state that you typically stay with smaller prints.  CS6's capabilities are very decent in smaller prints of building exteriors.

I found using a the tilt/shift capabilities effectively can take a lot of time to master.  I would definitely want to do such things on a sturdy tripod with live view, rather than trying to squint through a really small view finder.