TS-E on the cheap? For architectural photography

AmateurArchitectural wrote:

The T/S lenses benefit greatly from being used on full frame

Can I ask how? The IQ of a crop is presumably higher away from the vignetting and focus problems of the outer edges of the TS-E image circle. The difference between 18 and 20 Mp doesn't seem critical for my purposes.

The difference between 18MP and 20MP is very minor, agreed. But the higher image quality of full frame (used optimally) is significant. Remember you are talking about investing a very large sum of money in a lens to do something which you can already do, albeit with some disadvantages, in Photoshop. Second best quality is presumably not what you are striving for!

The argument about lower quality towards the edge of the image circle doesn't really hold water. The 17 mm lens is not quite as sharp as the 24, and to use it as a 24 mm equivalent on crop means using 1.6x greater enlargement of any imperfections and aberrations. Double whammy.

There are cases of full frame lenses which perform better on crop - one documented example is the Nikon 70-200/2.8 which was current a few years ago when Nikon had no full frame DSLRs. It was optimised for performance in the centre of the frame and had (relatively) poor corners. But this is unusual - most full frame lenses perform better on full frame sensors.

I've never used FF (I may indeed hire to find out!), but most seem to feel that Live View gets you nearer than even the best pentaprism. My first instinct was to chuck money at it and go 6D+24mmTS-E, but answers above have really opened my mind to some other options.

I would never argue against having an open mind. I am completely open-minded about that.

The current cheapness of the 60D does make it sound like a good contender - thanks.