TS-E 17mm or TS-E 24mm ?

[Old Boy]

Need some advice from those who are into architecture photography on which is a better option to get, excluding the price as a factor ? I am totally alien to this kind of lenses as they need manual focussing. The questions that concerns me are :
1) if eye sight isn't that good in manual focussing, is there any other means to assist ?
2) will installing focussing screen void warranty, if not where to install ?
3) TS-E 17 has protrusion lenses which I felt is easily susceptible to damage, is there anything to protect it ?
4) is 24mm wide enough to cover most historical buildings such as ancient churches in Europe, given that this is to be mounted on a FF camera ?
5) is adjustment on any of these lenses an easy task or cumbersome ( don't want to end up like having many attempts to get good macro shots)
Advice is very much appreciated and definitely lasik operation is not an option for me.

 

[Kit]

Need some advice from those who are into architecture photography on which is a better option to get, excluding the price as a factor ? I am totally alien to this kind of lenses as they need manual focussing. The questions that concerns me are :
1) if eye sight isn't that good in manual focussing, is there any other means to assist ?
2) will installing focussing screen void warranty, if not where to install ?
3) TS-E 17 has protrusion lenses which I felt is easily susceptible to damage, is there anything to protect it ?
4) is 24mm wide enough to cover most historical buildings such as ancient churches in Europe, given that this is to be mounted on a FF camera ?
5) is adjustment on any of these lenses an easy task or cumbersome ( don't want to end up like having many attempts to get good macro shots)
Advice is very much appreciated and definitely lasik operation is not an option for me.

A load of questions.....

1) You can always use the camera's range finder to assist you. If you camera has live view with magnification, all the better.

2) All cameras come with focussing screen installed so I don't see how that would void a warranty.

3) This thing about unprotected front element had been blown wayyyyy out of proportion. Its not that easy to damage the front element unless you do something silly to it. Regular cleaning with a lenspen is good enough.

4) There's no way to answer this question accurately. It depends on how tall the building is and how far are you standing away from it or rather, how much space you have to work with.

5) Practice, practice, practice.....

 

[Snoweagle]

Do note that the 17mm one is also several hundred dollars more expensive than the 24mm one.

 

[shunzi]

Kit cover most of it. very straight forward too.
welcome to this genre.

 

[chalib]

As I prefer cropping than stiching, TSE 17 would be my choice

Buldging front lens is unavoidable for UWA lens designed for FF cam. And agreed with what Kit said that don't worry so much on this issue

 

[Reim1o]

What sort of pictures do you take?
I've been using 45mm & 90mm TSE for my work. Usually they're taken from above to make everything looks like toys. 45mm is wide enough for me. I even use 90mm if I'm on a really high rise building.

24mm TSE II seems a bit sharper than 17mm TSE from iso123 crop pictures from www.the-digital-picture.com. But if I have funds I will still get the 17mm. The shift effect will be much larger.

1. Try purchasing a split prism focusing screen. I got mine from ebay.
http://www.dyxum.com/columns/other/HaodaScreen/gubbe.asp

2. If ur using 5D, the screen is very easy to remove and install.
http://jerryk.smugmug.com/gallery/1922775_TDtWe#97291582_iAyQc

3. Ive been using Sigma 12-24mm. I still feel secure with the hood attached (its permanent anyway). The bad thing about that is only that you cant mount an ND or grad ND filter, even cokin ones

4. You don't really need UWA lens to shoot architecture. Some even hate the distortion effect from them. You can use any type of lens for this. Learn to stitch.

5. The screws are a bit small, but still it's easy enough to tilt switch.

Again, if you're worrying about these small issues, you might want to rethink about purchasing one. It's a specialty lens whose users usually comfy with MF and other tinkering, and most importantly know what kind of pictures they want.

 

[clioboy]

most angles covered..:thumbsup:

just like to add that the focusing is a breeze to use. (on the 24mm)

 

[Old Boy]

Thanks to all the invaluable advice and I should be able to make a good decision from the experiences shared. Many thanks to Kit, Clioboy,Reim1o,Chalib,Shunzi,Snoweagle and the gentleman who PM me !!!