Gear Check: NeinGrenze 5000T

     Tilt-shift photography seems to be one of those things that is easy in theory, but to get a really great image from it it takes a lot of practice and a lot of wasted shots.  I first realized tilt-shift photography was DIY-able after reading Bhautik Joshi's "Tilt-shift: A DIY Guide".  He even made his instructions available as a magazine via magcloud.com.  I keep meaning to purchase the print version to add to my bookshelf and to show my appreciation to the writer/photographer.
     Although I have experimented, with a degree of success, with building my own tiltable and shiftable lenses I did find myself attracted to the NeinGrenze 5000T when I realized that it would make a great practice camera.  It has a fixed lens that is tilted down slightly, so it is always in tilt mode.  As a film shooter, I thought using this relatively inexpensive digital camera to practice, to get a feel for how to use this type of lens, to develop an eye for scenes that work well with this effect, was a good idea.  I have had quite a fun time playing with this one.

(Photo via Photojojo)

     Likely an intentionally deceiving name considering its name translates to "no limit" in German, all signs point to a Chinese manufacture, from the plastic body to the interesting translations in the manual and on the website. It took me a little bit of open-minded reading to figure out how to change settings and use the camera in general.  For the most part, they are very simple.  You can set the date if you want that.  You can choose whether or not the date is stamped on the pictures (in case you like that crime scene photo look).  There are three flash settings: On, Off, and Auto.  Auto really makes the camera take a long time analyzing what's going on before it will shoot.  There is a focus setting on the front where you can change from distant to close-up, though I have yet to find a good close-up use for this camera.  My first shots were taken from my 37th floor hotel room while at a work conference in Las Vegas.  Here are a few examples of what tilt-shift lenses do best.

     The 5000T has a four different color modes: Standard, Vivid, Sepia, and Monochrome.  I didn't really like the sepia setting and thought it would be best to shoot in monochrome (B&W) and convert to sepia after the fact.  The vivid setting did make for some interesting shots.  Here is an example of a vivid shot:

     Greys become blues, bright colors become brighter, I guess everything happens the way you would expect on a "vivid" setting.  I have preferred the standard color setting for the most part, but this would definitely have its place somewhere.

     After taking many shots with this camera, I finally started getting a knack for shooting good "miniaturizing" pictures.  Here is one of those, taken in Smith Rock, Oregon:

     I guess the trick to this is getting above what you're shooting, but not too far above.  It really does make the trees and the little outhouse look like models.

     OK, time for my pros & cons:

     Pros:

• It's cheap
• It's digital, so you can take as many photos as you want without wasting film
• It's lightweight
• It's pretty fun

     Cons:

• It's cheap - it feels like it would break very easily.  I am obsessively gentle with all my possessions, so I'm not too worried, but I feel like it will still break before too long.
• It's not very versatile - Since the lens is fixed, you don't have any control over how much it's tilted, and you can't really shoot in portrait mode since it will then be shifted and will not have the desired effect.

     It seems I need to work on my reviewing skills, but this should answer the basic questions.  All in all, this camera has been fun and I am glad I have added it to the shelves for the learning opportunity.