With shorter daylight hours and longer, cold and wet nights, it’s time to think about what to shoot indoors: something new perhaps? For myself, it will try something new and that is macro with Astrhori 85mm f/2.8 Macro Tilt . Lens.
I hadn’t really taken a macro shot since my college days, and while I liked the images I saw other photographers create, at the time, the appeal wasn’t as strong as the landscape. So I focus a lot on that. Fast-forward to the present day and my urge to broaden my horizons and understanding of photography, plus keeping me busy these long winter nights.
Magnification and tilt 1:1
The Astrhori 85mm f/2.8 Macro Tilt . Lens offers this, and initially, I wanted to experiment with the tilt option for portraits and architecture, but at the time of writing, I’m still fixated on the lens’s macro and focus distance. The focus distance is a sweet 11 cm and is perfect for some of the images I have planned for the lens. That 1:1 magnification will be really interesting for a few months for me in terms of photography.
Lens tilt can be used to create creative images such as toy town effects or creative portraits and food photography, or to increase depth of field independent of aperture. Tilt of the lens changes the focal plane of the image, not to be confused with shifting the lens to correct the angle of view. Normally, the focus plane is parallel to the camera’s sensor, and so the ability to tilt the lens and move the focus plane allows for some pretty interesting effects.
Construction and Quality
This fully handcrafted lens measures 110 mm and is a solid all-metal construction weighing 720 g, you can see that it is relatively compact in size. Includes 11 elements in 8 groups. The lens has an aperture range of f/2.8 – f/16, with a sweet spot between f/5.6 and f/8. With a 55mm filter thread and a plastic lens cap, it’s also worth noting that it’s not included. with the hood, so you’ll have to purchase one of them separately.
The focus and aperture rings are greatly reduced, but only to the point that they don’t resist when you move them, but don’t move once you’ve achieved focus – perfect for macro. All markings are clearly marked on the lens, and the notches feel consistent with the focus and aperture rings, with good friction. 
The tilt-and-angle locking buttons are again damped enough not to pop out or get bumped, and while it doesn’t have any obvious locking in the midpoint, due to construction and markings, you it can be reassembled very easily. The declared magnification is 1:1 with a minimum focusing distance of 11 cm, which it achieves.
How does it work?
I’ve really enjoyed my time with the lens so far, and while I haven’t tried any street photography or creative portraits with it yet, I think that in the right hands, this will make a big difference. some really great results. For me, it’s mostly macro or product photography that I’ve been practicing to get a feel for the lens. This has been a very enjoyable experience so far, as the depth of field is really narrow when shooting for focus stacked images. Every time I use the lens, I make sure that the highest focus feature is enabled in the camera. You can see it subtly change through the image as you refocus, which proves to be very helpful. 
Of course, the lens is sharp where you focus, but with a very narrow depth of field, it really stands out and captures crystal-sharp details, as you can see in the image below of error.
Everything I’ve tried with the lens so far, it’s hit. It made me want to try more with it to see exactly what I could do. Macros are relatively new to me, and the results I was able to get from this lens encouraged me to try harder.
Using the tilt and pan, for example, of the lens produces some interesting results as the focal plane changes, and can support less image stacking when shooting product photos. The result of +/- 8 degrees can be clearly seen in your image. The images below were taken about 140 cm away from the subject.
These images are some of the first shots I took when I first picked up the lens. The first shows 100% magnification at the point of focus, which is the top of the “o” and indicates how narrow the depth of field is. The second image of the owl is a five-point stacked image to see what the result would be if there were only five focus points. The remaining two images are practice focusing with the second series of images placed 11cm from the front element.
What I Like
- Solid metal construction.
- The focus and aperture rings are much reduced.
- Minimum focus distance.
- Shallow depth of field.
- Tilt and pan for product and macro photography and, if you will, creative shots.
What I don’t like
- Weight: I don’t want to carry this lens around too often for handheld photography.
- No EXIF data: I don’t have time to document all the settings.
- Locking the rotation control ring, I found it a bit awkward at first due to its proximity to the body, but after a short while, I got it.
Inference
This lens is not a carry-on lens for me due to the weight, but it has proven itself when it comes to macro and close-ups. With a minimum focus distance of about 11 cm and a blurred background bokeh, I was eager to explore the possibilities. I find that the visual results I have so far only encourage me to want to try more with it, and that’s a good thing. Yes, it’s a relatively heavy lens for its size, but there are heavier lenses, and what I’m going to use it for means it will always be locked on a tripod, so I No worries about weight.
Considering the image quality you get for the relatively low price and the ability to tilt and rotate 360 for creative photography, I don’t think you’d go wrong too much if this is also your first time entering the genre. this photography. You can buy lenses here.
