Patent shows Nikon 19mm f/4 tilt-shift lens

A Nikon patent has been published again, describing a 19mm f/4 lens with tilt-shift functionality. Nikon is rumored to announce the lens in September, when the Photokina photo fair also takes place.

The patent, which was filed on January 23, 2015 and published in late July, was discovered by the Japanese patent blog Egami. From the sketch of the optical design it can be concluded that this is a lens for use on SLR cameras. Nikon has filed similar patents before, which seems to indicate that development is at an advanced stage.

NikonRumors claims that Nikon will announce the Nikkor 19mm f/4 PC-E lens in September. The official introduction is expected to take place just before the start of the Photokina photo fair, which will be held in Cologne from September 20 to 25.

Tilt-shift wide-angle lenses are mainly used for architectural photography. With the shift functionality the perspective can be corrected and with the tilt function it is possible to shift the position of the focal plane. Nikon currently has three PC-E lenses in its range: a 24mm, 45mm and 85mm. Canon has been making a 17mm f/4 lens with tilt and shift function for some time now.