# Widen the view with Lens Shift

> Offset the camera lens from its sensor horizontally and vertically, to reposition an object in the frame with little or no distortion.

**Lens Shift** offsets the camera’s lens from its sensor horizontally and vertically. This allows you to change the focal center, and reposition a subject in the rendered frame, with little or no distortion.

This technique is common in architectural photography. For example, if you want to capture a tall building, you could rotate the camera. But that distorts the image, making parallel lines appear to converge.


**Rotating the camera up to capture the top of the building causes vertical lines to converge:**
![](/api/media?file=/engine/6000.3/media/images/LensShift_VRot.png)

If you shift the lens up instead of rotating the camera, you can change the composition of the image to include the top of the building, but parallel lines stay straight.


**Shifting the lens along the Y axis moves the focal center, but keeps vertical lines straight:**
![](/api/media?file=/engine/6000.3/media/images/LensShift_VShift.png)

Similarly, you can use a horizontal lens shift to capture wide objects without the distortion you might get by rotating the camera.


**Rotating the camera to frame the building causes horizontal lines to converge. :**
![](/api/media?file=/engine/6000.3/media/images/LensShift_HRot.png)


**Shifting the lens horizontally reframes the image, but keeps the horizontal lines straight.:**
![](/api/media?file=/engine/6000.3/media/images/LensShift_HShift.png)

### Lens shifts and frustum obliqueness

One side effect of a lens shift is that it makes the camera’s [view frustum](/engine/6000.3/manual/cameras/camera-view/understanding-frustum.md) oblique. That means the angle between the camera’s center line and its frustum is smaller on one side than on the other.


**The images above show the camera frustuim before (left) and after (right) a Y-axis lens shift. Shifting the lens up makes the frustum oblique.:**
![](/api/media?file=/engine/6000.3/media/images/ObliqueFrustum_LensShift.png)

You can use this to create visual effects based on perspective. For example, in a racing game, you might want to keep the perspective low to the ground. A lens shift is a way of achieving an oblique frustum without scripting.

For further information, see documentation on [Using an Oblique Frustum](/engine/6000.3/manual/cameras/camera-view/oblique-frustum.md).