Unfortunately the lens I have doesn't do tilt, only shift. So it allows for perspective correction but not changing the focal plane. There are newer Nikon lenses that do tilt and shift, but they are obscenely expensive. Life is slightly better for Canon users when it comes to tilt.
This link explains what a shift lens does:
http://photo.net/equipment/canon/tilt-shift
This is an older lens, completely manual everything, but like all the classic Nikon gear, it's beautifully crafted and a pleasure to use.
Here are my test shots from this afternoon. It was extremely cold, so not a good day to be fiddling around with manual focus and the shift mechanism while wearing gloves.
This is what the lens is made for:
The building is not tipping back. Of course, you can do this in post processing with perspective correction, but where's the fun in that? This gives you a true perspective with no loss of quality and no guesswork about what the building is supposed to look like.
Another use of this type of lens is to be able to shoot around obstacles, such as one's reflection if shooting at a mirror. It gives you more options with composition. I intend to use this to eliminate ugly things like parked cars, street signs and traffic lights from certain shots. You can see part of me on the left.
You can also use the lens to do stitched panoramas that fit together perfectly without any software corrections. Here's a vertical pano of the Parliament Buildings that I made simply by pasting two photos together as layers:
The lens is very sharp, as are most Nikon primes, and the focus, aperture and shift mechanisms handle beautifully. There is some noticable chromatic aberration and a bit of lens distortion with maximum shift, both of which could be fixed in post processing. My only complaint is that it's not wide enough, especially on my D90 (equivalent focal length around 40mm on DX cameras). But still very cool:
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