First shift (rise) lens, could use some tips

$150 is a great price.

On EBAY, three Minolta 35mm SHIFT lenses have sold in the last 3 months -- from $450 to $800. There are several currently available starting at $900 and up!

The Minolta lacks swing, but it does have VFC (Variable Field Curvature) -- but WAY out of my budget.

Variable field curvature sounds quite cool! First I've heard of that as a lens feature.

I took this lens out with the Pen F today, and it's interacting in an interesting way with the mirror system. You can see the little dark triangles in the corners of the mirror, and also shifting it darkens the viewfinder by a few stops and causes additional corner vignetting mainly on one side (even when stopped down to f/11). I hope it's just something going on with the viewing system and not going to show on the film - I can't imagine why it would, as the image circle should be offering plenty of coverage.

The larger image circle means that the closer you get to the edge of the circle, the dimmer the light. You'll have to figure out if you need to adjust the exposure a little. Given that you are using a half-frame format, I would not think that you would run out of image circle, but you might. You'll find out. If you have BLACK corners in the viewfinder, you might be hitting the limit..

With a shift lens fairly far off-axis, it is possible (or likely) that the reflex mirror will vignette the viewfinder. It is also possible that the OM-to-PenF adapter and/or the smaller diameter of the Pen F mount throat will vignette the beam, which would show up on film as well as in the VF. You can check for vignetting when the camera is unloaded, by holding the shutter open on B and looking through each corner of the film gate from the back through the lens. It should be apparent if something is in the way. You can also check vignetting from a hood or filter.

This is also how large format photographers check it (one of the reasons that some ground glasses have the corners nipped out, so you can look through from the back).