Dwig
Well-known
Seems poor wording. One example doesn't make it "generally" true or false. Perhaps you meant "not universally true", which would be quite correct. I still contend that, as a general rule, faster lenses are more likely to have some rectilinear distortion, but there are some notable exceptions.
ferider
Veteran
David Hughes
David Hughes
Hi,
I would worry about distortion if I was shooting entirely with slide film but these days I think that is rare for most of us.
With negative film I wonder how many do old fashioned prints with enlargers and so on. I suspect most scan and then print. So most could easily correct things, if they noticed.
Looking at most of the samples I didn't notice distortion because I looked at the subjects and was not looking for distortion. So I figure you'll only find distortion if you look for it in old fashioned enlargements and slides...
Just my 2d worth.
Regards, David
I would worry about distortion if I was shooting entirely with slide film but these days I think that is rare for most of us.
With negative film I wonder how many do old fashioned prints with enlargers and so on. I suspect most scan and then print. So most could easily correct things, if they noticed.
Looking at most of the samples I didn't notice distortion because I looked at the subjects and was not looking for distortion. So I figure you'll only find distortion if you look for it in old fashioned enlargements and slides...
Just my 2d worth.
Regards, David
Pioneer
Veteran
From my perspective you are absolutely right. Distortion has to be either very obvious in a photo, or actually affects the way I take photos, or is caused by the technique used.
An example of the first type would be most architectural shots make using the SMC Pentax-AF 645 45/2.8. An example of the second type would be the ZM Sonnar 50/1.5 used wide open. Finally, the last type is seen just about anytime you try to capture a tall object (building, tree, etc.) by tilting your camera up (or down.)
Beyond those examples I usually don't notice distortions unless they are pointed out to me. I guess my own eyes have distortion correcting lenses installed.
Erik van Straten
Veteran
Not much distortion with the Summicron 50mm f/2 rigid.
Leica M5, Summicron 50mm f/2 rigid, 400-2TMY.
Erik.
Leica M5, Summicron 50mm f/2 rigid, 400-2TMY.
Erik.
De_Corday
Eternal Student
The F-mount Nikkor-H(C) 50/2 is just a wonderful lens overall. Double-Gauss goodness all over. One of my favorite-drawing 50s. Draws similar to the Canon LTM 50/1.4, but with markedly less (not entirely absent) distortion.
A boring picture, but, hey... it's got lines:
A boring picture, but, hey... it's got lines:
sebastel
coarse art umbrascriptor
maybe i'm not fully awake yet, but to my eyes, distortion is quite noticeable here.
not that it disturbs the picture, however.
Phil_F_NM
Camera hacker
I know I'm a smart@$$ for saying it, as the format is off topic, but the 50mm f/4 Mamiya G lens for the Mamiya 6 is completely distortion-free.
Phil Forrest
Phil Forrest
Ronald M
Veteran
Agreed and 105 micro. 28 2.8 AiS with CFC and .7 meter close focus.
Black 3.5 Elmar, not chrome. 50 Elmar 2.8 and elmar m.
David Hughes
David Hughes
... I usually don't notice distortions unless they are pointed out to me. I guess my own eyes have distortion correcting lenses installed.
I couldn't agree more and this thread is about distortion and so we are all looking for it. I don't think we should be worried about the distortion from the lens so much as the distortion we are sensitive to. It seems to me to be a very personal thing.
For example, I notice when the camera is not quite horizontal; the tilt is very obvious to me but not to others.
Having said that I wonder why, in a discussion about distortion, no one has commented on the camera tilt I can see in two or three samples in this thread...
Regards, David
Erik van Straten
Veteran
You shouldn't confuse camera tilt (spirit level) with optical distortion. Those are two completely different things.
Erik.
oftheherd
Veteran
David Hughes
David Hughes
Hi,
I haven't confused them, I was pointing out that different people notice different things. I notice horizons that are tilted very slightly and correct them. many other ignore them but worry about backgrounds and so on.
More to the point, my eyes see this:-
but the camera records this:-
And many would say it's distorted because there's a difference between what the eye (and brain) see and what the camera/lens took...
Regards, David
David Hughes
David Hughes
And here's a good example of a picture with lens distortion and slightly tilted over distortion.
But my gut feeling is that most people will see a picture of a bright red aeroplane and nothing else. And this despite the fact that some say it was taken with a notorious lens.
Regards David
But my gut feeling is that most people will see a picture of a bright red aeroplane and nothing else. And this despite the fact that some say it was taken with a notorious lens.
Regards David
ferider
Veteran
A little off subject, but to put lens distortion in perspective:
I admit, it takes me typically more time to correct perspective in post, than lens distortion. Because I have to feel myself towards what "looks" normal, in combining "V" type corrections and vertical scaling. These two were particularly painful, I remember
Roland.
I admit, it takes me typically more time to correct perspective in post, than lens distortion. Because I have to feel myself towards what "looks" normal, in combining "V" type corrections and vertical scaling. These two were particularly painful, I remember
Roland.
Dante_Stella
Rex canum cattorumque
I know I'm a smart@$$ for saying it, as the format is off topic, but the 50mm f/4 Mamiya G lens for the Mamiya 6 is completely distortion-free.
Phil Forrest
As is the 50 Fujinon for the G690BL series.
D
Erik van Straten
Veteran
Yes, many people believe that reality and a photograph are identical. But they are wrong.
We don't know what we see, that is the problem.
Erik.
De_Corday
Eternal Student
Fair. I wasn't fully awake when I posted it. The camera wasn't square with the fence, making this a sub-optimal example.
There's distortion in the HC 50/2 for sure. But, as someone who shoots 35mm without tilt-shift and doesn't mind the converging verticals look, its the lens I reach for when my Nikon 50 /1.4 (or my Canon LTM 50 1.4, or my Voigtlander M-mount 40 /1.4) will just warp the horizontal lines too much. I'm maybe not the target commenter for this thread, as distortion only bothers me when it's extreme...
David Hughes
David Hughes
Hi,
My guess is that if you go looking for distortion then you will find it.
And this is a thread about distortion so we are all being nudged that way...
Regards, David
My guess is that if you go looking for distortion then you will find it.
And this is a thread about distortion so we are all being nudged that way...
Regards, David
I've been doing a lot of post-processing recently on hundreds of exposures taken on a trip to Cuba, all shot with the 28mm Summicron. This lens has a small amount of barrel distortion which can be corrected by setting the distortion slider in Lightroom to about 4. But I don't see any reason to correct it in that majority of exposures in which it's not noticeable even when I look for it.
I'm much more likely to correct tilted horizons and converging verticals... And an interesting thing with the latter is that it's better IMO to leave some convergence in. Fully correcting the converging line makes a tall building, for instance, look unnatural, ready to fall forward.
And under some circumstances a bit of barrel distortion prevents unnaturally stretched looking objects near the corners, like people's heads. So a little judicious distortion isn't necessarily a bad thing; it's all in what looks better...
I'm much more likely to correct tilted horizons and converging verticals... And an interesting thing with the latter is that it's better IMO to leave some convergence in. Fully correcting the converging line makes a tall building, for instance, look unnatural, ready to fall forward.
And under some circumstances a bit of barrel distortion prevents unnaturally stretched looking objects near the corners, like people's heads. So a little judicious distortion isn't necessarily a bad thing; it's all in what looks better...