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UER Forum > Archived US: South > Camera Lenses (Viewed 355 times) corbenator  Location: Cowtown, TX Gender: Male peek-a-boo, bitches  |  |  |  Camera Lenses < on 4/9/2009 2:33 PM >   What kind of gear are people using to cut down on distorted images? Currently, I'm using a Nikon 18mm-200mm VR lens, which I absoltely love. But I'm wanting to maintain the integrity of the actual subject I'm shooting, and in most cases it doesn't bother me. But lately being able to maintain a straight edge without it curving is starting to irritate me. What would y'all suggest? I'm in the market for a new lens in the near future and I've been wanting to go for a wide angle. Would this help correct that kind of distortion? "You can't think seriously about thinking without thinking about thinking about something." seicer  Location: New York Gender: Male  |  |  Re: Camera Lenses <Reply # 1 on 4/9/2009 2:51 PM >   I actually use a Nikon 20mm f/2.8 that has low distortion -- only slight barrel distortion. I typically use Adobe Photoshop to correct the minor errors. Abandoned Raticus  Moderator Location: Tyler Gender: Male Ratus exploricus abandonae  |  Re: Camera Lenses <Reply # 2 on 4/9/2009 2:53 PM >   I don't use Nikon so you'll need to take my comments with a grain of salt, but from little I know about that lens, I'd wonder if thats the problem. I can't really see that lens bending the edges of a picture. From what I know, that's a pretty damn good lens. Are you sure it's not something else? Do you have a filter on the front? Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools speak because they have to say something. Waypoint15  Location: Terlingua Gender: Male  |  Re: Camera Lenses <Reply # 3 on 4/9/2009 3:26 PM >   Check this link out, it addresses the vignetting issue for the Nikon 18-200 VR lens. It seems that if you are using 100 mm and above wide open it will do you WRONG, try using an f-stop of 8 or above. http://www.kenroc.../18200-falloff.htm WP15 Mellon_Collie  Location: Utah'ish Gender: Male Chingblot.  |  |  |  Re: Camera Lenses <Reply # 4 on 4/9/2009 5:30 PM >   The expensive solution is (perhaps obviously) to buy better lenses. It's hard for wide zooms to correct distortion at all focal lengths, so it's always a compromise. Generally the shorter the zoom the less problems. I've known a few people who shot fisheyes and then rectified them in photoshop. You could still kind of tell they came from a fisheye though. But with a less distortion than a fisheye photoshop and a modest wideangle ought to produce an acceptable and un-noticable rectified image. Duncantx  Location: Tulsa, OK Gender: Male  |  Re: Camera Lenses <Reply # 5 on 4/9/2009 5:53 PM >   sigma's 12-24mm is great, almost no distortion and what little there is you can easily fix with DxO. plus it is DG so you can use it with a full frame digital or film. i dont own one but a professional photographer i worked with swears by it. Raticus  Moderator Location: Tyler Gender: Male Ratus exploricus abandonae  |  Re: Camera Lenses <Reply # 6 on 4/9/2009 6:04 PM >   I love Ken Rockwells site. Lots of good stuff on there, though I don't always agree with him. Goes to show you I don't know much about that particular lens though. Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools speak because they have to say something. corbenator  Location: Cowtown, TX Gender: Male peek-a-boo, bitches  |  |  |  Re: Camera Lenses <Reply # 7 on 4/9/2009 6:37 PM >   See, I've had his site bookmarked at the top of my favorites for a while so that is my #1 resource for all camera and lens questions. There are a few shots that I've taken that I particularly enjoy just the way they are. In some cases, lines are not so important to me, especially if those lines are naturally curved in the architecture as seen here: The arched ceiling, I feel, would lose this elegance if using a wide-angle or ultra-wide angle lens, just for the sake of preserving the straight lines of the columns. Yet I do receive some criticism regarding perspective and composition, especially with wide spaces like ballrooms and the like. I try to consider these ideas as well. So in cases such as that, I can look at the following and agree; I wish the lines were completely straight: Here I was attempting to line up the edges of the walls to be parallel to the edges of the frame, but as you can see, the closer I came to doing so on one side caused distortion across the pane. Furthermore, it placed the image off-center; the top of the door frame is no long parallel with the top of the frame. Granted, I still like this shot. I always consider the amount of artistic liberties I take with my images. Sometimes it is fun to have distortions. But a lot of times, especially with architecture, I am particularly picky to make sure everything is lined up just right. To each his own, right? "You can't think seriously about thinking without thinking about thinking about something." Waypoint15  Location: Terlingua Gender: Male  |  Re: Camera Lenses <Reply # 8 on 4/9/2009 7:02 PM >   I do a lot of extreme wide angle shots, you might try a multi-bubble level for your camera and if you have the time try using a bob line on your tripod. I realized this is a lot to ask, you your images would improve drastically.http://www.bhphoto...lash_Hot_Shoe.html WP15 sYnOnYx  Location: Las Vegas , NV Gender: Male what happens here, doesnt stay here.  |  |  |  |  Re: Camera Lenses <Reply # 9 on 4/9/2009 9:22 PM >   I recently purchased a Tokina 19-35 , wide enough without the curve, Cheap and very sharp. Dont forget you can also use photoshop to straighten and then crop your photos for the look you wish to achieve. My Ongoing Blog: :http://www.realismphotography.com/ Imbroglio  Location: DFW Gender: Male The glass is twice as big as it needs to be.  |  |  Re: Camera Lenses <Reply # 10 on 4/10/2009 9:44 PM >   I shoot a D300 with two different lenses; the same 18-200 VR that you have, as well as a Tokina 12-24. I use the Tokina for 99% of the stuff that I do. Any wide angle lens will distort if you don't keep the lens level, i.e., angling the camera up or down will exaggerate any small distortion a lens might have when held level. Of course, for compositional reasons we can't always shoot with the camera level, so for me, that's where Photoshop comes in. I simply use the "lens correction" filter to square up lines, level horizons, etc. My .02 worth... Noel http://www.noelkernsphotography.com corbenator  Location: Cowtown, TX Gender: Male peek-a-boo, bitches  |  |  |  Re: Camera Lenses <Reply # 11 on 4/11/2009 12:42 AM >   Posted by Imbroglio I shoot a D300 with two different lenses; the same 18-200 VR that you have, as well as a Tokina 12-24. I use the Tokina for 99% of the stuff that I do. Any wide angle lens will distort if you don't keep the lens level, i.e., angling the camera up or down will exaggerate any small distortion a lens might have when held level. Of course, for compositional reasons we can't always shoot with the camera level, so for me, that's where Photoshop comes in. I simply use the "lens correction" filter to square up lines, level horizons, etc. My .02 worth... Noel I'm a big Nikon fan. Ever since I got my D40, I can't stop playing with it. And the Nikkor lenses are phenomenal as well. But I'm beginning to wonder... what's in a lens? I've heard good things about Tokina wide angle lenses as well. I typically look to KenRockwell.com for advice and whatnot regarding lenses, specifically for Nikon, but I'm wondering if I'm relying a bit too much on his opinions and suggestions. Just how dependable would y'all say Tokina's wide and ultra-wide angle lenses are? "You can't think seriously about thinking without thinking about thinking about something." RevSM  Location: South Central Texas  |  |  Re: Camera Lenses <Reply # 12 on 4/11/2009 4:20 PM >   Posted by Imbroglio Any wide angle lens will distort if you don't keep the lens level, i.e., angling the camera up or down will exaggerate any small distortion a lens might have when held level. I would have to agree with this. It would appear to me that this is the cause of the distortion in at least the two photos you posted. Tetanus for Breakfast! http://www.shatteredshutter.com corbenator  Location: Cowtown, TX Gender: Male peek-a-boo, bitches  |  |  |  Re: Camera Lenses <Reply # 13 on 4/11/2009 4:41 PM >   Posted by RevSM I would have to agree with this. It would appear to me that this is the cause of the distortion in at least the two photos you posted. No, no, no. I haven't been using a wide angle lens, just the basic zoom telephoto. It has been suggested to me that in using a wide angle lens, I'll be able to straighten the lines that are meant to be straight instead of them having that bend you see in the images I posted. The first, of the ballroom, was taken at an angle, but the other was eye level. I'm kinda beginning to wonder if it's really worth all that fuss, but I'm one of those people who, once something is noticed, I start to obsess over it till I find a solution. "You can't think seriously about thinking without thinking about thinking about something." Imbroglio  Location: DFW Gender: Male The glass is twice as big as it needs to be.  |  |  Re: Camera Lenses <Reply # 14 on 4/13/2009 6:17 AM >   Posted by corbenator No, no, no. I haven't been using a wide angle lens, just the basic zoom telephoto. It has been suggested to me that in using a wide angle lens, I'll be able to straighten the lines that are meant to be straight instead of them having that bend you see in the images I posted. The first, of the ballroom, was taken at an angle, but the other was eye level. I'm kinda beginning to wonder if it's really worth all that fuss, but I'm one of those people who, once something is noticed, I start to obsess over it till I find a solution. That 18-200 zoom you have IS a wide-angle lens...it's also a normal lens, and a telephoto lens. If we accept the conventional definition of a "normal" lens as being a 50mm lens on a 35mm film camera (or full frame digital), then when you've got your 18-200 on your D40 (crop sensor body) at about 34mm, you've got a "normal" lens on your camera, at least from a traditional focal length perspective. So using that as a baseline, anything wider than that would be considered "wide-angle", and anything longer would be considered "telephoto". What you'll notice is that as you move the camera off-axis at the "normal" focal length, perspective distortion is generally minimal to nonexistent, but that as you zoom out, it steadily increases the wider you get. This phenomenon varies from lens to lens, based on design and focal length, but the wider you get, the more pronounced the effect, until you arrive at the fisheye, which of course hyper-exploits that distortion as an artistic effect...if that's you thing. Hope this helps... Noel http://www.noelkernsphotography.com UER Forum > Archived US: South > Camera Lenses (Viewed 355 times) All content and images copyright © 2002-2024 UER.CA and respective creators. Graphical Design by Crossfire. To contact webmaster, or click to email with problems or other questions about this site: UER CONTACT View Terms of Service | View Privacy Policy | Server colocation provided by Beanfield This page was generated for you in 187 milliseconds. Since June 23, 2002, a total of 740387966 pages have been generated.