Wide angle distortion

[JerryPH]

In Photoshop CS2 and CS3 I think the best way is to use Filter>Distort>Lens Correction, and turn the grid on.

Beat me to it... this is exactly what I do and in that manner. Works very nicely in CS3.

 

[JerryPH]

You could probably do the same thing with a rectilinear ultra-wide like the EF-S 10-22 and use the CS3 lens distortion correction tools to add some barrel distortion back in, although you'd probably have to end up cropping a bit of the image away.

Which is something that I suggest people with wide angle lenses take into consideration. Shoot wider/taller than you need so that when you make these corrections in post, that parts that you crop are not critical portions or parts that remove from your picture parts that are important.

 

[julie32]

Beautiful shots Mav!!!

 

[Emerana]

Darn you Mav...no way my shots are going to be that beautiful! *sigh*
Good work.
Thanks everyone for the help (or almost everyone!). I will play with it and see what I get.

 

[Mav]

Here's the one I was really looking for...

The courtyard of a museum in Taiwan.

First, full-fisheye (Nikon 10.5DX)

Next I applied my usual Image Trends Hemi conversion, but this didn't look right either. The vertical columns are straightened, but there was just too much curvature on the ground that you could see easily.

Then I tried a full rectilinear conversion (and note the loss of field of view). This was a bit better, but I just hated the stiff-legged look of the verticals once again.

So then I backed off to a 90% rectilinear conversion. The court looks mostly straight and the vertical columns aren't so stiff legged, and this looked the most natural to me.

 

[manaheim]

There's a gem of a tool out there called ptlens. I use it a lot to correct for perspective, barrel distortion, vignetting, etc. (I take lots and lots and lots of building pictures)

The thing is cheap and works like a champ.

Check it out...

http://epaperpress.com/ptlens/

 

[Atropine]

Hi Emerana. The EF-S 10-22 actually creates very little, virtually no barrel distortion. Just take great care to which angles you hold the camera. That lens has a really wide viewing angle and very small camera turns make huge changes in the composition. Have fun!

You might also need to adjust some chromatic aberration afterwards, but it's an easy fix in Adobe Lightroom.

 

[Senor Hound]

Darn you Mav...no way my shots are going to be that beautiful! *sigh*

Yes they will. Have faith in yourself, I'm sure you're better than you think!

IMO the hemi conversions looked the best, just so you know. If I were you, and wanted to correct some of the shots when I got them back to my computer, that's what I would use. I'm not saying you should, cause art is all about what the individual thinks, but at the same time, I thought I'd throw in my opnion.

Also thanks to everyone else, cause I didn't know you "fix" fisheye.

 

[JerryPH]

Darn you Mav...no way my shots are going to be that beautiful! *sigh*

Don't say that, you will get nice results. Just don't be afraid to experiment!

 

[Alfred D.]

Here's the one I was really looking for...

The courtyard of a museum in Taiwan.

First, full-fisheye (Nikon 10.5DX)

Next I applied my usual Image Trends Hemi conversion, but this didn't look right either. The vertical columns are straightened, but there was just too much curvature on the ground that you could see easily.

Then I tried a full rectilinear conversion (and note the loss of field of view). This was a bit better, but I just hated the stiff-legged look of the verticals once again.

So then I backed off to a 90% rectilinear conversion. The court looks mostly straight and the vertical columns aren't so stiff legged, and this looked the most natural to me.

Excellent demos, Mav.
But 4 iterations couldn't get them straight?

 

[Helen B]

Hi Emerana. The EF-S 10-22 actually creates very little, virtually no barrel distortion. Just take great care to which angles you hold the camera. That lens has a really wide viewing angle and very small camera turns make huge changes in the composition. Have fun!

I also thought that Emerana was referring to methods of correcting or avoiding the effects of tilt rather than fisheye or barrel distortion.

Best,
Helen

PS
This was taken with a lens equivalent to about a 14 mm shift lens, but it could just as easily have been taken with a wider lens (or a zoom at a wider setting) then cropped. There has been no perspective or distortion correction in Photoshop.