How to take People photo without distortion using Wide-Angle

Post by **Lee** » Thu Sep 30, 2010 9:08 am

Understand thereare a no of photography expert here.
My question :-

I have a Lumix FX 520 compact with a default wide-angle setting at 24mm and zoom up to 5x.

Is there anyway to remove the edge distortion epsecially when taking People Face at setting of 24mm using the camera only ?

How do you guys take good People Face picture with little distortion at FL of less than 30mm ?

One way I know is to zoom to at least 50mm before taking the picture but then it will compromise on ange view angle.

Is there a different using a single 50/80mm against a compact 24mm setting at 50/80mm setting especially in term of edge distortion assuming both have comparable lens quality.

thanks

orly_andico · Post by **orly_andico** » Thu Sep 30, 2010 9:30 am

wide-angle rectilinear lenses will always have edge distortion, it's a limitation of physics.

as you've figured, to get rid of edge distortion you need to be around the 40mm - 50mm setting and just stand further back to get everyone in the frame.

cloud_cover · Post by **cloud_cover** » Thu Sep 30, 2010 11:16 am

Lee,
You're using a zoom lens with a fairly wide range hence there will be some barrel distortion at the wide angle (and usually some pincusion at the tele end). Unfortunately there's no way around this optically with your camera - zoom in slightly and step backwards

You can try photoshop - there are filters to remove distortion.
Some cameras optimise their lenses at shorter andgles, some do it at longer angles. The result is that some cameras have severe distortion at the short end while its worse for some at the long end.
Didn't quite understand what you mean in your last para about 50/80mm and compact 24mm - what to rephrase?

In general though a prime (i.e. fixed zoom) lens will produce the least distortion (althogugh some poorly produced examples, or lenses below 21mm) may still produce some distorion. Also, the greater the range of the zoom, the worse the distortion.

Post by **Lee** » Thu Sep 30, 2010 11:56 am

cloud_cover wrote:Lee,
Didn't quite understand what you mean in your last para about 50/80mm and compact 24mm - what to rephrase?
In general though a prime (i.e. fixed zoom) lens will produce the least distortion (althogugh some poorly produced examples, or lenses below 21mm) may still produce some distorion. Also, the greater the range of the zoom, the worse the distortion.

Let me rephrase.

Can I assume a single Fixed 80mm lens will have a much better Edge Flat Field than say a 25-135mm zoom fixed at 80mm ?

Post by **Lee** » Thu Sep 30, 2010 12:04 pm

One more thing, will the Edge Distortion be easily observed on the camera 3" LCD rather than after downloading to a PC.

Post by **Airconvent** » Thu Sep 30, 2010 12:39 pm

Generally speaking prime lenses (i.e. fixed focal length) will perform better as they have lesser compromises to make since they are designed for a single focal length. Are you eyeing the coming Fuji X100? [smilie=crying2.gif]

That being said, keep your subject at the least distorted focal length should do it and let your legs be the zoom. [smilie=cool.gif]

swat_pup6433 · Post by **swat_pup6433** » Thu Sep 30, 2010 2:24 pm

there is one sure way to eliminate distortion when shooting wide angle, Get a Tilt-Shift Wide angle lens. its specialized for shooting architecture and special effects application, but guess it'll work if you really wanted to remove the distortions..

kingkong · Post by **kingkong** » Fri Oct 01, 2010 12:29 pm

cannot shoot without distortion if the lens produces distortion.... but can post-process the photos afterward... some can even pickup the lens info from EXIF and match the profile... for e.g. http://help.adobe.com/en_US/photoshop/c ... 9A19a.html

Zephyrus · Post by **Zephyrus** » Sun Oct 03, 2010 5:32 pm

swat_pup6433 wrote:there is one sure way to eliminate distortion when shooting wide angle, Get a Tilt-Shift Wide angle lens. its specialized for shooting architecture and special effects application, but guess it'll work if you really wanted to remove the distortions..

Yup, if using a Canon DSLR.. the 24 TS-E will work perfect. Around 1.4k for a second-hand one.

kingkong · Post by **kingkong** » Sun Oct 03, 2010 11:37 pm

.... Lee was asking about shooting people.... using wide angle.... T&S lens...? wow... what are you trying to do? professional group portrait?

what you need is a large format camera! you remember those the old uncles use in studios, cloths cover heads when focusing and composing and all? yup, wide angle, tilt&shift lens, shooting people without distortion.