 Sean Heathcote-Marks |
how to eliminate line bend/curve HI I'm in real estate and frequently take photos of properties that I list and place on the net. What is the phenomenon with wide angle photography that bends straight lines of walls and buildings and more importantly, can I do something to eliminate this? I look forward to your reply. Thanks Sean
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BetterPhoto Member |
Hi Sean; The phenomenon you speak of is called perspective distortion. The only two cures I know of for this is to, 1-use a longer lense (not always an option since you are probably shooting inside shots), and 2, use a shift lense (these can be pricey). Maybe someone else can offer a better solution. Have fun and keep shooting,
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John Rhodes |
Hi Sean, I use PS Elements 3 for photo editing, but this adjustment may be available in other programs. Mark is correct in referring to this as perspective--usually occurs when shooting from a lower level than the subject. In Photoshop, go to "Image", "transform" and "Perspective." Read the help file on perspective. Basically, you adjust the distortion by dragging a corner handle and then double-clicking inside the image to make the transformation. If you aren't satisfied, just undo and try again. It took me a little practice to get it right, but it works very well. John
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Michael H. Cothran |
First, it depends whether you have straight lines in your image that are slanting outwards or inwards, OR...if your vertical lines are bowing out in the middle - called 'barrel distortion.' 1. If your problem is slanting lines, then it's simply a matter of keeping your camera parallel to the vertical lines, which means your camera must be perpendicular to the floor. In order to get what you want, you will probably have to stoop down to shoot. Note - if your walls are slanting in, your camera is aiming up, if your walls are slanting out, your camera is aiming down. KEEP THE CAMERA LEVEL, and move it higher or lower to get the composition you desire. 2. If your images are displaying 'barrel distortion,' ie, bowing out in the middle, it's an optical weakness with your lens, and cannot be corrected in-camera. Zoom lenses are much more notorious in this than prime lenses. Your only choice here is to purchase another lens, and I would opt for a prime lens (a fixed focal length lens). Prime lenses, while not perfect, display much less barrel distortion, in general. 3. That said, either problem can be fixed in PS. Slanted lines can be fixed in any modern version of PS by going to Edit>Transform>Distort. Barrel distortion can only be fixed in PS CS2. I'm not sure about Elements 4.
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Michael H. Cothran |
Let me elaborate just a little more. If you are experiencing slanted lines, then it is imperative to keep your camera both level and plumb. This is difficult to do handheld. To assure this, you will most likely need a tripod AND a small level. Once your camera is leveled and plumbed, raise or lower the camera (actually you'll raise or lower the tripod) to get the composition you want. Your vertical lines should appear straight, although the edges of the picture will still look somewhat "stretched." This is simply the nature of the beast when using wide angle lenses. You CAN try this handheld, but your success will be purely hit & miss. I cannot emphasize this enough - YOUR CAMERA MUST BE LEVELED AND PLUMBED. Again, good luck. Michael H. Cothran
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Sean Heathcote-Marks |
Thanks very much people. Appreciate the input. Have used a tripod and levelled my camera achieving success on some of the straight lines. However, I assume because of the use of wide angle lens, I get the 'barrel' effect on most of the straight lines. I guess that I'll have to remedy on PS. Thanks again
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Michael H. Cothran |
Sean, Barrel distortion is often the culprit of cheaper lenses, and most, if not all, zoom lenses. Top drawer prime lenses are your best bet. If you need minimum distortion on a regular basis, it would probably behoove you to invest into one or two quality prime wide angles. Prevention is usually better than a cure. As an afterthought, if you are shooting with a P&S digital camera, you may not have the option of interchangeable lenses, and if you are shooting with a DSLR with a lens factor involved, the wide angle primes will not be nearly so wide on your camera. And super wide angle primes can become quite costly. Michael H. Cothran
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Sean Heathcote-Marks |
Thanks againg, Michael. I'm using a fairly basic Canon Powershot A70. It does have interchangeable lens option, but I think for my needs that it would be easier to correct this problem on a PC using Photo Shop. Cheers Sean
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