Tokina 11-16mm f2.8 is an ultra wide angle lens for crop sensor camera bodies (DX) with a moderately fast constant aperture of f2.8. It is Tokina’s top of the line lens (AT-X) with an internal focusing (IF) and Super-low Dispersion glass (SD). It is available in Canon, Nikon and Sony A mounts. Due to its focal length and fast aperture, Continue Reading
The post Tokina AT-X 11-16 Pro DX II Review: Best Value from Wide Angle appeared first on Photodoto.
Don’t write off smartphone camera accessories just yet – a three-lens bundle from Singapore-based Inmacus produces surprisingly good results. Read more
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
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Chinese company Venus Optics (Anhui ChangGeng Optical Technology Company Ltd.) is a new lens and camera accessory manufacturer started by a group of macro photography enthusiasts who design and create their own macro photography lenses. They began with the Venus 60mm 2:1 macro (which enables twice life-size reproduction), and have followed this up with the LAOWA 15mm 1:1 wide macro of this review. In addition to these lenses, they also offer a twin head macro flash unit, which we think looks quite a bit like an alien on top of a camera.
The LAOWA 15mm lens is one of the widest full-frame lenses to offer a full 1:1 magnification ratio (meaning that the object in focus is projected at actual-size onto the film or sensor). Admittedly, this magnification only occurs when the object is 0.2 inches (4.7mm) from the rather large front element of this lens, but that’s the trade off between a wide angle of view and the desire for ‘true’ macro abilities.
In addition to the headline feature, this entirely manual lens (manual focus; manual aperture; no communication to the camera body) also includes a shift mechanism to physically move the optics up or down along the lens mount. This shift provides perspective correction for converging lines, as well as a way to create seamless panoramas (though the shift direction is fixed to the frame’s vertical axis).
| Focal length | 15mm |
|---|---|
| Max. aperture | F4 |
| Min. aperture | F32 |
| Angle of view | 110° (135 frame) / 85° (APS-C) |
| Shift distances | + / – 6mm |
| Aperture blades | 14 |
| Min. focus (1:1) | 4.7mm |
| Filter thread | 77mm |
| Dimensions | 83.8 x 64.7mm / 3.3 x 2.5in |
| Weight | 410g / 14.5oz |
| Available mounts |
Nikon F / Canon EF / Pentax K / |
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The lens is designed around 12 elements in 9 groups, with three High Refractive elements, and one Extra-low Dispersion lens. Multi-layer coatings minimize flare and ghosting, while the overall optical design strikes a balance between close focus abilities and wide angles. Of note is the 77mm filter thread around the non-protruding front element. This allows for easy filter use without requiring the more expensive square filter systems (although for ND grads, those are recommended). Given the wide angle of view, slim filters are still required. |
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The body surrounding the glass elements is made from aluminum and brass, with engraved aperture and distance scales that are necessary for the all-manual operation. The aperture ring is ‘clickless’ and located toward the front of the lens, while the focus ring near the back has a relatively short throw for a macro lens (90° of rotation). |
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The lens comes with a shifting lens mount, allowing for perspective correction by adjusting the center of the image circle on the film or sensor. The range of adjustment is 6mm from the center, either up or down. The small lever to engage the shift mechanism is just behind the focus ring, at the rear of the lens. There are no scales or gears to finely control the amount of shift. |
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| 1:1 macro at F11. The flare comes from the combination of back-lighting and inability to use the hood at such close working distances. |
The LAOWA 15mm is an entirely manual lens, but still easy enough to adjust and work with. This was aided somewhat by testing a K-mount lens on a Pentax APS-C camera body and a Sony a7 II (w/ Novoflex adapter), both of which provide image stabilization (from a manually entered focal length), stop-down metering, and focus confirmation/peaking, despite the low-tech, ‘slab of brass’ lens mount.
When ordering this lens in Micro Four Thirds, Sony E, or Fuji X mount, the folks at Venus bundle an appropriate adapter with either a Nikon F or Canon EF mount lens. (For single-system Sony shooters, there is the option of a native FE mount, without adapter.) However, as our friends at Lensrentals point out, testing a wide-angle lens with an adapter (regardless of manufacturer) can introduce issues, so much of the more technical analysis in this article is based on experience of using this lens on a native Pentax (APS-C) body.
The absence of autofocus is not much of a detriment when using this lens for wide-angle macro photography, since adjusting the subject distance while looking at the LCD or viewfinder is typically a much faster way to focus at these minute working distances. Stop-down metering and looking through a dim viewfinder or noisy LCD at smaller apertures (due to the lack of automatic aperture control), on the other hand, is a bit harder to adapt to.
The focus throw is somewhat short for a macro lens, requiring only a bit more than 90 degrees of rotation to go from the closest focal distance (and 1:1 macro) to infinity. Further, the helical is biased toward the macro and close-focus end, so there is only a tiny amount of travel between 2 meters and infinity. This took some getting used to, and initially resulted in enough mis-focused shots to warrant bracketing.
The biggest ergonomic difficulty was getting used to using an aperture ring positioned in front of the focus ring. Adding to the confusion is the fact that both rings are ‘clickless’ and identically sized. Of course, the lack of hard stops on the aperture ring, along with the wide angle and availability in many different lens mounts, combine to make this an interesting option for video work, but that’s beyond the scope of this article.
The image quality of this unique lens is excellent at closer focus distances, and shows the commitment of the macro photographers at Venus Optics for getting very close and very wide. There is a high degree of sharpness in the center of the frame, even at wider apertures, and the inevitable distortion and falloff along the edges doesn’t interfere at closer focus distances. Being very well corrected for aberrations is another plus as a macro lens.
However, this lens is differentiated by its 1:1 macro focusing, which, unfortunately, comes with some inconveniences. To keep the price of the lens reasonable, the LAOWA relies on manual focus and a manual aperture without linkage (resulting in the dim viewfinder when stopped down, as mentioned above), while the wide angle optical design means a minuscule 4.7mm working distance (for true 1:1) coupled with a rather large front filter ring and hood.
The petal-shaped hood prevents many subjects from reaching the tiny minimum focus distance for 1:1 macros, and furthermore blocks out light that becomes necessary for macros with acceptable depth-of-focus (narrow aperture). After a few experiments with macro flash rigs, resulting in images that looked like ‘flash party photos’ due to the lack of beam spread across the very wide angle of view, natural light (and a tripod for static subjects) was the order of the day. Thomas Shahan, of course, could probably overcome this with aplomb.
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| Unshifted | Shifted +6mm |
The addition of a shifting lens mount is a great bonus for a wide angle lens like the LAOWA 15mm, however the optical characteristics of the lens tend to make this function most useful on APS-C or smaller format sensors. In images shot with a full frame body (the Sony a7 II w/ Novoflex adapter), the vignetting and distortion at the edge of the image circle eclipsed the value of shifting the lens (although it is unknown how much of this is due to it being an adapted lens).
One troublesome aspect of the lens shift is that it lacks the gearing and markings for fine control of the shift found on most other perspective control lenses. Press the shift release button and almost immediately the lens slides up (or down) to the maximum shift amount. There is a detent in the middle to reset the lens to an unshifted position, but getting a small or precise amount of shift requires patience and a steady hand.
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| Toronto skyline, as seen from the islands offshore. On the full-frame Sony, the 15mm shows significant degradation at the edges, as evident in the lights on the right side. |
When using this lens as a ‘normal’ ultra-wide angle, the results are something of a mixed bag. At close focus distances, the center is quite sharp (where most macro subjects tend to be) at all apertures, while at infinity the corner details appear smeared until the lens is stopped down significantly. Some night shots on the full-frame Sony, and attempts at astrophotography with the Pentax O-GPS Astrotracer, both show significant degradation of the lights at the edges. These examples are perhaps not quite as comprehensive as LensRentals’ OLAF system, but still illustrative. Check out the full resolution images in the gallery below.
Many macro lenses are designed to have a ‘flat field’ for the in-focus region. The LAOWA 15mm is not one of those lenses. Similar to other wide angle lenses, the field of focus curves radically, yet does not flatten out as focus is shifted toward infinity. Add in some edge distortion, and the resultant lack of corner sharpness at infinity is perhaps the biggest issue with the image quality from this lens on full-frame cameras. It requires some acceptance of the ‘dual nature’ of the lens (macro and ultra-wide) to work within this limit. Oddly enough, shifting the lens provides some relief for at least two of the corners, due to the curved field being off-center.
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DistortionVery few ultra wide angle lenses are free from distortion, and this 15mm is no exception. In most shots with the APS-C Pentax, curved lines were minimal (see the shift photos above) and could be corrected in processing if desired. However, on the full-frame Sony, the barrel distortion along the edges reached a point where it was almost un-correctable. The image to the left shows doors that have very straight edges, but look organically curved in the (uncorrected) photo. |
One area where the LAOWA 15mm is quite competitive is in the control of chromatic aberrations. While there definitely is some lateral CA, particularly visible at high contrast edges in the corners, it is fairly well controlled when stopped down, and quite consistent. A few clicks in most modern Raw processing software removes these distractions very easily. In addition, longitudinal CA (color fringing in the out of focus areas) is almost non-existent, which is excellent for a macro lens, even though many other wide angle lenses tend to be similarly devoid of this aberration.
(Note: none of the images in this article, or the samples, have had software lens corrections applied; whether for distortion, vignetting, chromatic aberrations, or fringing.)
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| Close focus at F4 | Close focus at F16 |
It’s a bit unusual to discuss the bokeh of an ultra-wide lens: considering the typical design for this kind of lens provides such wide depth-of-field, there is frequently little out of focus anyhow. However, the close focus and macro abilities of the LAOWA 15mm give quite a lot of room for shifting the focal plane, so bokeh is not only visible, it can be an integral part of the image.
With a 16-bladed aperture, the blur discs produced by this lens appear round at all stops, with a slight ‘onion-ring’ artifact when examined closely. More importantly, the falloff in the blur is smooth and gradual, as one would expect from a macro lens. This combines to make the exaggerated field curvature less bothersome at closer focal distances and wider apertures, and becomes another one of the strengths of this lens.
The Venus LAOWA 15mm F4 Macro is an unusual lens, both in its pedigree (or lack thereof) and its unique features. With a relatively reasonable price and availability in many different lens mounts, there is now an ultra-wide option for anyone who likes to get really close to their subjects. The lack of autofocus and auto-aperture prevents this from being a ‘snapshot’ lens, and may make it frustrating to use on camera systems that do not support low-tech lenses very well.
There are some compromises in the optical design of this multipurpose lens, including wide field distortion, and some edge softness at infinity. However, wide-angle macro enthusiasts will definitely enjoy this lens, while anyone with patience and a desire to explore the options it provides will similarly find the Venus LAOWA 15mm to be a fun and rewarding addition to their system.
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Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
An easy assumption to make, when shooting landscapes, is use a wide angle lens. After all, most landscape photographers favor wide angle lenses for a reason, they naturally give you the widest view and allow you to get the full landscape into the frame, from the foreground to the horizon. They have the widest depth of field, so you get the whole landscape in focus too. Their distortion enlarges objects in the foreground, letting you show off close-up details. The same distortion also emphasizes leading lines, enhancing your composition, and giving your image a more dynamic feel. But when you default to wide angle, you miss many hidden opportunities offered by telephoto lenses.
This is the most basic difference between the two lens types: wide lenses give you a wide view, telephoto lenses give you a narrow view. And while landscapes look great in their entirety, it’s a good habit to take a moment and look for details. These are beautiful elements of the landscape that might get shrunken, or ignored in the expanse of a wide-angle image. This is where your telephoto lens comes in. Its narrow field of view is perfect for trimming off the extra elements, and focusing right on small, beautiful scenes like the curve of a mountain, a reflection in a far-off pond, or the silhouette of a tree.
In the two images above, you can see this in action. They were both taken from Olmstead point in Yosemite National Park, one with a wide angle lens and the other with a telephoto. In the first image, the wide angle shows off the total landscape. It includes both sides of the valley, the up-close textures of the rocks and the far off peak of Half Dome. In the second image, the telephoto lens brings the eye right up to the mountains, showing off their shapes and the details of the geology.
Another pair of images (below), shows this effect even more dramatically. The first image is not just wide-angle, but an aerial shot as well, taken from a small airplane over the Okavango Delta in Botswana. From this vantage point all of the individual elements of the landscape become incredibly small, and your eyes pay more attention to their arrangement than their individual shapes. In the second image, also from the Okavango area, but this time on the ground, a telephoto lens is used to draw attention to the beautiful curves of a single Acacia tree.
The second major difference between wide angle and telephoto lenses is the innate size of their depth of field. Put succinctly, the higher the focal length, the narrower the area of focus. In practice, this means that when shooting wide, it’s much easier for you to get everything in focus, from the grass at your feet to the ridge on the horizon. This is especially true when you’re trying to use your lens’s sharpest apertures (the so-called sweet spot). However, a narrower depth of field is much better for isolating your subject from the background, and this is where your telephoto lens comes into play. Try shooting a close-up detail at a low aperture, using the landscape as a nice creamy bokeh backdrop.
The two images above are perfect examples of this effect. In the first image, the wide angle lens brings the whole landscape into focus, from the close-up sunflowers to the far-off mountains. In the second image, shooting with a telephoto blurs out the flowers and mountains in the background, turning them into a nice soft background for main sunflower.
It’s no secret that wide angle lenses expand the sense of depth in an image, by enlarging elements in the foreground and shrinking those in the back. This is great for creating images that make you feel like you could step right into the frame. On the flip-side, you run the risk of making towering, awesome mountains in the distance look like puny hills. Telephoto lenses, on the other hand, compress depth, causing objects near and far to appear more similar in size. A compressed sense of depth is great for abstracting a scene, and bringing out its graphical qualities. Colorful forest canopies, layered mountain ridges, and curving sand dunes, are all great subjects for this kind of shooting.
In the first of this pair above, notice how the wide angle lens exaggerates the size of the flowers in the foreground at the expense of the mountains in the background. The mountains are so tall that they’re shrouded in clouds, but the lens keeps them from looking quite as grand. But pull out a telephoto lens and you can zoom straight in on the mountain, showing off the contrast between the rugged outline of the peak and the soft wispy form of the cloud.
Here are two more images, both taken at the same location in Big Bend National Park, that show off this effect. In the first image, you can see that the wide angle lens increases the size of the plants and rocks in the foreground, while shrinking the large desert mountains in the background. In the second image, a telephoto lens flattens out the depth of the many desert ridges, calling attention to their graphic patterns and outlines.
Have a hard time remembering all these details? Here’s an easy way to summarize it with a simple idea:
Wide angle lenses show off space, telephotos show off objects.
The wide angle lens’s big field of view, ease of uniform focus, and depth-distorting abilities, are great at showing off big, expansive landscapes. However, they take focus away from individual elements within the landscape in favor of showing the whole. Telephoto lenses are naturally the opposite: they’re great at showing off the size, shape, and intricacy, of detail of individual elements within the landscape. But their narrow field of view, small depth of field, and depth-compressing qualities make it hard to capture the landscape as a whole.
You can analyze this pair of images to see exactly how all of these techniques work together. Starting with the photo above, you can see how the wide angle lens fits the whole landscape into the frame, from close-up rocks, to far off peaks and sky. Because of the lens’s large depth of field, the whole landscape is in acceptable focus as well. The lens’s depth distortion is readily apparent as well: the foreground rocks look very large, creating a pleasing sense of depth, and emphasizing the leading lines that draw the eye from the edges of the frame to the center. Overall, you get a very good sense of the space and the expansiveness of the valley.
This image was taken in the same place, but the use of a telephoto lens captures it in a very different way. The photo brings out a single element of the landscape – look closely and you can see this peak in the previous image on the top right – and allows the viewer to appreciate its subtle details. Because of the telephoto lens’s narrow depth of field, the sky is slightly out of focus while leaving the details of the peak itself perfectly sharp. And most of all, the compressed sense of depth flattens the image, showing off the rocky mass of the mountain, and calling attention to the beautiful curve of the ridge line. Overall, you get a great sense of the mountain as a solid object, rather than a bounded space.
The best way to know which lens to use is to get out there, look, and think. What part of the landscape are you most drawn to? Does the landscape’s expansiveness give it its character? Are there stunning details surrounded by less photogenic elements? Are you shooting spaces or objects?
That said, my personal strategy is to just shoot both, because almost any landscape has enough beauty that just one type of lens isn’t enough to get to all of it.
What is your approach to landscape photography? Do you use a wide or telephoto more often? Please share your thoughts and landscape images in the comments below.
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The post Wide Angle Versus Telephoto Lenses for Beautiful Landscape Photography by Will Crites-Krumm appeared first on Digital Photography School.
This is the final, edited image given to the client.
One of the best ways to make a living with photography is to photograph people. People need photographs of themselves for their business, conferences, publications, acting, and more. When they come to you to have their photo taken, they trust you to make them look good. That is really one of the biggest parts of your job as a photographer, to make your subject look great.
When someone hires you to take portraits or head shots of them, it’s important you understand how to pose them, and angle the body toward the camera. By understanding this, you will also be able to work more efficiently, which will benefit both you and the client. You have to remember that most people don’t like to have their photo taken, so you want the process to move along swiftly.
I have compiled a series of photos, to give you a visual of the slight changes that can be made to create a more pleasing portrait. These are straight out of the camera, no post-processing or touch ups have been done. The model in the photographs had professional make-up done before we shot. I recommend if you are photographing a female client, that you refer them to a make-up artist you like to work with, to have their make-up done prior to the shoot. This will make a big difference in the final look.
Okay, let’s get started.
With the first set of images the model on the left is standing straight on, or square to the camera. Her body weight is on both of her feet equally. As you can see with the image on the right, a subtle shift in her weight makes a difference. All she did was put the majority of her weight on her right leg. This immediately creates a subtle s-curve with her body. The model is still facing the camera straight on, but already looks slimmer.
The model is still facing you straight on or square but we will now have her lean from the waist. With the photo on the left she is leaning away from the camera or backwards, and it’s very unflattering. This angle creates a double chin, and makes her look heavy. Anytime a client does this, correct them right away.
To make this photo better, just have them lean slightly forward from their waist, toward you. You can see when she did this, in the image on the right side, that she automatically angled her head and shifted her weight on her legs. You now have a much more flattering pose.
Now adjust the model once more. Have her shift her weight to her back leg. In the examples below the model shifts her weight to her left leg bringing the right one in front. With the image on the left you again see how when she leans backwards or away from the camera it looks awkward and unnatural. Have the model make the simple adjustment of either standing up straighter or have them add a bit of lean toward you as seen in the photo on the right.
A very popular pose for business head shots, is having your model cross their arms. This creates a feeling of confidence and strength for the viewer. It can go wrong though. With the image on the left side below, the model angles her head backwards. This mistake is more common in women since they seem to like to tilt their head for photos. Communicate clearly with your client/model to bring their chin down slightly and forward. This easy adjustment makes a big difference and is the shot your client will want.
From the crossed arm pose you can get a very nice close up headshot. The image on the left was shot wider to show you how, and where ,the model is angling her body. Ask them to lean forward from the waist. Most people will think this feels weird, just let them know that it looks great in the final image. Remember most people are insecure with how they look, so always take time to reassure them they look amazing! Then either zoom-in tight with your lens, or step in closer to get a beautiful portrait.
Let’s move on to portraits while your model/client is sitting down. Having your model/client in this sitting position places you at the angle above them. That means you will be shooting at a downward angle, which is very flattering for most people.
The first step you have to take, is to have your model sit on the edge of the chair. You do not want them to be sitting comfortably, where they lean all the way back. With the image on the left (below), the model is sitting on the edge of the seat, feet on the floor and shoulders square at the camera. Even though it is not the best angle, if you crop in tight, you can still create a nice portrait with the focus being on the eyes, as seen with the image on the right.
With your model still sitting in the chair, have him or her place their elbows on their knees. Arms can be crossed or not, play around with both. This forces the model to have to look up at you, taking away any issues with the neck. Make the image better by having your model angle their face slighting to the left or right as shown with the right side image. Remember these are tight crops, focusing on the eyes and smile.
The last example shows the model’s “good side”. We all have one side that is better than the other. It is not usually visible with the naked eye, so please be sure to always photograph your model from the left, and the right sides. This is clearly shown with the model below. Her good side is when she angles her face to the right, and her left side is more visible (the image on the right). You can see more of her face, her neck looks better, both eyes are visible, the hair falls naturally, and her nose has a more flattering angle.
When repositioning your model, remember to shoot that pose from each side. Until you get good at recognizing which is your client’s good side just by looking at image preview on the camera, always shoot from the left and the right.
It’s easy to see how a simple adjustment of angling the body can result in better portraits. An good rule of thumb to remember, is to have the model angle one shoulder toward you, and have them place their weight on the back leg. This will immediately make them look slimmer. Of course, the best way to get better is to get out and practice, practice, practice!
Have fun shooting! All images were shot in a studio with a 50mm lens, on a white paper backdrop, with one strobe light.
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The post How to Pose and Angle the Body for Better Portraits by Alexis Arnold appeared first on Digital Photography School.
Aukey is a mobile device accessory maker that has been in the clip-on lens business for quite some time. We’ve had a chance to try out one of the company’s latest models, the ‘Super Wide Angle’ lens which at 238 degrees offers quite an extreme angle of view. Read more
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
[ By Steve in Art & Installation & Sound. ]
The legendary Cadillac Ranch can’t be beat but it CAN be copied! These 12 tinny tributes to Amarillo’s angled auto art shift flattery into high gear.
Cadillacs may be iconic symbols of those Fabulous Fifties but by the time the Space Age was in full flight, pop culture had ditched finned land barges in favor of “lowly” but well-loved VW Beetles. A half-century later, classic Bugs are a rare sight on America’s roads though you’ll find plenty at the Slug Bug Ranch in Conway, Texas! Kudos to Flickr users Jenny McG (thedefiningmoment), Kent Kanouse (Snap Man) and The Atomic Kid 1959 for bringing out the best in the Bug Ranch’s buried but be-dazzled Beetles!
Lumping Ron Lessman’s varied automotive artworks into a “truckhenge” is rather all-inclusive – the Shawnee County, Kansas denizen has deployed a host of land and water craft in several distinct henges.
According to The Vagabond Glovers’ Meanderings, “Shawnee County health and zoning officials got after him to clean up his yard, and when they told him to pick up his trucks, he decided to take their orders literally, and pick them up, then plant them back down in the ground the way he saw it done in Texas at Cadillac Ranch.” That’s tellin’ ’em, Ron!
Old and busted: car smashups. New hotness: Toy Mashups, which just happens to be where photographers Josh Cornish and Kyle Hillery snapped the above installation and its inspiration in May of 2012. Unlike the original Cadillac Ranch created by art collective Ant Farm (Chip Lord, Hudson Marquez and Doug Michels) and eclectic landowner Stanley Marsh 3 back in 1974, no backhoes were required to set the miniatures in place. Well, maybe a teeny tiny toy backhoe.
Nice that both Miniatur Wunderland (c/o Knitrageous) in Hamburg, Germany and Un Petit Monde saw fit to apply graffiti to their scaled-down Cadillac Ranch tributes. It’s doubtful visitors to these installations will be allowed to personalize them, though.
Wow, Christine has really let herself go! Actually this is/was a 1960 Plymouth Fury while King’s krazed killer kar was a ’58 model. We’re not certain whether the vehicle’s owner had Cadillac Ranch in mind when he tilted this seemingly sharp Oldie But Goodie into its diagonal semi-grave but the finned beauty sure could use some company.
Who’s your Caddy? The 10 graffiti-encrusted Cadillacs at Cadillac Ranch, just outside Amarillo, Texas, have left their highway cruising days far behind.
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Railings, shutters, sun shades and other surfaces with separate-but-repeating elements are all potential canvasses for this unique semi-secretive approach to …
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Compact and portable, this crafty collaborative design-build project is part art installation and part impromptu gathering space. This student-built platform …
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[ By Steve in Art & Installation & Sound. ]
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Lens manufacturer Sigma has introduced a new lens to its Art range of premium optics that it claims is the fastest 20mm in the world. The new 20mm F1.4 DG HSM | Art is designed for full frame cameras and will be available in mounts for Canon EF, Nikon F and Sigma models. Read more
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
When photographing subjects with a wide-angle lens, it’s pretty common for perspective problems to present themselves in the form of lines that should be straight, but appear curved and distorted. This is commonly referred to as barrel distortion, which occurs mostly in wide-angle lenses because the magnification of the image decreases the farther the subject is from the optical axis of the lens. In plain speech, it means that when looking through a wide-angle lens, anything that is at the edge of the frame will be prone to appearing curved.
Some lenses such as fisheyes take full advantage of barrel distortion by purposely capturing images that are heavily curved and spherical. However, there are times when other wide-angle lenses such as the Canon 16-35mm, or even mid-range zooms like the 24-70mm, might produce unwanted barrel distortion effects.
Perhaps the two easiest ways to correct this problem are to either use a tilt-shift lens or to change your perspective and zoom magnification while photographing the subject. But tilt-shift lenses are expensive, and sometimes, such as when photographing a large building, there aren’t a ton of different perspective options. In these cases, the easiest solution to correct correct lens distortion is to do so in post-processing using a unique tool in Photoshop known as the Adaptive Wide Angle filter.
Introduced in PhotoShop CS6, the Adaptive Wide Angle filter removes lens distortions in one of two ways: it either automatically detects the camera and lens model using pre-programmed details to straighten the images, or you can manually set constraints to tell the it which areas of the photo need to be straightened. In this tutorial, I’ll walk you through the manual use of the Adaptive Wide Angle filter.
The example below was photographed in a beautiful brand new bar and restaurant using a Canon 16-35mm f/2.8 at a focal length of 16mm. It was a tight space, so there wasn’t room to back up or shoot the bar from a higher angle, so the resulting image sees quite a few horizontal lines such as the upstairs white railings and granite countertop that clearly should be straight, but aren’t.
To begin correcting these distortions, click on Filter in the upper drop down menu and select Adaptive Wide Angle Filter.
A large dialogue box will then appear with a host of options (see below).
Begin with the right hand panel and choose a correction type from the drop down menu. Typically, I start with Auto, which will attempt for an automatic correction based on lens detection.
In this case, when I select Auto, another pop up window appears saying, “No matching lens profile found.” This means I need to manually adjust the image. Hit the OK button and turn your attention back to the box in the right hand corner.
Besides Auto, the drop-down menu has three other options to choose from. If Auto doesn’t work, I’ll typically choose Perspective as my next correction type.
Other options below the drop down menu include more settings that you can fiddle with to help correct distortions.
Next, turn your attention to the little vertical toolbar in the top left corner. These are the tools you’ll use to define the constraints that indicate which lines in your image ought to be straight. The primary tools to be familiar with are the first two:
For example, let’s look at the horizontal line of the granite countertop in the image below.
Begin by clicking once on the left end of the line to set one constraint point, then click once on the right end of the countertop to close it. After you set the line, right-click on it and you’ll see a small menu appear allowing you to assign either a Horizontal, Vertical, or Arbitrary constraint to the line. The default constraint is Unfixed, but in this case we want to assign a Horizontal constraint to straighten the line width-wise. In order to automatically assign a constraint to a line, hold down the shift key while in the process of creating the line. In between the two constraint points, there will be a yellow line (if you held down the shift key) or a blue one if you didn’t, indicating where the straightening occurred.
You can set as many constraint lines as needed until your image is corrected to your satisfaction. Constraint lines typically should be vertical and/or horizontal. Some other tools in the toolbar that can help with this are the Move, Hand, and Zoom tools that allow you move the image around to make the adjustments needed. Additionally, there is the Magnification of the preview in the lower left corner that allows you to zoom in and help you see where to plant constraints.
After you have corrected the image to your liking, hit the blue OK button to apply the filter.
BEFORE
AFTER
How do you correct distortion for your wide-angle images? Share in the comments section below.
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The post How to Correct Lens Distortion with the Adaptive Wide Angle Filter in Photoshop by Suzi Pratt appeared first on Digital Photography School.
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