C100: Know of a Non-Distorting 11mm Lens?

I know a lot of architectural photographers will use tilt-shift lenses to minimize distracting perspective issues. You may look into that. I think canon makes a 17mm tilt-shift
 
Hello Group,

As some folks mentioned, this can be corrected in post. Resolve Studio 12.5 has a lens correction tool. Studio is the paid version. Among others, Boris Complete also has a lens correction tool. These tools normally have the ability to correct for barrel and pincushion as well as perspective/tilt/zoom. If one is going to be doing this type of shot on a regular basis it might make sense to buy such a post tool. Otherwise hire someone to do the correction.

Hope y'all well and good,
Robert
 
The Samyang/Rokinon 10mm has VERY low distortion, but it is very wide so you have to be aware of the natural optical effects of very wide lenses.
 
On my EX3 is a Fujinon 4mm wiee lens. An Italian director sang the praises of this lens for its rectilinearity. Unfortunatley, it's an EMG lens. But they do exist.
 
Thanks for the lead on the plug in. If my client does not like the test I will research a 360 technique who static. I have been seeing a lot of press regarding VR/360 shooting and perhaps this is a good application of that.
 
I have the Rokinon 12mm, but use it mostly on my Pocket Cinema Camera. If you can afford it the full version of Mocha (now owned by Boris) has a great lens correction function. Depending on your editing software it cn also be gotten as a plug in. If you already own AE then you have Mocha AE and they offer a substantial discount to upgrade to the full version.
 
Chadfish said:
There are free plug-ins to help in post.
Click to expand...

Just keep in mind that barrel distortion (as seen here) is different from wide angle distortions.
Barrel distortion can be corrected - making straight lines straight again.
But the basic optical principles of very-wide angle lenses dictate that at a certain point there is a perceived "warping" of the image that is not barrel distortion.
As a photographer, one simply has to learn how to use a very-wide angle lens.
 
DPStewart said:
Just keep in mind that barrel distortion (as seen here) is different from wide angle distortions.
Barrel distortion can be corrected - making straight lines straight again.
But the basic optical principles of very-wide angle lenses dictate that at a certain point there is a perceived "warping" of the image that is not barrel distortion.
As a photographer, one simply has to learn how to use a very-wide angle lens.
Click to expand...

Rubbish. There is no perception of warping.. sure a wide lens presents an interesting perspective but not warping.

Overall two things need considering (and splitting) in preparation for this shot.

-The effect of a lens with 'distortion'. (which can be cured with an expensive lens or in post)

-The effect of 'tombstoning' when the lens is not placed perpendicular to the ground. (which can be cured by keeping the camera flat or in post)

Both can be corrected in post or more ideally on set.

S
 
In the NewBlue ST package there is a lens correction FX that controls fisheye distortion which might work. Spherize FX is VegasPro can also be used. Additionally you can make a video a smart object in CC Photoshop and use perspective control, but it will take a long time to render unless you have a very fast computer.
 
morgan_moore said:
Rubbish. There is no perception of warping.. sure a wide lens presents an interesting perspective but not warping.

Overall two things need considering (and splitting) in preparation for this shot.

-The effect of a lens with 'distortion'. (which can be cured with an expensive lens or in post)

-The effect of 'tombstoning' when the lens is not placed perpendicular to the ground. (which can be cured by keeping the camera flat or in post)

Both can be corrected in post or more ideally on set.

S
Click to expand...

Okay - "tombstoning" and an "interesting perspective" then. I only used the words: *perception of "warping"* and added the quotation marks in order to attempt to use some word that would be broadly understandable to folks who might not have much experience with very-wide lenses.
But there is more than the vertical "tombstoning" effect - there is also the effects seen at the edges of the field of view. Choose whatever adjectives you may prefer: "Stretching" or "Warping" or "Skewing"... I've heard people use all of these and more.
 
DPStewart said:
As a photographer, one simply has to learn how to use a very-wide angle lens.
Click to expand...

This. I question even the work "distortion" as applicable to wide-angle lenses. Because what we are after (usually) is to match what an individual sees with their eyes. And unfortunately there is no perfect way to do that because people don't see things like an image sensor sees things. Even a dead perfect rectilinear lens, while buildings or straight lines look right, makes people (and roundish objects) at the edge look weird - and I call looking weird a form of distortion. In some ways light "barrel distortion" is superior for filming people. With wide angles it's all about what you are shooting and framing objects at the right location and angles.
 
DPStewart said:
there is also the effects seen at the edges of the field of view. .
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I dont think there is a theoretical effect at the edge of the FOV. Yes many lenses go wonky at the edges which is what lens correction software 'deals' with but there should be no 'warping' in a perfect or corrected (digitally) lens

Yes wide angle lenses are 'interesting' in that for example a person photographed from above will have a huge head and small feet but that effect is equal if they are in the middle or at the edge of the frame ?

Coming back to the topic (and I ve photographed a lot of hotels) the correction in post is usually done in two stages.
Lens correction which removes any pincushion style distortion (bad glass) - resulting in straight things being straight
Tombstone correction (physical effect of perspective) which results in vertical things being vertical

If one keeps the camera completely flat when shooting the second step is not needed.



S
 
This distortion is also evident with 'virtual' cameras in 3D modeling software. I have observed this effect in Maya when setting up camera settings to some ridiculous wide value, such as 5mm. Proportions of near and far objects become exaggerated and the scene takes on a surreal appearance.

The best you can hope for is a rectilinear lens that doesn't bow straight edges and maintains reasonable focus with minimal CA across the frame.
 
there's some befuddlement in here, perhaps some misunderstanding of terms/techniques and whatnot.

here's a few cents:

tilt/shift lenses:
in this case only the shift applies, as he's looking to do a pan, not alter DOF, shift lenses can only go so far, and still rely on ever-wider lenses. shifting involves the camera 'looking' at different portions of the same image circle by moving the lens around the mount, which i don't think i've ever heard of someone doing a pan and a shift, though certainly could be possible, but i doubt would be practical for the described use.

360 video
i've worked with several iterations of 360, and in most cases it is the epitome of distortion.

corrective software
if you're a premiere user, a free thing to try is the distortion effect, it can be set into the negative to remove certain distortions, i've used it to good effect on gopro footage.

lenses
my current ultrawide is the cheap canon 10-18mm. my preference is 12mm for ultrawide, it's veyr well controlled, and at 14mm there's nearly none.
 
OP here:

So I did the shoot today. Before we rolled the client showed me on her multiple monitor display on the wall her test and since she cropped and used only the middle three fifths, the distortion wasn't that bad, especially since you weren't seeing the top of the frame.

However, there was a little stuttering which I attribute to a graphic artist tipping their toes into video and Premiere, also, this was an argument for 4K being more better. Also, I really slowed down the pan after seeing the test. Funny how a slow pan looks fast on a large display.

So all in all they seem to be happy. Today we had about 20 people in the shot so the eye will be drawn to that. I did a back up with an ENG camera and it's adult servo lens so I could do a slow creeping zoom, making sure I was able to stay head to toe in that 3/5ths zone, which I can't do with these BS still lenses. We'll see which see uses.

Thanks for everyone's input!

Ned
 
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