Barrel Distortion with the 35mm Summitar on my M9

[microview]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Please. This is NOT linear distorton..... It means that you have not held the camera level. You have pointed it slightly down.

 

The old man from the Age of Undistorted Facts

 

I wondered if I should replace with the ASPH, but was told even more bluntly at RG Lewis when I raised this anomaly (vis à vis fine renderings from same viewpoint with 50mm Summilux and 24mm Elmarit), I'd have to improve my 'technique'. 'Sorry we can't take any money off you' was the concluding remark.

 

Similarly aged practitioner from the Age of the Periflex and Zeiss Ikonta

[photolandscape]

Thanks for the response, Steve. I was beginning to think you might have given up.

 

As I said, the distortion can be a surprise when you're not expecting it, but as others said, it's a quick clean-up in post. And you could even make a PS preset for the lens.

 

That's why I posted the Nikkor 18-200 shots as a counter-example. For it there's no batch cure in Photoshop because every focal length needs a different correction.

 

 

I like the shot of a solid door to "Nothing," BTW. Certainly sparks curiosity about what goes on in there. "No, officer, there's nobody in here but us chickens."

 

Howard, thanks for your response as well. The neon "Nothing" sign caught my eye a while back. One of these days I'll stop in and find out what it's about, though I presume it stands for "FedEx No" or "No UPS" shipments to be picked up. On the other hand, it may just be some cryptic message that I can't translate. I'll have to get going on a CS3 preset to correct the barrel distortion whenever it becomes a concern. Thanks.

[manolo]

Interesting thread, I never thought there could be so much difference (in bd) between these lenses. I still don't understand; is the summicron v4 the one that has the least then the summicron asph then the summarit?

[luigi bertolotti]

Interesting thread, I never thought there could be so much difference (in bd) between these lenses. I still don't understand; is the summicron v4 the one that has the least then the summicron asph then the summarit?

Yes, according to manufacturer's specs : this doesn't mean that V4 is a "better" lens than the last asph version... as was said above, BD (IF noticeable) is very easy to fix even at RAW processing level.

[ho_co]

Steve--

FWIW, check the recent NYT video "The Author Speaks," which features images from Jeff Sheng's book "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

 

Barrel distortion is quite noticeable in a number of the images.

 

From Video Library Home Page - The New York Times, scroll down the "Next Up" panel at upper right. (As of 20.03.2010, the video is in the first ten there.) Watch for the title "The Author Speaks."

 

Section: Style

Title: The Author Speaks

Subject: Photos of gays and lesbians in the US military

Photographer: Jeff Sheng

Book title: "Don't Ask, Don't Tell, volume I"

 

 

Of interest: If the photo's good, I guess we're not supposed to be bothered by the distortion...