A straight horizon

[FlyingKiwiGirl]

I'm having alot of trouble with my wide angle landscape shots. The horizon always has a slight curve in it. I remember reading about it somewhere on here but can't find the thread again. Is it the earth's curvature? What is it called, what causes it and what can I do to correct my future photos. Is it in fact possible to correct it? I suspect it'll have something to do with my lens. Appreciate any help, thanks.



Exif data
Camera Sony DSLR-A350
Exposure 0.006 sec (1/160)
Aperture f/10.0
Focal Length 18 mm
ISO Speed 100

[RovingLenses]

I had the same problem on my 550D with 18-55 kit lens. I can't remember how I fixed it though.

I think (not entirely sure) it was using the Lens Profile Correction in LR3. Please correct me if I'm wrong.


~AC

[karen_s]

Could be the earth cause it is round but my thoughts are its the wide angle view and the lens that are the main issue. One way around it is to zoom and stitch. Pan the scene and take several shots, at say 50mm, then stitch them together in something like Photoshop.

Or, just get Lightroom 3 or Photoshop CS5. I believe they both have some distortion tools (both manual and I think lens specific) and you should be able to fix this pretty easily.

[OsmosisStudios]

That is NOT Earth's curvature. You'll never be able to get it in one shot. That's barrel distortion from the lens and should be an easy fix.

[RichardTaylor]

What software are you PPing with?

It may have a lens distortion correction tool.

Two that I am aware of is lens correction in Lightroom 3 Develop Module and Filter/distort/lens correction in CS4

[FlyingKiwiGirl]

Thanks for your replies, I thought it would be the lens. I was hoping that it was an relatively easy fix "in camera". I thought perhaps it was to do with having a "cheaper" kit lens. I have PSE9 but have much to learn about it yet so will do some research to find out how I can correct it in post processing.

[RichardTaylor]

See here.

Adobe Photoshop Elements 9 * Correct camera distortion

[FlyingKiwiGirl]

Thanks Richard, that saved me looking! I've had a quick play with it and can see how easy it is to fix although it's a shame you do lose some of the picture. I've just been on a road trip and have lots of landscape shots with this issue. It's a pity I have to fix so many, the reason why I was looking for an in camera fix for next time; maybe I need change my focal length by just a tad to stop it happening.

[Doug Sundseth]

Since you say you have many images to edit, I'd recommend picking up Lightroom or Aperture. The ease with which you can batch-correct images is enough of a timesaver that you'll likely save the cost of the program quickly (if you value your editing time at all). And at the end you'd have Aperture/LR, which I'd be hard pressed to live* without these days.

* It's just possible that was a slight exaggeration.

[FlyingKiwiGirl]

Originally Posted by Doug Sundseth

Since you say you have many images to edit, I'd recommend picking up Lightroom or Aperture. The ease with which you can batch-correct images is enough of a timesaver that you'll likely save the cost of the program quickly (if you value your editing time at all). And at the end you'd have Aperture/LR, which I'd be hard pressed to live* without these days.

* It's just possible that was a slight exaggeration.

Thanks Doug for your suggestions, I'll look into them.