Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site ritcv.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!harpo!seismo!rochester!ritcv!kar From: kar@ritcv.UUCP (Ken Reek) Newsgroups: net.rec.photo Subject: Re: wide-angle lens distortion Message-ID: <961@ritcv.UUCP> Date: Tue, 20-Mar-84 16:56:04 EST Article-I.D.: ritcv.961 Posted: Tue Mar 20 16:56:04 1984 Date-Received: Wed, 21-Mar-84 08:43:20 EST References: <2587@rabbit.UUCP> Organization: Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY Lines: 12 Wide angle lenses do not distort straight lines (not counting fisheye lenses). Any distortion you think you see in the final print is a result of viewing the print from the wrong distance. The distance at which a photograph should be viewed is proportional to the focal length of the lens with which it was made. Take one of those "distorted" pictures made with a wide angle lens and look at it from a distance of a few inches -- if you can focus your eyes that close, you'll find that it suddenly looks fine. The same holds true for the strange foreshortening you see in photos made with a long telephoto lens -- if you view them from a large distance, they look perfectly normal. Ken Reek, Rochester Institute of Technology seismo!rochester!ritcv!kar