Lightroom users...how do you correct for lens distortion?

[gme109]

I'm trying out the trial version of Lightroom 2.6, which I like quite a bit more than Silkypix, that came with my G1, but I didn't see a way to correct for lens distortion.

I did come across this plug-in for Lightroom, that does correct the problem.
http://epaperpress.com/ptlens/index.html

Wondering if anyone has tried it, or what other options you've found to solve this problem.

 

[ReeRay]

I'm trying out the trial version of Lightroom 2.6, which I like quite a bit more than Silkypix, that came with my G1, but I didn't see a way to correct for lens distortion.

I did come across this plug-in for Lightroom, that does correct the problem.
http://epaperpress.com/ptlens/index.html

Wondering if anyone has tried it, or what other options you've found to solve this problem.

I've been using PT Lens for 2 years now and find it invaluable

It's a great product and I highly recommend it.

 

[gme109]

I've been using PT Lens for 2 years now and find it invaluable

It's a great product and I highly recommend it.

Well I've given it a try, and it seems to work fine until I specificity pick the lens I'm using with my G1. Then it distorts the perspective of the image, and I'm unable to correct it. The other thing is, there doesn't seem to be any customer support or user forums on his website, unless I'm missing something.

Are you using it as a stand alone product, or as an external editing tool through Lightroom?

Thanks

 

[Diane B]

Curious what lenses you are wanting correction for on the G1.

He is the developer, support, etc. YOu will probably have to just email him, but first probably you should ask about specfic lenses here from those that use Lightroom.

Diane

 

[ustein]

>I specificity pick the lens I'm using with my G1

Here it gets tricky. If it is Panasonic m4/3 lens there already get corrected and PT Lens would try to double correct.

Show samples.

 

[henningw]

You use a Mac, correct? Generally the best tool is LensFix, from Kekus (kekus.com) which uses the epaperpress profiles, and is also based on panotools from Prof. Helmut Dersch. Kekus put a reasonable front end on it and markets it for a relatively low price. This is the software to use with cameras and lenses that don't mess with the distortion in firmware/software themselves, ie with lenses on the m4/3 Panasonics that Panasonic doesn't make.

Don't use this with images that are produced with Panasonic lenses, as that will mess things up since programs like Silkypix (ugh!) and Lightroom know about the Panasonic tags for correction and do the job in software if shooting RAW, and if shooting jpeg, the process is done in camera.

Panasonic does this in camera so that lenses like the 7-14 can be made (relatively) inexpensively, small and deliver outstanding quality. They let the distortion fall where it may and concentrate on other aberrations, and then do the distortion correction in processing. An excellent tradeoff, but one that interferes with programs like LensFix.

I've used LensFix and panotools for years, and relied on them when using lenses with bad distortion. They let you tweak the profiles, and make your own for lenses not listed with a bit of effort and make architectural photography possible with all sorts of lenses.

If you want to do full perspective correction in software, ie using a centered wide angle to obtain the result of a shift lens, then you need Photoshop or something like it to do a somewhat reasonable job.

Henning

 

[ustein]

>You use a Mac, correct? Generally the best tool is LensFix, from Kekus (kekus.com) which uses the epaperpress profiles

PT Lens is now Mac too and works fine for me.

 

[gme109]

Thanks everyone for the responses.

I had a few interior shots that I had taken with the panny 14-45mm, that when processed with Silkypix, needed some light corrections with their perspective tools.
I made a mistake, and assumed that they would also need to be corrected after using Lightroom. Therefore they ended up re-edited in PTlens, were they were over compensated for. :banghead:

 

[Tonygamble]

Do I assume that we still don't need any lens profiles for the 7-14 using Lightroom 3.4?

Tony

 

[les]

There is a Lens Correction feature in Lightroom 3 which can be used automatically (if there is a profile for your specific lens) or manually by numerous sliders - lots of control there. When it's needed it works well.
Profiles are not provided for older lenses, but Adobe does offer a Lens Profile Creator which I have used to create my own profiles for a couple of my older lenses.
Had expected the new Lightroom 3.5 Release Candidate would include Profiles for lenses bundled with current cameras such as the G3, but they're not there. Maybe they'll be included with the officlal release.

 

[Godfrey]

...
Had expected the new Lightroom 3.5 Release Candidate would include Profiles for lenses bundled with current cameras such as the G3, but they're not there. Maybe they'll be included with the officlal release.

Micro-FourThirds cameras embed lens correction data, contained in every mFT lens, into the raw data. This is automatically applied by Lightroom and Camera Raw: there's no need for external lens profiles.

 

[Pelao]

Micro-FourThirds cameras embed lens correction data, contained in every mFT lens, into the raw data. This is automatically applied by Lightroom and Camera Raw: there's no need for external lens profiles.

That's my understanding too. Does this work across brands? For example, if you use the Olympus 45/1.8 on a Panasonic camera, are the corrections carried over? Or, say, the new Panasonic 25/1.4 on an Olympus camera?

 

[Godfrey]

That's my understanding too. Does this work across brands? For example, if you use the Olympus 45/1.8 on a Panasonic camera, are the corrections carried over? Or, say, the new Panasonic 25/1.4 on an Olympus camera?

The mechanism works cross-brand, to the limitations of the bodies and what the lenses supply. At present, Olympus only supplies or processes geometric correction data so that's all that will be present in raw files from Oly bodies regardless of lens. Panasonic processes both geometric and lateral CA corrections, both will be embedded in raw files made with Panny bodies and lenses but since Oly lenses don't supply any CA data, raw files from Panny bodies made with Oly lenses will only do geometric correction.

I've heard the rumor that Oly will start processing CA data "sometime soon".

 

[les]

Micro-FourThirds cameras embed lens correction data, contained in every mFT lens, into the raw data. This is automatically applied by Lightroom and Camera Raw: there's no need for external lens profiles.

Uh huh......hadn't heard about that before.....and I thought I'd read all the reviews and analysis. All sounds very cool, and is certainly better than making you're own profiles.
I wonder though......are there reasons why, the boys who make the heavy metal, Nikon, Canon & Pentax, aren't doing the same for their gear.
Thanks for the revelation Godfrey.

 

[les]

I've now found a very full description of the process in the DPReview test of the Lumix 14-140mm F4-5.8 OIS lens. All very interesting stuff.
I may have to reconsider my opinion of DPR, which I had dismissed as having evolved into a kind of lightweight blog.

 

[Godfrey]

Uh huh......hadn't heard about that before.....and I thought I'd read all the reviews and analysis. All sounds very cool, and is certainly better than making you're own profiles.
I wonder though......are there reasons why, the boys who make the heavy metal, Nikon, Canon & Pentax, aren't doing the same for their gear.
Thanks for the revelation Godfrey.

You're welcome.

There are certainly logistic reasons why this kind of bleeding edge stuff might take a while for Nikon, Canon, and Pentax to add to their cameras: they all have much larger, and much older, lens portfolios than Micro-FourThirds. Adding this sort of thing after the fact to a lens mount control protocol specification has to be harder to do.

Pentax does some other things which few seem to recognize, and they've been doing them for a while. Since the FA series lenses, Pentax lenses have contained a characteristic MTF curve embedded in their ROM so that when the lens is mounted on the body, the body can read the MTF curve and use it to optimize aperture against focus position and exposure needs in the evaluation of a program line for best lens performance. They also have incorporated distance information into their exposure and flash exposure algorithms for a long time.

Many subtleties in these cameras. Not all are common knowledge!

 

[Pelao]

The mechanism works cross-brand, to the limitations of the bodies and what the lenses supply. At present, Olympus only supplies or processes geometric correction data so that's all that will be present in raw files from Oly bodies regardless of lens. Panasonic processes both geometric and lateral CA corrections, both will be embedded in raw files made with Panny bodies and lenses but since Oly lenses don't supply any CA data, raw files from Panny bodies made with Oly lenses will only do geometric correction.

I've heard the rumor that Oly will start processing CA data "sometime soon".

Thank you, sir.