D80 and nikkor 18-200 -- Distorion issues

Dear all,

I recently got a D80 with a the 18-200 lens. At 18 mm I found out that the

distorsion is quite disturbing. I have the suspect that it is more than normal

(i.e. something is rwong with the lens, the camera or both). Attache is a

picture where the distorsion is quite apparent. Is there anyone that can spot if

it actually non-normal ?

 

Thanks alot

Piero

That amount of barrel distortion at the extreme wide end is typical for this super zoom. The optical design for any 11x zoom has to involve a lot of compromises. You should be able to correct most of this distortion in PhotoShop or other software tools.

 

The attached image was shot with a sample 18-200 DX at 18mm, obviously inside a camera store. In the image, there is a lot of barrel distortion among the ceiling tiles.<div></div>

The Nikon 18-200mm VR has inherent distortion at both the long and short end of a

rather

large focal range. However, given its shortcomings, this lens is still an impressive

example

of

optical engineering.

 

The Nikon 18-200, is for photographers who want to travel lightly, and accept the optical

compromises

associated with an astonishing 11x zoom lens.

 

None of this information is a secret, Piero. Before your next purchase, check out the

Internet

for reviews of whatever it is you are thinking of buying and don't believe everything a

camera salesperson tells you.

The 'inherent distortion' of this lens and like many lenses including Nikon's pro lenses including the 17-55 and 70-200 is easily correctable with software like Bibble or DXO. Distortion is pretty much normal in a zoom lens.

 

I am not a camera salesman. Here is my two cents... My 18-200 gives me images comparable to the pro lenses I have - sharp, contrasty, colorful. I am very critical of all me lenses and am extremely pleased with my 18-200. I did have a sharpness issue with it originally. I sent it to Nikon and they fixed it.

 

If you don't want distortion, don't buy a zoom!

Well, not all zooms are created equal. The 17-35mm/f2.8 AF-S almost has no distortion at 17mm, but it is only a 2x zoom. The 17-55mm/f2.8 AF-S DX is a bit worse but still much better than the 18-200 DX. See my "garage door" tests in this thread:

http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=009jVw

And even my Zeiss 45mm/2.8 645 medium-format wide angle has noticable distortion.

 

Unless you have some straight lines near the edges of the frame, such as horizons, window frames, ceiling tiles, some distortion is hard to notice in an actual print. And unlike in the former film days, some distortion can be corrected in post-processing. So distortion is not as serious a problem any more unless you shoot a lot of architecture.

You'll get rather ugly pincushion distortion with this lens also, around 35mm. The least distorted focal lengths are 24mm and 200mm, at which there is no noticeable distortion. There is barrel below 24mm, after which it "switches over" to pincushion, and gradually diminishes as you get into the longer focal lengths.

 

As Shun notes, you won't generally notice any of this unless you have straight lines near the edge of the frame.

I'll be picking mine up on Friday & hope to do a 18-200 / 18-70 / 28-200 comparison over the weekend - weather permitting & provided I get a good sample this time.

the distortion at 18mm is not what bothered me about this lens, I was more bothered by the curves at 200 mm. I bought the 18-70 to avoid avoid that. I used to sell cameras and I was never a beliver just one lens theory.

There are several photoshop plugins and standalone programs which correct distortion digitially. They aren't perfect, but they do a pretty good job. Try for example

 

epaperpress.com/ptlens

As a hobbyist only I would recommend DxO as it automates distortion correction and it also provides (optional) sharpening, noise reduction, dynamic lighting, colour rendering profiles and much more in a convenient and easy to use package. Photoshop is hideously expensive, at least if you want the 16bit version and not the light version.

 

I'm not that good at post processing photos, but with DxO I get good results fast. When I saw what DxO did to my AF-S DX 18-70mm @ 18mm, I decided to buy it...

 

I don't know the other correction software, so I cannot compare.

Dear guys,

thanks for your comments and insights !

Piero