What is wrong?

Hi All,

What is wrong with my lens? The below photo was shot with a 60D, Tamron 17-50 non VC at 17 mm, f/14, 2 sec exposure and lastly I used the camera's level to insure a level photo. If anything there should be barrel distortion because I know I get slight distortion at 17 mm but the towers are leaning in, why and how could I correct this? Thank you in advance for your input.

If you have Photoshop, you can correct it in filter->lens correction.

Looks pretty normal to me. That is why they make tilt-shift lenses..... for this very specific problem. If you are using photoshop, you can correct for this very easily. DxO and others make software that will compensate for this effect as well.

Well exposed shot as well.....

Paul4Runner wrote in post #14785943
Hi All,

What is wrong with my lens? The below photo was shot with a 60D, Tamron 17-50 non VC at 17 mm, f/14, 2 sec exposure and lastly I used the camera's level to insure a level photo. If anything there should be barrel distortion because I know I get slight distortion at 17 mm but the towers are leaning in, why and how could I correct this? Thank you in advance for your input.

I guess your camera was about 1.5 meters from the ground? If the camera hand been totally level, then the middle of the image would have showed the the buildings, about 1,5 meters above the ground. But the middle of the image is aimed above the roofs.

When using a wide angle lens, there is a very significant difference in distance between you and the buildings at ground level - where you stand - and all the way up at the top of these towers. Since the distance to the top of the towers are further away, it will look like they are bending inwards. It's just a question of perspective - things further away looks smaller. The top of the towers are further away and hence looks smaller. And they have to look smaller in all directions, so the distance between the towers also have to look shorter at the top than at ground level.

It is always better to use a bigger focal length and stand further away, when that is an option. Or - as already mentioned - invest in a very expensive, but nice, tilt-shift lens.

You have converging verticals, which is normal unless you use a tilt/shift lens,turn on image editing and we can show you how to correct it.

Or if you have photoshop.

Open image and make a copy >select all>edit>transform>perspective and then drag the corners until you are happy,then tick to accept.
It helps if you turn on the grid, View>show>grid, then you can get the verticals straight.

However please note that the image will be distorted, the amount will depend on the amount of straightening you need to do, and will need to be cropped so you might well loose the top of the clock tower.

I have learned to leave lots of space at the top to allow for cropping.

This is a function of pointing your camera up to get the top of the tower on the left. In order to correct this "in camera" you need a shift lens.

Looks like you've also got a couple UFOs on the left.

Thank you all for the advise, I corrected the vertical prospective in PS, I did not know this feature existed. I also removed the UFO and I am happier with the photo.

There's still one UFO you missed about 1/4 up from the lower left - it's beaming into the tower. And you can straighten those towers some more with the transform tool distort feature - drag the upper left & right corners.