Barrel distortion question.

Hi everyone,

This is my first post and its a rather long winded question for advice I'm afraid - but here goes!

I've used a 400D for a few years now and have recently bought a Sigma18-125 OS lense to replace my non IS 18-55 kit lense and to complement my Canon 70-300 IS zoom. I like the Sigma lense except for the quite noticable barrel distortion at the wide end of the zoom.

However, I'm looking to upgrade to a 600D in the next few weeks which comes with either a 18-55 IS lense or an 18-135 IS, so my question is (finaly)- does the Canon 18-135 show any distortion so I can maybe trade in the Sigma, or is it best to go with the 18-55 IS and use the Sigma over 55mm (which sort of does away with point of having a 18-125 zoom!).

I've been wrestling with this question for a few weeks so any help would be appreciated!

Great website by the way, I've been visiting for a couple of years and I'm amazed by some of the great photo's on here, so I've finaly taken the plunge to join and may even post up a couple of my shots soon!

Thanks again for any help you may have,

Chris

Do we take you literally at 18-135 IS or do you mean the 18-135 IS STM (stepper motor) that came out in June 2012? The "STM" lens is optically very good, why there hasn't been much press, good or bad, is strange. Maybe not too many are in the pipeline yet?

Answer also in another duplicate post by OP

"Do we take you literally at 18-135 IS or do you mean the 18-135 IS STM (stepper motor) that came out in June 2012? The "STM" lens is optically very good, why there hasn't been much press, good or bad, is strange. Maybe not too many are in the pipeline yet?"

The 18-135mm non-STM version has quite a bit more barrel distortion than the Sigma 18-125mm. Nonetheless, I still enjoy mine.

If you wants numbers, you can go here: http://photozone.de/

Hi John,

No its not the new STM lens, its 18-55 f/3.5-5.6 IS (standard?) lens.

Chris

Just been looking at the link you sent Harold and comparing the two, the Canon does look to be the more extreme.

Looks like you have answered my question, I'll stay with the Sigama.

Thanks again,

Chris

The EF-S 18-55mm IS has a bit more barrel distortion at 18mm than the EF-S 18-55mm II. The EF-S 18-135 IS also has some barrel distortion at the wide end. I haven't tried the Sigma for comparison.

I do quite like using both the 18-55 IS and the 18-135 IS. Both are optically quite good and just pleasant to use.

You don't need to live with the barrel distortion anymore if you use Canon lenses. If you shoot raw files, you can correct the distortions automatically and fully using recent versions of Canon Digital Photo Professional which is free. It will even correct the distortion (and chromatic aberration and vignetting) in your pictures taken with the 400D and the 18-55 II. Download the current version and give it a try.

Hmm, something else for me to think about.

Thanks for the advice,

Chris

The Canon 10-22 has very little distortion, even at 10. And that is correctable in DPP or LR4.1. My 18-135 (older one) distorts noticeable at the wide end.

Photoshop or your RAW converter should be able to correct it, at the cost of some resolution and quality, but on the whole they do a pretty good job.