In camera correction: yay or nay

I have been reading numerous opinions as to the use of in camera correction, specifically, lens aberration correction. Some say having it enabled reduced IQ, some say no change. What is the current opinion here on the subject?

If you shoot raw, it won't affect the file. I do my corrections in Lightroom. I'd rather start with the image exactly as captured, then decide how much correction to apply once I'm at my PC.

what he said ^

not every image exhibits those symptoms, so correcting for it would certainly give lower image quality.

Much better in post.

Here are some reasons you might wish to adjust in post:

1) Fixing distortion will reduce the field of view a little bit. If your image has no telltale straight lines to show distortion, you might not need the correction. Wouldn't you rather judge the look of the distortion vs. losing some of the images around the edge?

2) Fixing vignette applies an ISO boost to the edges. If you are talking about a lens like the 24/1.4L II, this boost can be as much as 4 stops. So an ISO 1600 shot will wind up with corners at ISO 25800 if you apply an auto correction. I have applied a blind auto-correct in post and watched the corners of some images turn purple with all kinds of banding and noise. Sometimes vignette is better than the fix.

JeffreyG wrote in post #16492786
1) Fixing distortion will reduce the field of view a little bit. If your image has no telltale straight lines to show distortion, you might not need the correction. Wouldn't you rather judge the look of the distortion vs. losing some of the images around the edge?

This happens to me a lot with wide angle lenses. Some times a little barrel distortion yields more realistic proportions than the stretching toward the corners that happens when you correct for it. Also, Lightroom lets you correct these things as much or as little as you want instead of a simple on/off switch.

If you are shooting raw, you HAVE TO correct in post, because as Mike said, in-camera corrections won't affect the raw file (although some software may read the correction and apply it when rendering the image.)

I use mostly zooms, which are prone to barrel and pincushion distortion at the extremes and vignetting at the wide end, so correction is often worth it. however, it is trivial to check it out in LR, if you have a recognized lens. Just check the box and see what it looks like. If you get problems such as the ones Jeffrey noted, just uncheck the box. Very simple.