Sigma 10-20mm wide angle stretching issues

[Destin_FL]

Hello all,
I purchased the Sigma 10-20mm wide angle lens, and it a wonderful lens in most
every way, and for sure incredibly wide.
What I was not expecting however is how much it stretches things in the
photographs towards the edges. Even up at 14 or 17 mm, it still stretches
things terribly out of proportion towards the edges. Doesn't matter how far
from the "view" I am; for instance could be interior shots and the furniture on
the sides of the shot will be terribly distorted/stretched towards the edges, or
out in a huge field; grasses, trees, whatever will be wacked out closer to the
edge you get/see.

Is this common to these super-wide lenses? Does anyone have familiarity with
the wide 12-24mm Nikon lens? I'm wondering if it would be better... I do almost
all interior real estate photography if somebody might have recommendations.

Thanks for the help!

Tim

[Scooby]

On Thu, 8 Jun 2006 13:51:25 -0500, "Destin_FL" <highti...@gmail.com>
wrote:

>Is this common to these super-wide lenses? Does anyone have familiarity with
>the wide 12-24mm Nikon lens? I'm wondering if it would be better... I do almost
>all interior real estate photography if somebody might have recommendations.

I can highly recommend the Nikkor (I've got one and it's lovely), but
apparently if you want totally distortion-free images for architecture/real
estate the venerable Sigma 12-24 4-5.6 is the way to go.

[bmoag]

There are two issues:
One is an inherent effect such as you describe that will seem to distort
off-axis image elements at the periphery when using extreme wide angle
lenses.
The other issue is barrel distortion which tends to be more noticeable at
the edges and with straight lines parallel to the top or bottom of the
frame.
Barrel distortion is easily adjusted/corrected by a number of plug-ins or
standalone programs but what looks best to you is better than merely
accepting the "correction" dialed in by the program. DxO, and the PT plug-in
for PS are examples of programs/plug-ins that purport to correct lens
distortion based on a database of lens info. CS2 has simple sliders in the
lens/distort filter that accomplish much the same thing.

[Destin_FL]

Thanks for the help and suggestions, and from TomB.
I'm using the D70... and PS CS2

I had considered the Tokina, but after reading several reviews, the Sigma
10-20mm kept being highly regarded. I'm wondering about that "stretching"
effect in the Tokina and the Nikon 12-24 now... it isn't really barrel
distortion, in fact the lens has almost zero distortion of any kind except
whatever that weird stretching phenomenon is.
Scooby, can you recall where you read or saw positive feedback about the Sigma
12-24?

Thanks again.

Tim

[Pat]

They make specialize cameras for shooting like that -- to give you a
wide perspective without distortion. But they are pricey. I haven't
seen them lately, but they exist. Basically the whole thing swings on
an axis.

Another option is to take 2 or 3 pix and stitch them together.

While you are shooting, zoom all of the way out (10 mm), get good and
close to a co-worker, and focus on his/her nose. Then you will see
distortion as well as having a good picture for the company Christmas
party ;-))

[Destin_FL]

Thanks again to all, and thanks Ed... I ordered the Tokina a minute ago. That
image (the LACK of stretching) is in a different league from the Sigma. That
house/building over on the right side of your image would look twice that size,
stretched out if taken with my Sigma. I'm convinced.

Tim

[Paul Saunders]

Destin_FL wrote:

> I purchased the Sigma 10-20mm wide angle lens, and it a wonderful
> lens in most every way, and for sure incredibly wide.
> What I was not expecting however is how much it stretches things in
> the photographs towards the edges. Even up at 14 or 17 mm, it still
> stretches things terribly out of proportion towards the edges.

> Is this common to these super-wide lenses?

No.

I know this reply is a bit late but since you apparently use a Nikon it
won't make any difference.

A friend of mine has the Sigma 10-20 while I have the Canon 10-22. His
produces the terrible stretching on the edges but mine doesn't. The Canon
is extremely well corrected for such a wide lens, and has a surprisingly
"normal" look on most shots. Depending on composition, I can get very
exaggerated perspectives with the Canon, but if I'm careful with my
viewpoint and composition, many of my 10mm shots don't even look like
ultrawide shots at first glance. I highly recommend this lens to Canon
users.

The Distort - Lens Correction - Remove Distortion feature in Photoshop is a
quick and simple way of correcting wide-angle stretching. I've used it on a
few of my friend's shots.

Paul

[Paul J Gans]

>Tim

I think you did the right thing. I've never used the Sigma
but I have the Tokina and am very happy with it.

--- Paul J. Gans