John - Pa. wrote:
This is the ceiling of the organ room at the Longwood conservatory.
Yes, the straight lines do betray some lens distortion (the ceiling is
flat), but then this is just my "cheap" $400 consumer-grade 28-135mm
lens. I've been debating whether to spring for the 24-105mm "L" lens
to replace this. Of course, I'd be really PO'ed if I got this same
effect after spending THAT kind of money.

JD
Canon 10D
EXIF Data Included

Additional images at;
http://www.flickr.com/photos/john-pa/



You took this with the lens set at or closer to the wide angle focal
length (28mm), right? The distortion is the effect of the wide angle,
and won't go away with a more expensive lens.

Actually, there is always some distortion of straight lines, but at
longer focal lengths it is so small that it's hard if not impossible to see.

Art the other end, (135mm) you will get fore-shortening, and shallow
depth of field.

You can't win. :-)

But you can take advantage of the effects produced by different focal
lengths. Play around with the lens - take the same subject at different
focal lengths, and at different distances to the subject. You'll find
that a telephoto closeup will have a different effect than the wide
angle one, for example. You'll soon be able to decide in advance what
kind of effect you want.

Have fun!

--


Wolf

"Don't believe everything you think." (Maxine)