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Barrel distortion
Correcting barrel distortion when editing
Barrel distortion occurs when taking photos at the widest angle of a lens. The position of the camera lens causes images to look outwardly curved or skewed when straight edges are near the side of the frame. Lines that you'd expect to appear perpendicular are not.
While not all barrel distortion looks bad and may even be desirable at times, you can minimize its effect by moving back and zooming in instead of standing close and shooting at wide angle. Use a focal length of about 50mm (35mm equivalent). Watch the LCD for distortion as you zoom or change your physical distance from the set-up. If things appear distorted, move back from the subject and zoom in.
Image shot at widest angle produces barrel distortion
Same shot taken by stepping back and zooming in