Other Techniques Photo distortion

[ericrhu]

Hello all, I'm pretty new to photography and this forum so I could use some help. I've noticed that some of my photos have gotten distorted. I'm not sure why and if there's a way to prevent/fix it. Here's a link to a sample with the problem. Can someone shed some light? Thanks!

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4092/...fb68471e_b.jpg

[Woofmix]

There's no attachment.

Paul

[ericrhu]

sorry, fixed

[Neddog]

Originally Posted by ericrhu

Hello all, I'm pretty new to photography and this forum so I could use some help. I've noticed that some of my photos have gotten distorted. I'm not sure why and if there's a way to prevent/fix it. Here's a link to a sample with the problem. Can someone shed some light? Thanks!

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4092/4841793510_edfb68471e_b.jpg

The best way to avoid this is to back off further and use a lens with a longer focal length instead. If you need a wide-angle lens (if you're doing large architecture, interior shots, etc., you don't always have a choice), make sure it's a good one. Something not as terribly wide with high quality glass, like say the 11-22mm should do the trick, or else a super-wide with super-high quality glass like the 7-14mm would also work for you (but try to use the longest focal length of the zoom range). However, if you have the space to back off and use a lens at say 35mm, 50mm, or longer then that is your best bet. That will not only avoid the barrel distortion of the wide angle lens, but will also reduce the perspective distortion from say looking upwards at buildings, because you're backing off further away from it. If you can back off enough to use say a 200mm+ lens, then you can really compress your image into nice straight lines.

Another important factor is to always use a level when shooting scenes like this (the built-in level on the PEN series, E-30, etc. are very useful). A lot of times you get perceived barrel distortion from the wide angle yet when properly leveled that distortion seems to disappear or become unnoticeable.

[ericrhu]

thanks for the reply Neddog. the thing is, the photos weren't like this before. they were fine before and after transferring the files some. It may have gotten corrupted or something. Sorry I wasn't clear before. is this typical with photos?

[tomsi42]

The file is, as you say, corrupted.

I have seen that once in a while. And the cause have been difficult to find.

Have you tried to copy the files to another PC? Do they look OK - if not; then there may be issues with your original files. If they look OK, then it could be the transfer to flickr that went out the door.

Do you use the flickr web interface or the dedicated uploader program. I use the latter as it seems a little more robust.

[RAH]

I agree, the image is corrupted. In my experience, it usually happens in the transfer from the camera's card to the PC. In other words, if you still have the image on the card, you often are able to re-transfer it to the PC and it will be fine.

For this reason, I always go thru all my images after a transfer (using Irfanview) and make sure they are OK before I reformat the card. Actually, I usually wait till I have backed up the best ones before the reformat, but the idea is to at least make sure the transfer went OK before deleting the images from the card.

[lkeeney]

I have had the same experience as Rich and I follow the same procedure he does. I then back up to three separate network connected devices.

[Neddog]

Originally Posted by ericrhu

thanks for the reply Neddog. the thing is, the photos weren't like this before. they were fine before and after transferring the files some. It may have gotten corrupted or something. Sorry I wasn't clear before. is this typical with photos?

Ha, I'm sorry... I didn't get a clear look at the photo because I was on a smart phone, lol. I'm on my laptop now, and I see your issue.

How are you transferring the files to your computer? Are you using a card reader to read off your CF card, or are you connecting your camera to the computer? And what software are you using... copying from Finder or Windows Explorer, or using some sort of other software? Also, what brand of CF card are you using?

[Henk Peter]

I have had similar issues I think with the E-510 which did not complete the writing to the card when you switched the camera off while it was still writing. There was a firmware update which solved this.

[ericrhu]

Thanks everyone. I think the problem occurs when i transfer the files between drives. I just do it from windows explorer. Perhaps my external drive or computer couldn't handle it. I'll be more careful in the future and see how they turn out. Thanks for the responses everyone!