PSA: Lens distortion does not work the way you think it does

[thecel]

Your phone's selfie camera is no more distorted than the rear camera. In fact, what many people incorrectly call "lens distortion" occurs in eyesight as well.

Few people on this forum understand what lens distortion actually is. This is lens distortion:

The photo below is an example of a photo taken with a fisheye lens, and it has barrel distortion:

This is NOT lens distortion:

Wide-angle lens does not equal more distortion. Focal length has nothing to do with the "facial distortion" shown in the above image.

Face distortion is due to PERSPECTIVE DISTORTION. What causes perspective distortion has nothing to do with the focal length of the lens. It's all about the distance between the subject and the camera. If your face is close to the lens, it will be very distorted. If your face is far away from the lens, it will be less distorted. Photos taken with long focal length lenses are less distorted just because the camera is farther away from the subject.

Focal length simply zooms in and out. If you take a photo at a 24mm focal length and zoom it in by a factor of 2 in Photoshop, it'll be equivalent to a photo taken at a focal length of 48mm (but lower resolution).

You see, in the above image, both pictures were taken with a 35mm lens. The right pic was taken 1 meter away from the face. The left pic was taken 3 meters away from the face, but the image was scaled up in post. It's all about the distance, bro. Not the focal length.

A selfie taken from 2 feet away has the same amount of perspective distortion as what a person standing 2 feet away from you sees when they look at your face.

You want to take non-distorted photos of your face? Back up to about 10 feet away from the camera. USING A LONGER FOCAL LENGTH IS USEFUL to have better resolution of the face; while taking a 24mm selfie from 10 feet away results in very little distortion, your face is like 8 pixels, so...yeah.

TL;DR: As common advice suggests, it's best to take face pics with a long focal length lens. However, the focal length itself isn't the cause of distortion (or the lack thereof); it's actually the distance between you and the camera that affects perspective distortion (not lens distortion).



More info:

• https://bakerdh.wordpress.com/2012/05/05/face-distortion-is-not-due-to-lens-distortion/
• https://photographylife.com/does-focal-length-distort-subjects
• https://fstoppers.com/originals/why-are-wide-angle-lenses-misunderstood-and-avoided-portraits-298134

 

[buckchadley31]

How are we gonna cope now

 

[Lux]

occurs in human vision as well.

humans have two eyes so not even close to the same extent.

 

[ShortMulatto]

Kinda a cope tbh tho Chad still looks good from one foot away it won’t change much

 

[Incoming]

High IQ thread, I expect great things from you gookcel

 

[BuddyBoyo1234]

Please delete this I cannot cope

 

[Deleted member 4053]

good thread

try standing far away from a mirror and focus on your face. Walk towards the mirror until you are almost touching it. You will see a difference.

 

[thecel]

Please delete this I cannot cope

How does this affect your coping? You just gotta stand far away from a mirror or a camera and your face is undistorted

 

[BuddyBoyo1234]

How does this affect your coping? You just gotta stand far away from a mirror or a camera and your face is undistorted

Now I cannot use the lens distorted cope. It's over for me. Glass reflection me>>> pictures

 

[Subhuman trash]

@thecel cope incel is incel

 

[Deleted member 6191]

How does this affect your coping? You just gotta stand far away from a mirror or a camera and your face is undistorted

So what? Is the mirror distorted as well?

 

[Furious Dingleberry]

good thread

try standing far away from a mirror and focus on your face. Walk towards the mirror until you are almost touching it. You will see a difference.

Yeah, my face gets bigger.

 

[Furious Dingleberry]

"lens distortion" occurs in eyesight as well

Brb, just off to die.

 

[ceramicsoul]

OP is technically correct for the most part but it is actually a factor of both focal length and distance from the lens.
The equation 1/f = 1/d + 1/d' is what you would look at to see why this occurs.
f being focal length, d being distance from object to the lens, and d' being from the lense to the camera aperture.

If you use this you can see why in some lenses the closer objects will appear larger or smaller than they actually are in relation to parts of the image that are further or closer.

source: took a class on aerial photography for my geography degree

 

[thecel]

 

[thecel]

What affects your rating picture

Shooting distance Shooting distance affects how faces appear in photographs. When a picture of a face is taken at close distance, most people look worse because they appear to have a more narrow face, a bigger nose and an asymmetrical face. However people may also benefit from a close photo, for...

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