What is lens distortion?
Lens distortion causes straight lines to appear curved in your images. Wide-angle lenses tend to produce barrel distortion (lines bow outward), while telephoto lenses tend to produce pincushion distortion (lines bow inward). Most modern cameras and software correct this automatically.
Types of lens distortion
Barrel distortion: Straight lines near the edges bow outward, like the sides of a barrel. Most common in wide-angle lenses under 35mm. Makes buildings look like they are bulging.
Pincushion distortion: Lines bow inward toward the center. More common in telephoto lenses. Less visually obvious than barrel.
Mustache distortion: Complex combination where lines bow outward in the center and inward at edges. Hardest to correct. Found in some zoom lenses at certain focal lengths.
How distortion is corrected
In-camera correction: Most modern cameras apply lens profiles automatically to JPEG and viewfinder preview. The correction is invisible.
In editing software: Lightroom, Capture One, and DaVinci Resolve have built-in lens profiles that correct distortion with one click.
Optical correction: Higher-end lenses use aspherical elements to minimize distortion optically, reducing the need for software correction.
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When distortion matters
Architecture and real estate: Straight walls and doorframes must look straight. Correction is critical.
Product photography: Straight edges on products should remain straight.
Portraits and creative work: Minor distortion is usually invisible and irrelevant.
Video: Correction can cause a slight crop. Some videographers prefer lenses with low native distortion.
Do not avoid wide-angle lenses because of distortion — modern software corrects it instantly and perfectly. Focus on sharpness, bokeh, and build quality instead. Distortion is a solved problem.