Camera Distortion- Is this what I have to live with?

[geneod]

I have a Verizon Samsung S7 that was purchased in April. Didn't buy any insurance. I have been noticing distortion from the rear camera. I've been Googling it and there are not many posts. I saw one on Redit and nothing ever came of it. I've been told in the photo thread that it is part of having a wider angle lens. I never noticed any of this with my S5. The S7 is a good, fast camera but the faces bother me. Faces get stretched toward the center of the picture and it doesn't look right at all. In the first picture, the kid on the right is very stretched. My kid in the blue gi in the second picture is stretched enough. I've added other pictures of the fan to demonstrate what I see a lot of. In portrait mode, if I don't angle the camera correctly, heads get elongated. I don't want to try to angle the phone every time I want to take a picture. I've been trying to look at sample photos on the web too, they look normal. Verizon and Best Buy won't do anything. The Samsung guy at Best Buy told me to go to the service center. What do you guys think? Anybody else notice this stuff? On the pictures thread they all look great and I can't find the flaw. Thanks for reading this long rant. -Gene

 

[nahoku]

The problem is... no one here (besides yourself) knows what these kids actually look like... so there's no way to tell if their faces are stretched either way. That said, how would you know if the subjects in the photo thread actually look like you think they do?

The S5 lens is spec'd at 31mm while the S7 is spec'd at 26mm. The S7 definitely has a wider lens so I wouldn't expect both phones to take the same photos from the same distance. Not to mention that you'll see more distortion coming from the S7... especially at the edges. Take a look at the curve in the TV chassis and TV stand leg in your second fan photo... not to mention the slanting of vertical lines of the wall to the left and the bookcase in the last two photos. Typical of wide angle lenses and exactly what I would expect to see.

If you want less distortion in your photos, especially people's faces, then you need to step back, zoom in, and frame your subjects. In the old days of 35mm... the recommendation for portraits were lenses in the 90 - 105mm range. This ensured the subject's face was less distorted horizontally and vertically. Even back then, (and still now) if you shoot a portrait using a wide angle lens, distortion will occur for sure unless you are very careful about distance to subject. And... to alleviate more possible distortion, you need to keep the subject centered in the frame. The reason the last picture of your fan is round and straight, and those round things floating in the pool in the first photo are in fact round, is because they are all framed in the center where the lens has the least amount of distortion. It's the nature of the beast for wide angle lenses that anything outside center frame will be more distorted... leaning, slanted, or stretched (if you want to call it that).

All that being said, yes, the problem is because the S7 has a wide angle lens... for sure wider than your old S5. Whether you have to live with it, the answer is also yes... if you keep the S7. However, you can also learn more about photography and remediate a lot of the problems so you're not so bothered by them.

EDIT... I wanted to state that I'm in no way saying "nothing" is wrong with your camera. Maybe it does distort more than others, but from what I see, it looks like what I would expect. You might take your camera to Bestbuy and do a side to side photo comparison... on the same subject... same focal length... and "exact" same framing, to see how yours compares.

 

[geneod]

nahoku, thanks for the reply. I guess nobody else has issue with the camera, 1 total reply. I tried to duplicate it with other phones at the Verizon store. Seems they all have something to that effect in the corner. It seems silly that I wouldn't be able to compose a photo by the thirds rule with anything round and everything has to be kept in the center. Sometimes objects or whatnot will not allow someone to back up an extra 10 feet to get the shot or there is not enough time to compose it properly.
Yeah, that's some mean slanting of the wall and door in the second to last photo.
I really don't want to sell the S7, but what phones are "better?" I was looking at the 6P, but that's nearly a year old. Possibly the Note 5.
Thanks.

 

[nahoku]

Unfortunately, that's the way it is nowadays. Manufacture's seem to be think most people want wide angle lenses for scenic shots... and I think that's what a lot of people actually want in their phone... for travel, outdoor shooting, etc. I would hate it if my phone was limited to 35mm like my TM-700 video camera is. It's very limiting for stuff like shooting outdoors, or even weddings, parties, kid's performances, etc. I'm sure you get my drift.

The only remedy is centering things that are important to you, or zooming in. Yes, sometimes there isn't enough room, but then you need to do what you can do, and that's all you can do. I've been into photography since around 1964... yup, a looonnnggg time... yikes! I know what to expect and I learned to live with the many idiosyncrasies... or post edit. I haven't used the latest editing stuff as I don't shoot too much anymore, but in my more active days, I used to use Panorama tools to take care of perspective stuff. Look into what's new nowadays and see what you can find to fix those important shots. I'm sure you'll find something, and by now it'll be way better and easier than the old Panorama tools!

If you like your S7, just keep it. There are no "better" phones as all have negatives. The grass ain't always greener! Also, you're asking the wrong guy about the Note 5... I own a Note 4, and in my opinion, the Note 5 is a downgrade in functionality.

 

[chanchan05]

Isn't there a setting in the camera for auto correction of distortion? Have you tried that?

Also, I wonder if changing the metering from center (default) to matrix would help.

 

[geneod]

There is only shape correction for the front camera. I have read that there is an update for other versions of the S7, but nothing for the Verizon version

 

[kittenfuud]

Could you point me in the direction of what you have read about other carrier's patches for distortion? I'm on T-Mobile and would love to know! Thanks in advance if you can enlighten me!

Galaxy Gal from 1-7!

 

[geneod]

Best thread I saw about edge distortion. Two thirds down talks about a switch for shape correction. I'm assuming they are talking about the rear camera too.
https://www.reddit.com/r/GalaxyS7/c...he_corners_on_the_s7/?st=iqypopzb&sh=2b08321e

Here is one thread about central distortion. Post #5 talks about firmware.
Camera distortion issue | Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge

 

[chanchan05]

There is only shape correction for the front camera. I have read that there is an update for other versions of the S7, but nothing for the Verizon version

I was under the impression it also worked on the rear camera

 

[geneod]

This is mine on Verizon. Definitely carrier dependent, I suppose. Although I have not updated to the latest security patch yet due to complaints on this board. I always wait and there is no description of a camera fix.

 

[chanchan05]

This is mine on Verizon. Definitely carrier dependent, I suppose. Although I have not updated to the latest security patch yet due to complaints on this board. I always wait and there is no description of a camera fix.

Looks like you just have to wait them out.

 

[Alanhd]

Have a look at the app SKRWT it allows you to fix perspective/ distortion issues.

 

[rgag]

How do you change the matrix??

 

[rgag]

I have suspected for a while that there has been some issue with stretching around the edges of the camera. I have an S7 too... it wasn't until today that I actually took a video, moving it around and moving my face around, tilting the phone... anyway, there is definitely a lot to distortion.

I didn't realize that I can turn off the corrector, which I did, but it didn't make much of a difference. It just made me look a bit fatter I think. I just want pictures of me and my kids to look like us. Not skinnier/taller/fatter/shorter versions of ourselves.
Kind of frustrating.

 

[geneod]

Wow, somebody else that has the same issue here...oh well, gotta see the new Pixel when it comes out. Possibly switch to iPhone or change the camera unit.

 

[Miadelaterra]

It's totally a thing. If you have Photoshop (or a friend who does) you can fix it by selecting Filter > Lens Correction > Manual and setting "Geometric Distortion" to about -10. There is distortion in pictures taken from a distance. Even just across the room like in the full-body pictures below creates significant facial distortion. You can tell it's real because close-up pictures do NOT show this distortion. The close up face picture on the far right is what my sister and I really look like. I know because I see her face every day and we don't have long faces with high foreheads like in the distorted pic. We have round faces and we like it that way!

 

[geneod]

Good looking pics. I decided to use GIMP to see how it would do.
Filters > Distorts > Lens Distortion. Changed the main slider to +40. Wow, what a big difference! People look normal now. Portrait or landscape.
Thanks for the directions. Definitely a pain in the butt. Maybe our cameras are duds. I wonder if it could be done directly on the phone. Any apps to look at? I should look at SKRWT like Alanhd mentioned.
Thanks!

 

[W_A_Watson_II]

I get a distortion in the center of the screen, its very frustrating when taking pictures of straigh items. This is my 3rd Samsung, a4, & s6 previously. The red lines in the below photo were drawn on the computer to ilistrate the issue.

http://wawii.com/images/misc/Samsung%20s6%20Active%20Distortion.jpg