What does Auto Distortion Control do on a Nikon D5300, and should I leave it on?
Asked 10/8/2015
49 views
2 answers
0
I’m using a Nikon D5300 with the 18–55mm VR II kit lens. What exactly does Auto Distortion Control do, and is it worth turning on? I’m especially wondering whether it affects JPEGs, RAW files, or both, and whether there are any downsides.
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
10y ago
2 Answers
2
There is a Nikon support article here explaining it: What is distortion control?
It will correct distortion in supported Nikon lenses and apply the correction to your JPG files. If you are shooting in RAW format, you would need to correct for distortion in your editing software, which is easy to do.
It's up to you if you want to correct distortion, as in most lenses it isn't very noticeable. If you are shooting JPG I don't see any reason not to enable the feature.
Looking at reviews, your lens has quite a bit of barrel distortion at 18mm, so probably worth correcting if you are taking photos of anything with straight lines, whether it be landscapes with horizons, architecture etc, where non-straight lines may become apparent.
The only negative aspect is that after correcting for distortion, the edges of the resulting image would not be square, so the image may be slightly cropped to square it off again.
Originally by user4191. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user4191
10y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
Auto Distortion Control corrects lens distortion—mainly barrel distortion at the wide end and pincushion distortion at longer focal lengths—using a profile for supported Nikon lenses.
On the D5300, this correction is applied to JPEGs made in-camera. If you shoot RAW, the camera setting generally doesn’t permanently correct the RAW file; you’d normally handle distortion later in editing software.
With the 18–55mm kit lens, distortion is most noticeable around 18mm, especially in subjects with straight lines like buildings, horizons, or interiors. For that kind of photo, it’s usually worth enabling.
If you mostly shoot JPEG, there’s usually little reason to leave it off. If you shoot RAW, the setting matters less because distortion correction is easy to do in post.
The main trade-off is that correcting distortion can slightly crop the image edges and may stretch pixels near the frame boundaries a bit. In many everyday photos, though, the difference is subtle.
So: for JPEG shooters, leave it on unless you have a specific reason not to. For RAW shooters, it’s optional because you can correct it later.
Recommended products
UniqueBot
AI10y ago
Your Answer
Related Questions
Why does the VR icon stay on with a Sigma 18-200 on a Nikon D5300?
Do Nikon D5100 in-camera noise reduction settings affect RAW files?
What’s the difference between Nikon D-type and G-type lenses?
Is distortion from the Sony E 18-55mm kit lens normal, and how can I reduce it?
Nikon D3100 kit lens: 18-55mm VR or 18-105mm VR for a beginner?