DXO Optics - OMG!

[Ksanti]

How's the detail retention? Can we get crops of the corrected bits and original crops?

 

[An Exception]

100% crops

Obviously the more extreme the correction, the more it will rob resolution and sharpness.

 

[D.P.]

@PP

Yes, but that is what your eyes/brain see's in real life, you just used to seeing falling over pictures.

I assume our eyes work like tilt shift lenses that correct such distortions?

No, our brain compensates for perspective such that we don't see the converging lines but visualize the depth of the image.

E.g, when we see a car in the distance we don't think of it as a tiny car but a normal car far away. As we drive close the car gets bigger, but we visualize this as getting closer, not the car getting physically larger. This is obvious and common sense, but from a computer vision perspective the difference is subtle.

 

[D.P.]

Thats a great effect but I find it hard to look at as it doesn't look natural to me at all. Nice software though if its capable of doing that as Ive not seen other programs able to correct perspective like that before.

Simple perspective you can correct in photoshop or Lightroom. The converging parallel walls are easily corrected in light room.


I think what is nice with dxo optics is it is automatic, or at least much easier to control.

I find it quite difficult to correct multiple distortions including non-linear lens distinction, keystoneing, horizontal tilt distortion, Lu's rotation in the same image- which can happen if you are to careful (anyway, lens distortion always superimposes over keystoning).


If you look at the Norte damn example,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perspective_control

That type of correction is very easy to do in light room. I do it some architecture photos, funnily enough including some I have of Norte damE

 

[Dj_Jestar]

What is it about the arial? Just had a look out the window and it seems that's how it is in real life as far as I can tell.

Ha! I thought it wouldn't be point up like that

 

[An Exception]

^^^
Ah.. yeh it points up in real life as well.

 

[Logsi]

Doesn't lightroom do this also!?

 

[An Exception]

Nope, Lr doesn't even come close to this kind of functionality, and as far as I'm aware neither does PS.
Tbh, I don't know why adobe hasn't handed over a big wad of cash to DXO to licence the tech.

 

[D.P.]

You can do a lot of perspective correction and lens distortion correction in light room. You cannot correct all the issue but you can certainly do what you have shown in the first example.

http://vimeo.com/15235548

 

[PistolPete]

Nope, Lr doesn't even come close to this kind of functionality, and as far as I'm aware neither does PS.
Tbh, I don't know why adobe hasn't handed over a big wad of cash to DXO to licence the tech.

Give it time!!

 

[An Exception]

@Dp
I'm unable to see the video, but I'm pretty sure LR4 does not allow you to do what I have done in No.1.
PS has some tools that come close, but nothing as accurate or user friendly.

The main reason why I got it was for the Volume anamorphosis.

http://www.dxo.com/intl/photo/dxo_optics_pro/features/optics_geometry_corrections#anc5

 

[D.P.]

yes, the Volume anamorphosis is far beyond LR/PS.

in LR and PS you can correct for vertical and horizontal sheer as well as basic lens distortion.

The problem you have with the top image in you OP is mostly a perspective problem with the verticals converging (hence a Nikon PERSPECTIVE Correction PC-E lens is the best solution). This is known as Keystoning. This type of distortion can be corrected in light room very easily and quickly.

So the distortion and correction shown here:
http://www.dxo.com/intl/photo/dxo_optics_pro/features/optics_geometry_corrections/keystoning

is easily done in LR.

On top of that correction there is lens distortion. Light room only allows correction of first-order barrel-pincushion distortion but that is sufficient for most pro lenses without higher order distortions like 'mustache' distortion.

DXO does all this and much more in an easy to use package. Tempted to buy it myself but ultimately I want a PC lens that will not only mitigate some of the issue for architecture but will allow me to control the DoF for landscape work. If I do buy a D800/E then the 24mm PC will allow me to keep the aperture more modest.

 

[An Exception]

From what I can tell LR sucks a Keystone correction, it's nothing like DXO. It just stretches the image up or down, but nowhere near as good as DXO. It seems to cause more issues than it fixes, maybe there is a setting I'm unable to find???

Barrel and pincushion works well though.

 

[D.P.]

The basic keystonne correction works as expected, the problem is when the image suffers form multiple different distortions it is a pain to deal with and DXO optics comes into its own.


Keystone correction really is just stretching or shrinking the image.

Maybe you could do a comparison photo just using LR to stretch the top of the image out so the tower walls are vertical?

 

[An Exception]

Edit: Put through LR again to get the verticals vertical.

.........................................................................................................................................

Above is LR correction. Not the controls didn't quite allow me enough correction to get vertical lines. I would have to export it and take it back into lightroom more than once.
It also looks stretched and out of proportion.

 

[An Exception]

...

 

[James J]

Might have to look into getting a copy of this when I get a D800 probably next month. I've got a sigma 12-24mm lens waiting to go on it but the problems with images are reportedly very well controlled with the lens, but we'll see!