Olympus E-300

[akhtar]

Hi folks

I wonder if you could help me. I'm new to digital SLR and have recently bought an Olympus E300, being an entry level camera.

Every thing is fine except that at different zoom settings vertical lines converge/ diverge according to the subject distance - say within the range of 5 to 10 feet. Is this Ok or is this lens distortion?
Many thanks in advance.

H Akhtar

[kgosden]

Ahktar, I am having a hard time understanding your description, can you post a sample. I doubt if there is anything wrong. Is the camera level and the subject either truely horizontal or vertical relative to the camera? Which lens are you using and at what focal length? Typically lens distortion falls into two classes with regard to the way lines are rendered; barrel or pin cushion. In barrel distortion the lines bow out from the center (see http://www.dpreview.com/learn/?/Glossary/Optical/Barrel_Distortion_01.htm). Pin cushion is the opposite where lines pull in to the center (seehttp://www.dpreview.com/learn/?/key=pincushion+distortion).

Both are a type of distortion, but are generally fairly minimal at all except extreme focal lengths.