Skip to content
Free public beta until December 4, 2026: every course is open, no card needed. After that, the first chapter of each course stays free and full access is a one-time $39 ($19 for up to 100 founding members chosen for helpful feedback). Your progress is kept. How the beta works

lens distortion

A real lens's deviation from the ideal pinhole model, mainly radial (barrel/pincushion) and tangential.

Lens distortion is the systematic deviation of a real lens's imaging from the ideal pinhole model's straight-line projection. Radial distortion bends straight lines outward (barrel) or inward (pincushion) as a function of distance from the principal point; tangential distortion arises from imperfect lens-sensor alignment. Both are corrected with a distortion model fit during calibration before the pinhole model's straight-line assumption is trusted.

Examples

  • A cheap wide-angle lens bows a photographed straight fence line outward into a curve -- classic barrel distortion.

See also

camera calibration
Read the full section →
Graph settings

Calculator