DxO Viewpoint 4

I've just acquired this program, and thought I'd give it a quick bash.

Here's the original image:




..and here it is again, with the back wall running at true vertical (as opposed to leaning in due to lens distortion):




The difference is quite subtle, so I think it will be a useful tool for me when it comes to "ruined" architecture shots, caused by converging verticals.

Your eyes expect some converging due to perspective and to straighten everything makes the building look odd almost as if the top is "fatter" than the bottom.
The top image looks more right to my eye than the bottom one which looks like it is leaning out at the top.

I guess I'll see much better results on some different types of shot. ATM, I'm trying to get a "feel" for this, before I truly trust it to deliver the results I want.

The problem I'm found when correcting verticals, especially if they affect both sides of the image, is that you only seem to be able to get one side or the other right. I'm assuming this programme is more sophisticated than that and corrects both equally?

Also, do you know if it can sort out barrel distortions, like I'd get on my Samyang 14mm if shooting buildings?

Thanks for sharing this Steven, I'm looking forward to seeing some more of your work with it.

Nigel - I'm probably going to take the camera out to central London on the weekend, and try a few building shots, then get some practice in. It was the blurb on the DxO website and the accompanying tutorial video that made me think that this program has a bit more to offer in terms of correcting converging verticals.

I'm hoping that I can get a good understanding of the benefits and the pitfalls of this program as I have loads of slides and neg's I need to transfer into a digital format, most of them being of different cities I've travelled globally. On reflection - perhaps the above shots were not a good test of it, as a lot of Thai temples naturally have a degree of curvature as part of the whole design ethos. It wont make me a better photographer, but it might help me to hide my shortcomings a bit better!

Ooops!!.. In my excitement to tell you all about this program, I titled this thread DxO Viewpoint 4... It is actually Viewpoint 2!!

Looking forward to see the results from that shoot Steven. Have you got a wide angle (like a 14 or 15) to see how the software deals with edge distortions?

Nigel - I used to have a 28mm/f2.8 once upon a long ago, but all I have now is the bog-standard 18-55 that came with the K-r. I think I have a couple of wide-angle shots of the Thai Royal Palace in Hua Hin somewhere. I seem to recall that they were taken from a low angle and had some seriously converging verticals. I'll try to locate them, and try this program out on them.