Question Why do some cameras record sides as curvy then?

Apr 25, 2018
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There are some cameras, especially dash cameras, that when they record, the sides kind of bend, or curve, they get like a mirage, or wavy...............There is no one on the internet that writes about this, no one on youtube brings this up, no one seems to know about it, no one seems to know this......It has gotten to the point where I thought well maybe the camera was just setup differently or like maybe only.....but........its not true......some, not all, but some, especially dash cameras, when you record them, the sides of the video kind of get recorded as if they are curving, or waving, or in a mirage, like there not original.......because no one has written or posted videos on this, at first i thought well maybe its just the way the camera is setup.........so i bought a YI dash cam....and what do you know it records the sides as curvy or wavy........and before you say im imagingn things or no one else has the problem becuase it doesnt exist......when i recorded my room......it shows on the side, that the walls are curving and tilted........thats not how my walls are.....they are stright..........so now i know it is an issue with some cameras..........im just surprsied that no one has written about it, posted videos about it, explained this, or that no one seems to knwo about this.........you guys are experts...someone in toms hardware must know waters.
 
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In order for a dash cam to record a wide field of view, like over 100 degrees, it needs a wide angle lens. Wide angle lens distort things as you describe. There is no way around this. A dash cam needs to see the left and right sides of the car or it's kind of useless if it can only see a little narrow patch in the middle of the car. Some lens like fisheye lens can that this to extreme but have huge fields of view, sometimes almost a 180 degrees.
 
Apr 25, 2018
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In order for a dash cam to record a wide field of view, like over 100 degrees, it needs a wide angle lens. Wide angle lens distort things as you describe. There is no way around this. A dash cam needs to see the left and right sides of the car or it's kind of useless if it can only see a little narrow patch in the middle of the car. Some lens like fisheye lens can that this to extreme but have huge fields of view, sometimes almost a 180 degrees.

No but not all cameras do this. Not all dash cameras do this. Why do some do it and some dont? And why is there hardly any info on this? Most cameras just record period...but some do this thing of bending or curving or being wavy or like a mirage.....and im assuming most people dont like it....and so how come hardly anyone online knows about it, asks about it, explsints it, and why dont they make cameras that dont do this........do you knwo if all wide cameras do this waters
 
And then there are (good) cameras where the edges are straighten up by the magic of software...

It's the same when you photograph tall building on the street - upper edge of the building looks narrower than the bottom edge, and electric poles are bend toward the building.
 
Apr 25, 2018
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I dont understand people......there are lots of cameras that dont do this.....if some do...and some dont...then obviously there is a reason or reasons....why do some do it and some dont?...and.....why is there no advertisment on which do it and which dont? Dont most people prefer to have it in the actual way instead of the other way? Im just surprised this is something that no one asks online, no one writes online, no one posts videos about, no one seems to care then............if you have an option beteween regular or the thing iw rote about , you pick the regular, and yet its not advertised, you cant shop for it by the description, the companies dont advertise if its there or not, and customers dont post if its there or not waters
 
I dont understand people......there are lots of cameras that dont do this.....if some do...and some dont...then obviously there is a reason or reasons....why do some do it and some dont?...and.....why is there no advertisment on which do it and which dont? Dont most people prefer to have it in the actual way instead of the other way? Im just surprised this is something that no one asks online, no one writes online, no one posts videos about, no one seems to care then............if you have an option beteween regular or the thing iw rote about , you pick the regular, and yet its not advertised, you cant shop for it by the description, the companies dont advertise if its there or not, and customers dont post if its there or not waters


There are cameras that see infrared and some don't. Some that can zoom to the moon and some don't. It's called a fisheye lens and it's cheap. There is also limits on how wide a field of view can be due to a pesky thing called physics. As I stated, if you want to be able to see both sides of your car with a dashcam it needs a very wide lens. A rectilinear lens is very expensive and will correct most of the distortion. A cheap lens to give a similar angle is a fisheye.

Some cameras and software can correct for this. Google defisheying an image.

 
Apr 25, 2018
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WEll for the record not all my questions are being refered to.....but thats ok...im about ready to let this go.......ok how about this......i bought a dash cam (YI 2.7) that does this thing....i want to buy one that does not to do this....how do i figure out which one does and doesnt, other then playing sample videos online of people recording their videos........i want the quality to be as good as the other ones in general......i dont want to comprormose quality......i want a regular camera....just wanna make sure it doesnt do that pond.............so is there anything on camera deails that advertise if it does it or doesnt do it or like some details or some kind of thing that lets them know if it has that waters waters waters
 
Apr 25, 2018
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I wrote about the part of playing others videos....i know i can do that....you said reduce angles,but i dont knwo what is the number for when that thing stopps happening.....is there a certain number?...you wrote 170....so if 170 does it, does that mean 169 is where it stops?....where does it stop.........obviously you want a good quality nice camera but when you shop around what are the numbers of when it does that thing and when it doesnt?.....you wrote about money but im not sure why becuase you canf ind good stuff for a cheaper price and stuff thats not as good for an expensive prices
 

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
There is no single magic number of degrees that will result in zero barrel distortion.
It depends on the particular lens and sensor.

You could get an inexpensive camera that captures a narrow field of view, with little or no distortion at the sides. And be useless as a dashcam, because it misses so much.

As far as money? Quality costs.
You'll just have to match your expectations to your budget.

You could mount a 3 wide array of GoPros across the top of your windshield, and merge the videos later.
Of course, that is far more hassle and far more money.

This, from a $40 dashcam. Yes, there is barrel distortion around the edges.
View: https://i.imgur.com/JSjbe72.mp4
 
Apr 25, 2018
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But wait........some cameras dont do the curvy thing....and some do......so if im shopping around, the only way to know is to do what i was doing before? Which was playing videos?......you mean there is no way to know unless the number is so high (like you wrote 170) that only then you wil know it is curvy?........that cant be right...there must be some way......when you wrote that you can get a cheaper one but it would be useless and miss alot....i dont understand why you think that....you can get a good quality camera, thats not too expensive, and its not useless, and it doesnt record to the point where the opinion should be that it misses so much then......here is a link on youtube if you dont mind playing it.....the camera was not too expensive.....its not a dash camera.......and its good quality...and it records regular..................https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uk8i-s3bshY&t=41s
 
Apr 25, 2018
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It is a Nikon s33. Its not a dash cam. Its not expensive. Its not useless, it does a regular job where the opinion should not be that it misses alot, and it doesnt do the curvey thing.....so if that camera can do a great job.......then?......i mean the only reasons im not using it is becaues its not as practical to stay as a dash cam....and the night mode may or may not be as good as other dash cameras waters...and.....every half hour it stops becuase of that law of cameras stopping every half hour..............I want a dash cam that is safe, great quality recording, not expensive, and doesnt do the curvy thing.....is your opinion that that type of camera is not really there or is rare waters
 

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
OK, sure. A regular point and shoot.
Missing ALL of the features of a dashcam. And when it was new, cost 3x what my dashcam cost.
And with a narrow field of view.

Can you get a picture of that quality in a dashcam? Sure. Just have to up your budget.
 
Apr 25, 2018
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wait a second....when i bought this it wasnt expensive...now im not sure hwo much I sepnt but i think it was $100 or less...worst case senario under $200.......and its not a dash cam so its not going have to have dash camera stuff...but...thats why i want to buy a dash cam......your making it seem like you get what you pay for, and they are missing stuff, and like there not good, but come on, you can get a great dash cam, good quality, it works, not expensive.......anywayt thats a sepreate debate if its worth spending money for gold.......if you dont think so fine.....but...the point is.....i dont want that cuvy thing lol......now you were making other points, and thats why i sent you a link to video...to show you that you can get a great camera for not expensive that works and is dependable......but now your writing bout how it was more expsneive?...and missing features....and as if its not good enough....and all that stuff....come on the video is regular...its fine.....its a great camera...and it wasnt expensive......i want a dash cam that doesnt have the curvy thing.....and please dont write how you can find a cheap one but it will miss stuff or it wont be good quality and you get what you pay for....come on.....if your an expert then you know you can get a fine dash cam, for a low price, that is good quality, and gives you a good amount of stuff that a dash cam needs
 
My dashcam has warping and I don't care. It's there to capture anyone hitting my car, and I want the widest angle I can get to make sure as much as possible. It's not out to replace my $1500 Canon camera, it's there for a job.

Some camera don't because they don't cover a wide field of view. It's physics but you seem to want to argue against that.

"Commonly seen on wide angle lenses, barrel distortion happens because the field of view of the lens is much wider than the size of the image sensor and hence it needs to be “squeezed” to fit. As a result, straight lines are visibly curved inwards, especially towards the extreme edges of the frame. "
 
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Apr 25, 2018
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Thats not logical, and its kind of strange, that you are taking all this is as if i am debating against physicas....i dont know why you would write......what in the world are you refering to that would give you that opinion then?........i have been writing detail after detail after detail after detail, over and over and over and over, about what i want, and following up to posts, im asking many questions, not all my questions were answered, which is fine, but its pretty obvious in the history what the posts are regarding, and what they are refering to waters, and so you shouldnt take it the way you took it......not sure why you took it the way you did....anyway......dash cam with no curvy thing.....so other then playing videos is there any way to shop for it?.....and by the way your the one debating against the fact that you can get a great cam, great quality, great price, and it doesnt have to have the curve thing....or maybe you didnt write that but your writing about how its useless and you get what you pay for...and how wider is better....yes wider is better if you need that camera.....but not eeryone needs a camera that is wder....and not everyone needs a camera that has a curve thing on the side
 
Like many consumer items, blame vendors for not specifying, this camera does x% distortion blah-blah. They all do, just matter of how much.

To me distortion in security cameras no big deal, and only in professional gears do you see vendor mention the specifics.

Read the reviews like everybody, asking owners from Amazon reviews for example, often yield specific details for that item.

Googling Dashcams, out pops all these vendors I never heard of, what does that tells you? Known vendors like Sony? Canon? Konica? nope-nope-nope. To me dashcams are in the el-cheapo, don't ask too many questions category.
 
Apr 25, 2018
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no but like i have alrady written, no one brings it up, no one goes over it, no one seems to know about it, or no one seems to care even you wrote that its not a big deal.......i would thinkg logically that most people want a regular recording. Not something that has the sides curve.....i mean....some people are so picky about how there video, picture,, recording, or whatever film there putting together, and yet, no one cares about the sides of a video being a mirage or bending or being wavy?........this is surprising.....i want a dash cam that doesnt do that.....i had a camera that didnt do it, but it was not a dash cam.....i already put a link of that video.............there must be some dash cam that you can find when you shop around that doesnt do it then..............reviews dont have anything about that part........seems like the only way is to go by video....but....if this happens with any dash cam that has a wide range, then does that mean most have it?....because dont most dash cams have a wide waters?
 

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
When people are reviewing actual camera lenses, barrel distortion is absolutely a thing that is discussed.

Here is a user comment about a $600 18mm lens that would fit my Fuji:
"I had read many reviews complaining about distortion, and to check I went to Flickr and 500px, searching for Fuji xf18mm and cityscapes. When I was able to verify that two shots were of the same scene, one highly distorted and the other not, It became clear that it was the positioning of the focusing plane with respect to the subject that made all the difference in apparent distortion. "

Here's a discussion from dpreview.com, re barrel distortion, and adjusting for that in the camera software:
https://www.dpreview.com/articles/5653763779/a-distorted-view-in-camera-distortion-correction

With inexpensive dashcams and wide angle, it is simply a thing that is known and accepted.

You want a wide field of view and little or no barrel? Mount a $2000 camera and lens on your dashboard.
 
Apr 25, 2018
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i dont understand.......some dash cams have it...and some dont.....if some have dont have it, there must be a descirption as to which have it and which dont.....or...some numbers that which have it and which dont...so far ive had people telling me it comes with wide angles, and its usueless if its not wide angle and accusing me of argueing against physics then, and making it seem like you ge twhat you pay for, but its liek no one explains the common stuff!!!!!!....why do some have it and some dont?....if some have it and some dont , how do you figure it out OTHER then playing videos of people recordings then.......if 170 wide angle has it how come some 170 wide angles dont........if 170 wide angeles have it then what numbers wont have
 

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
ALL wide angle lenses have some level of barrel distortion.
All of them.
https://www.lifewire.com/what-is-barrel-lens-distortion-493725
https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/correcting-image-distortion-noise.html

From a $1,000 Nikon (tiny bit, and only if you look really close), to a $40 dashcam, as seen above (a lot, but it is what it is).
Some of it can be partially corrected in software.

The image from mine above is supposedly 140 degrees (number in the published specs). I've not measured it to verify, but it feels like wider.
If I were to mask off 1/4 from all edges, you would see almost no distortion. But you'd also miss a lot of image at the sides. Which in a dashcam, is counterproductive.

That image above is acceptable to me. I was not expecting greatness from a $40 product.
YMMV.
The only way to know if it is acceptable for you is to view pics taken with a particular camera and lens, and read reviews.