Reduce distortion and fringing

You can use Capture NX-D to correct common lens-related problems in a click

1 CAMERA AND LENS CORRECTIONS

Click here to summon the Camera and Lens Corrections panel.

2 AUTO DISTORTION CONTROL

Tick this box. You will also need to set the dropdown menu below to On. Capture NX-D will then read the photo’s metadata to discover what lens and focal length were used to capture the shot so that it can counteract any lens-induced geometric distortion.

3 COMPARE IMAGES

When fixing photos, it helps to be able to compare the edited version with the original, especially when counteracting geometric distortion. To see both versions of the photo, click on the Multi icon and pick Compare Before and After Images. To remove barrel distortion, Capture NX-D has to warp the image and this can cause a slight change in composition. Here we’ve lost the top edge of the frame.

4 SHOW GRID

The Image>Show Grid command summons an overlay grid. This grid is especially useful when attempting to identify geometric distortion caused by a wide-angle lens. As the horizontal and vertical lines are perpendicular and straight, you can see if a building’s walls are straight or curved. In our unprocessed image the building’s horizontal lines curve up near the middle and down towards the edges – that’s barrel distortion. In the corrected version of the shot, the building’s horizontal lines are straighter.

5 VIGNETTE CONTROL

The light entering the edge of a lens isn’t as bright as the light entering the centre. This uneven exposure can cause the edges – and particularly the corners – of the frame to be darker than the middle. To lighten up dark corners, tick this box and drag the slider right. This will result in a more evenly exposed sky in a landscape, for example. Drag left to darken the corners of the frame.

6 PF FLARE

This tool can be used to reduce ring or circular flare produced by bright lights.

7 FISHEYE

This section will become accessible if Capture NX-D detects that a fisheye lens has been used to take your shot. When counteracting the extreme distortion produced by a fisheye lens you can choose to crop out the edges that feature no data, or fill them with a chosen colour.

8 IMAGE DUST OFF

This enables you to browse to a ‘dust off’ reference image taken by your Nikon. Capture NX-D can then analyse the dust in the reference image and so reduce it in a RAW photo. This saves you the hassle of manually removing dust using the Auto Retouch Brush.