its a FE 90mm F2.8 Macro G OSS but to some extent you could see changes with any lenses but most were used at or near infinity mostly. Its just more extrema with a macro with the more usual close focusing rather than infinity. The default setting was infinity so you could see a degree image distortion changing as you change from it to macro focus distance
I complete John’s answer.
This information is especially necessary for wide and ultra-wide lenses regardless of quality.
The DxO measurements showed a difference in distortion within a narrower range than the EXIF data.
Pascal
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I was lucky my wide angle lense a Tamron 11-20mm PL actually used its focus distance.
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I do believe that knowing the image distance is of value in the lens module. But what can I do afterwards?
I can’t find it on PL6 either.
George
On Mac, the panels are always shown.
Sliders are greyed out if PhotoLab thinks it’s read the values correctly.
In the case shown above, distance is set (by DPL) to default,
because distance was not recorded by the camera.
May I conclude that the distance is only shown when PL doesn’t know the distance and has to guess something? In windows not shown, on the Mac greyed out.
George
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I can see Focusing Distance tool in DxO PL v7.0.2 on Windows when I open A7III + this lens raw file from dpreview and DxO offers several distances for you to select manually
0.28-0.29m
0.29-0.30m
0.3-40m
more than 40m
infinity
I wonder who decided that a user can possibly correctly decide between 0.28-0.29m and 0.29-0.30m options ? … as I wrote before - it is a flipping a coin unless you put a ruler to be present in your shot or care to measure and write down the distance when shooting… as such w/o using focusing distance recorded in .ARW file all the effort to find out that there is a difference in optics correction needed between these 2 distances is a waste ! a user who has to select manually will be better served with just 3 choices < 0.3m … 0.3 - 40m … > 40m ( ok, add infinity as 4th if so desired )
A good question.
You can experiment with different apertures in this distance range.
It’s not the value displayed that’s important, but the result in terms of distortion and vignetting.
Personally, I can’t see anything (on a wide lens).
Pascal
Its strange I have opened imiges from all my Sony lenes and non have the distance corrections shown. I have contacted support but heard nothing back.
I have taken images with my 3 Sony lenses Vario-Tessar T* E 16-70mm F4 ZA OSS, FE 90mm F2.8 Macro G OSS and E 70-350mm F4.5-6.3 G OSS opened them in 7.0.2 and 6.10 and the focus distance correction isn’t shown at all
It doesn’t make any sence as two others are reporting they still have the correction displaying.
@John7
See my post. You also will not get that info if your camera/lens module isn’t installed.
It seems that the focus distance is not a part of the exif-makernotes but of the exif-composite. Meaning it’s a calculated figure.
George
They are installed
and
I’ve been comparing a downloaded ARW and a NEF.
Focus distance in the ARW is stored in exif-composite, in the NEF in exif-makernote. I think PL gets its info from the Makernote section.
George
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The absence of the distance tool in DPL on Windows indicates that all images have distance tag values that are understood by PhotoLab. → The files you tested provide the metadata necessary for optimal corrections based on DxO optics modules…and that is what one wants.
Whether hiding a tool (apart from nor being licensed by DFP or DVP) under certain conditions is a good idea or not is debatable.
I much prefer DPL’s approach on Mac, where the distance and focal length tools are always shown. It would even be better, if the tool headers had e.g. a badge indicating that the sliders should be adjusted. We could then leave the tool collapsed and only expand them if necessary. @StevenL
It may not matter that much, but I can’t find focusing distance in PL6 either. I’m using Windows and it’s ORF RAWs from an Olympus E-M1 II.
In fact I had not noticed that it was a feature of PL before I saw this post…
The odd thing is some are still having the manual option shown and having to manualy adjust distances
…seems normal. As soon as the tool shows up, manual adjustment can (possibly) improve corrections that depend on distance.
But if PL reads focus distance the option doesn’t appear in Windows and is greyed out in the Mac (don’t you love them producing 2 separate programs attempting to do the same!). There is no option for fine tuning the distance is PL is reading it. So the manual option to adjust focus distance should either be usable or not depending on if PL is reading the distance, but we appear to be having people having both PL reading Sony lenses distance and not currently which is odd. As usual silence for DxO on this.
The manual is very confusing (no surprise there I fear) It does appear to say both if distance is read the correction will not be available AND that the distance given may not be Optimal and you can adjust it. I have never understood you could adjust a distance reading if read, how as the option is disabled if PL can read it.
Focal length and Focusing distance
The lens focal length and focusing distance of a photo are recorded in the EXIF data of your images. However, this information is not always accurate. For example, different but close positions of the focal length ring (say, 17 and 18 mm) could result in the same value (say 18 mm) being recorded in the EXIF data. In this case, the distortion correction may be less than optimal. In the same manner, the focusing distance might be recorded in the EXIF data with insufficient precision, and similarly lead to an imprecise correction. In both cases, to improve the effectiveness of the optical corrections, you can provide more accurate values in one (or both) of the sliders that appear in the Geometry palette:
- Focal length: Use the slider to specify the lens focal length.
- Focusing distance: Select a range for the focusing distance in the drop-down menu, then fine-tune with the slider.
The Focal Distance and Distance focusing sliders are permanently displayed in the Mac version, and appear automatically in the PC version.
Indeed, and sometimes it would make sense to tweak settings, e.g. because of sample variation.
Moreover, even though the tool proposes distance settings in discrete ranges…
…setting distance manually can improve the result. Effects changed continuously and did not jump as the discrete distance bands could suggest.
In the example given above, the image shows slightly different distortion correction when I set distance to e.g. 4 or 5 m. A distance setting of 4.25 m corresponds to what the setting was when I took the photo. Note that I had to readjust perspective correction when I changed distance from 4 m to 4.25 m.
Checking alignment with the grid helps…and the grid would even be more helpful, if we could change grid spacing live instead of having to do it in DPL’s preferences @StevenL
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