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Chromatic aberration

PostPosted: Tue Mar 01, 2005 9:32 am
by Hlop
Hi All,

I was shooting a lot recently and found some very distractive chromatic aberrations on some images. Is there any way to fight them? I mean before post-processing, while I'm shooting. I've heard that chromatic aberrations depend on lens. I've got Nikon 80-400 VR, kit lens, and Sigma 12-24. Didn't notice any CA when shooting with Sigma .... So, it might be true ...

Any thoughts?

Re: Chromatic aberration

PostPosted: Tue Mar 01, 2005 9:47 am
by sirhc55
Hlop wrote:Hi All,

I was shooting a lot recently and found some very distractive chromatic aberrations on some images. Is there any way to fight them? I mean before post-processing, while I'm shooting. I've heard that chromatic aberrations depend on lens. I've got Nikon 80-400 VR, kit lens, and Sigma 12-24. Didn't notice any CA when shooting with Sigma .... So, it might be true ...

Any thoughts?


To start from the front end - the answer is yes - some lens are more prone to CA than others. There is also the more intricate matter of what you are shooting. If, for example, you are shooting up into a tree to get the leaves and boughs and the sky is poking through the foliage then this is a classic example of how CA can appear on some lens.

To try and stop CA at the shooting stage you have to be familiar with when CA appears with that lens and under what circumstances and change your shooting techniques.

In post processing, the iNova eBook has a filter included that handles the different types of CA (colour fringing) very well.

PostPosted: Tue Mar 01, 2005 10:02 am
by Hlop
Uh-huh.And if glass produces chromatic aberrations then UV or other filters can amplify or produce effect?

There is very simple and quick method for PP in PS - I'm using Clone Stamp tool in Color mode - it doesn't affect form and tone - just cloning colors from nearest area not affected by CA. But anyway it takes time and adds unwanted PP

PostPosted: Tue Mar 01, 2005 1:30 pm
by Onyx
Adobe Camera Raw (raw conversion program for Photoshop, competing with Nikon Capture) has a CA feature as part of the pre-conversion step.

To minimise CA while shooting - stop the lens down. A lens is more prone to CA when its wide open or close to wide, aperture wise. Also, wide angle lenses tend to exhibit it more so than normal/tele's, so it's a surprise to me that you haven't seen it on the Sigma. Keep bright elements away from the edges of the frame - CA tends to show up more at the sides than the centre.

PostPosted: Tue Mar 01, 2005 2:09 pm
by Hlop
Thanks, Chris, Onyx!