On Wed, 04 Dec 2002 00:23:34 -0800, David Nebenzahl wrote:

>Well, finally got my new toy: A-1 with the Canon FD 35-105 3.5/4.5 lens.
>Everything works fine, I'm happy. (Got it through eBay for pretty cheap, so
>you can too do that.)
>
>EXCEPT: even this lens, which is highly rated, and isn't a mega-zoom like
>the Tamron 28-200 I just lost, has significant pincushion distortion, at
>least at longer focal lengths. It's not as bad as the Tamron (which was
>terrible in this regard), but it's definitely noticeable.
>
>I'm thinking that this must just be a fact of life where zoom lenses are
>concerned. [...]

Most zooms do have linear distortion, though many have
one point in the zoom range where distortion is minimal.
Most Nikkors have moderate distortion, and a few have
almost none (28-105mm f3.5-4.5, 100-300mm f5.6, and
35-70mm f3.5, later version). Most WA and "normal"
non-zooms, and a very few teles, also have noticeable
linear distortion (exceptions: Nikkor 15mm f5.6, 21mm
f4, and late 50mm f1.8). BTW, most viewfinders have
linear distortion of the "pincushion" type (the others
are "barrel" and "wavy-line/moustache"), so it is
hard to use the camera's viewfinder for judging lens
distortion...