Re: My 2c contribution to the forum.

[petermarshall@xxxxxxxxx (Peter Marshall)]

> Could someone please explain "distortion' as related to a swing lens 
> camera.

The simple answer is that unless you arrange the print from *any* swing 
lens camera in an arc of the same radius as when it was taken and view it 
from the centre of that circle, then you have distortion. 

If it is viewed in that way your course at Regent Street was correct. 

Otherwise they or your understanding of them was incorrect, or they and 
you are playing a game with the meaning of the word 'distortion' taking it 
only to refer to one particular type of distortion. For any normal usage 
of language any projection that images straight lines as curves is a 
distortion.

Comparing results of swing-lens and ultrawide angle lenses we simply have 
a choice of distortions. Sometimes one works better and sometimes the 
other. 

Peter Marshall

On Fixing Shadows and elsewhere:
http://www.people.virginia.edu/~ds8s
Family Pictures, German Indications, London demonstrations & 
The Buildings of London etc: http://www.spelthorne.ac.uk/pm/