Image manipulation software like Photoshop can be used to correct perspective distortion in photographs. But, says Germany's photo equipment veteran Jobo, the results can only ever be something similar to real proportions, and approximating perspective by sight and experience is time-consuming and cumbersome at best. The LensTrue system combines an electronic inclinometer that sits underneath the user's camera with advanced software that automatically deskews the captured RAW image to the correct perspective.
Jobo promises LensTrue users perfectly-proportioned photos at the touch of a button. The hardware part of the system is attached to the tripod camera mount, and the inclinometer can itself be mounted to a tripod. Its job is to measure and store the angular position of the camera for every shot. The RAW image file is combined with the meter data from the inclinometer in the LensTrue Final software and perspective distortion corrected across the horizontal and vertical.
The resulting image is the kind of proportionally-correct photograph previously achieved by using mechanical shift lenses. The company rep at Photokina told me that the higher the camera's sensor resolution, the more the camera can be angled, up to a maximum of 35 degrees in the horizontal and vertical planes.
Its makers say that photos without reference lines or perpendicular objects can be corrected. The process does result in some edge cropping though, so photographers may need to consider adding more vertical and horizontal before hitting the shutter release to make sure that the final shot includes everything needed.
The LensTrue system allows architecture, industry, art, fashion and beauty, and portrait photographers to use any focal length and shoot without the use of a tripod, and frees them from having to choose a central perspective. It has currently been calibrated to work with a good number of Canon lenses, with Nikon compatibility is set to follow next year.
Jobo's LensTrue system is priced at €990 (about US$1,200), though we've currently no word on availability outside of Europe.
Source: Jobo
