"Lens Correction" panel in Lightroom

[YuengLinger]

Even after years of using LR (5.7 now) almost daily, the Lens Correction panel still has a few puzzles for me.

The one that seems the least useful for me is the "Remove Chromatic Aberration" option. I have a handful of Canon L lenses, and only a couple of Canon standard lenses--the 100mm macro and the 50mm 1.4. I've tried very hard clicking the option on and off to see any change anywhere in my images and really never do.

The "Defringe" option is great and seems better than the one in PS CS6--but it doesn't work automatically, right? We must move the sliders?

As for correcting distortion, for me, the auto result is only an improvement to my taste about 25% of the time, and that is mostly in portrait orientation. I'd rather take care of the vignetting without letting LR fix distortion. Occasionally I bring a distortion problem into PS CS6, finding Adaptive Wide Angle better, and then some Transform stuff.

So, what is the experience here among mainly Canon shooters? Is the LR Lens Correction panel a go-to for you? Or is it really more for problem lenses?

Thanks!

 

[takesome1]

On almost all my lenses I go to the Auto option and click it to see if I like the changes it makes. Sometimes I leave it on and sometimes not. It depends on if I like the look whether I keep it. Most of the other options are as needed.

 

[privatebydesign]

Absolute essential go to. I even have lens correction and remove CA set as an import preset so every image gets it automatically.

The "Remove Chromatic Aberration" option often only shows at 100% or for strong backlight that is over exposed, twigs against a bright sky is a classic example.

With regards vignetting, the point is if you crop the 'natural', or lens, vignette is off center, so even if I know I am going to add a vignette i remove the lens one first.

The "Defringe" option is exactly the same as in ACR for PS. When you click the box it uses the sliders as set as a stating point, you can then tune the sliders to really hone in on the CA and leave everything else alone.

I only use adaptive wide angle for stitches and fisheye shots, where its true power shines. Again, I use the distortion correction by default, if I want distortion I will put it in where I actually want it.

 

[SalAlexander]

Personally, I only use lens correction it if I think I need it by looking at the final image. I rarely correct distortion, maybe on landscapes shot at a very wide angle where there is obvious barrel distortion on the horizon line, but never on portraits. Vignetting I'll often keep, unless it looks ugly, for example if you have a very blue sky I find vignetting in the upper left and right corners to look quite bad.
Remove chromatic aberrations is useful and I'd rather have it on, but again, it's not something I'll systematically do unless the CA is apparent. You might need to zoom in 4:1 to see CA sometimes.
You can actually choose the amount of correction, so it might be worth playing around with that. You might want to correct distortion and leave some vignetting, or viceversa.
It also depends on how the photo is going to be used. If it's going to be printed for a gallery or for commercial, then it might be worth making sure the image is technically as flawless as possible. Otherwise I quite like keeping some character of the lens in the final image.

 

[YuengLinger]

Personally, I only use lens correction it if I think I need it by looking at the final image...
It also depends on how the photo is going to be used. If it's going to be printed for a gallery or for commercial, then it might be worth making sure the image is technically as flawless as possible. Otherwise I quite like keeping some character of the lens in the final image.

Ah, the ''character of the lens.'' I like that!

Does the auto leveling feature work for you?

 

[Viggo]

I've set distortion to zero correction as default and a moderate vignette correction. I zoom in on areas I feel ca can be a problem and use the eyedropper and click on the purple, I then go
Back and adjust the amount of correction back a bit usually.

Removing distortion removes the "pop", and I don't like that.

 

[NorbR]

Absolute essential go to. I even have lens correction and remove CA set as an import preset so every image gets it automatically.

Same here.

If I want to add a vignette later, and provided I haven't messed with the framing too much, I might go to the Manual tab and "uncorrect" the vignette to get the more natural look.

I hate CA in all its forms, so the Remove CA tab is the first thing I included in my default preset (and there are plenty of pictures where I clearly see the effect).

 

[SalAlexander]

Personally, I only use lens correction it if I think I need it by looking at the final image...
It also depends on how the photo is going to be used. If it's going to be printed for a gallery or for commercial, then it might be worth making sure the image is technically as flawless as possible. Otherwise I quite like keeping some character of the lens in the final image.

Ah, the ''character of the lens.'' I like that!

Does the auto leveling feature work for you?

Yes auto levelling works fairly well for me, I must say. It does depend on the image though. I find it's either spot on, or completely wrong.