<p>The distortion you are seeing has nothing to do with ProTune or other codec settings. Its perspective distortion caused by the wide focal length of the GoPro Lens + The low quality of the GoPro Lens itself. </p>

<p>When I say low quality, I mean that in relative terms. The GoPro lens actually produces a pretty amazing image for what it is. But even when you enable the Linear FOV mode, the camera's software can only do so much to reduce the tearing - specifically in the corners of the frame, that you are seeing. It does a decent job overall, but the lens on the GoPro in Wide FOV is roughly 17mm equivalent to a full frame lens. </p>

<p>If you want nearly zero distortion at that focal length... The Zeiss 15mm released a few years back is fantastic, but it's $2500 ish just for the lens itself. </p>

<p>The 16mm and 14mm Arri Master Primes are practically flawless in terms of edge and corner distortion, remarkable actually even at their widest f1.4 t-stop. But for that look, you have to rent or shell out $30,000 for the lens.  </p>

<p>So that is basically the reason. You will only get "so good" with a cheap plastic lens on a $400 camera at that focal length. And there is only so much the in camera software can do to process that distortion out. Even doing a more detailed correction in post will get you so far. </p>

<p>The problem has nothing to do with the settings. Thats as good as it gets with the GoPro, in terms of it's wide angle ability to capture a relatively flat looking image. Flat in the middle, but the closer you get to the corners the worse it's going to get. </p>

<p>My recommendation is if you can't live with it, shoot from a farther distance and crop in in post. I think judging by the image had you just backed up perhaps 5 or 6 feet, you'd be able to crop in just a bit and remove "the worst of it".</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-11T12:54:36.053Z
Hi, thanks for your response ive updated my questio with a further comparison of Narrow vs Linear. The Narrow option looks acceptable. Can i process the Linear footage to get a video that is the euqivalent of the Narrow setting?, i don't mind losing some resolution. Does Narrow have any degree of fisheye effect?
AlexS
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-10T20:46:39.233Z
2019-04-10T20:46:39.233Z
McFlySoHigh
<p>I installed the latest firmware as of 09-APR-2019 to my GoPro Hero 4 Black.</p>

<p>I recorded video in 1080 60fps in LINEAR FOV mode with ProTune enabled. Why am I seeing lens distortion at the edges? For example look at the front wheel of the car.</p>

<p>I have Adobe Premiere and can get GoPro Studio how can I remove this? i don't mind losing some of the frame.</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/A3ZO9.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/A3ZO9.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<p>UPDATE:</p>

<p>Further to this i have now made a comparison between LINEAR and NARROW FOV options on the Hero 4 Black below. The NARROW option (the left image) seems to remove this effect, why is this? </p>

<p>Is it simply because the Narrow is cropped by comparison?</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/AK6lY.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/AK6lY.jpg" alt="LEFT is Narrow Mode, RIGHT is Linear Mode"></a> </p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-11T17:52:24.510Z
Is replacing the lens with a longer-focal-distance lens an option for you? See https://video.stackexchange.com/a/26402/24544 for some details.
Christian Lindig
<premiere><video-capture><lenses><gopro>
Why is my Linear FOV GoPro Hero 4 Black video distorted at edges?
AlexS
# Why is my Linear FOV GoPro Hero 4 Black video distorted at edges?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-04-10)

I installed the latest firmware as of 09-APR-2019 to my GoPro Hero 4 Black.

I recorded video in 1080 60fps in LINEAR FOV mode with ProTune enabled. Why am I seeing lens distortion at the edges? For example look at the front wheel of the car.

I have Adobe Premiere and can get GoPro Studio how can I remove this? i don't mind losing some of the frame.

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/A3ZO9.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/A3ZO9.jpg)

UPDATE:

Further to this i have now made a comparison between LINEAR and NARROW FOV options on the Hero 4 Black below. The NARROW option (the left image) seems to remove this effect, why is this?

Is it simply because the Narrow is cropped by comparison?

[![LEFT is Narrow Mode, RIGHT is Linear Mode](https://i.sstatic.net/AK6lY.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/AK6lY.jpg)

**Tags:** premiere, video-capture, lenses, gopro

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Is replacing the lens with a longer-focal-distance lens an option for you? See https://video.stackexchange.com/a/26402/24544 for some details.  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2019-04-10. Score: 4 | Accepted answer

The distortion you are seeing has nothing to do with ProTune or other codec settings. Its perspective distortion caused by the wide focal length of the GoPro Lens + The low quality of the GoPro Lens itself.

When I say low quality, I mean that in relative terms. The GoPro lens actually produces a pretty amazing image for what it is. But even when you enable the Linear FOV mode, the camera's software can only do so much to reduce the tearing - specifically in the corners of the frame, that you are seeing. It does a decent job overall, but the lens on the GoPro in Wide FOV is roughly 17mm equivalent to a full frame lens.

If you want nearly zero distortion at that focal length... The Zeiss 15mm released a few years back is fantastic, but it's $2500 ish just for the lens itself.

The 16mm and 14mm Arri Master Primes are practically flawless in terms of edge and corner distortion, remarkable actually even at their widest f1.4 t-stop. But for that look, you have to rent or shell out $30,000 for the lens.

So that is basically the reason. You will only get "so good" with a cheap plastic lens on a $400 camera at that focal length. And there is only so much the in camera software can do to process that distortion out. Even doing a more detailed correction in post will get you so far.

The problem has nothing to do with the settings. Thats as good as it gets with the GoPro, in terms of it's wide angle ability to capture a relatively flat looking image. Flat in the middle, but the closer you get to the corners the worse it's going to get.

My recommendation is if you can't live with it, shoot from a farther distance and crop in in post. I think judging by the image had you just backed up perhaps 5 or 6 feet, you'd be able to crop in just a bit and remove "the worst of it".

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Hi, thanks for your response ive updated my questio with a further comparison of Narrow vs Linear. The Narrow option looks acceptable. Can i process the Linear footage to get a video that is the euqivalent of the Narrow setting?, i don't mind losing some resolution. Does Narrow have any degree of fisheye effect?  

---

