Barrel distortion may be found in wide-angle lenses, and is often seen at the wide-angle end of zoom lenses, while pincushion distortion is often seen in older or low-end telephoto lenses.

How do you get barrel distortion?

Barrel distortion will also occur if you are standing too close to your subject with a wide angle lens or a zoom lens at the wide end (ie. 24mm). Whatever body part is closest to the camera, it will look abnormally large! Heads, eyes, noses or limbs will look pronounced and awkward.

What is barrel distortion in a lens?

Barrel distortion describes a type of distortion wherein lines that are straight in real life appear to curve inwards (like the walls of a barrel). A good way to check for barrel distortion is to look for parallel lines in the area you are shooting and see if the lines appear parallel in your image.