Originally posted by TanGU I might be simplist, but, i have the 16-50 DA* and at 16mm the distortion is quite heavy, it will be worst at 12mm, right ? So better keep the 16mm
distortion is a factor of lens design, not focal length directly, smaller focal lengths simply impose greater difficulties at making distortion less glass.
there are indeed wide angle lenses that have little to no distortion
this is why the 12-24, the 10-20, and the DA14 are valued lenses, because they offer very little distortion.
my guess as to why the DA*16-50 distorts, much like the 16-45, the kit lens, and any other wide-to-normal zoom, is simply an engineering problem, it would be too expensive to make these lenses be distortionless while maintaining their zoom range.