Fisheye distortion
Also known as: barrel distortion, fisheye effect, lens distortion
The curved, bulging look of ultra-wide action-camera lenses, where straight lines bow outward and objects near the edges look stretched or bent.
Updated
What it means
Fisheye distortion, also called barrel distortion, happens when a lens squeezes a very wide view onto a flat sensor. Lines that pass through the center stay straight, but the farther a line sits from the middle, the more it curves outward, as if the picture were wrapped around a ball.
Action cameras accept this on purpose. Their tiny ultra-wide lenses capture a huge field of view from a helmet or handlebar, and the curve is the trade-off. A little of it reads as energy and speed; too much turns horizons into rainbows and makes buildings look like they are falling in.
How it works in practice
You can reduce distortion in camera or in post. In camera, choose a linear-style setting: GoPro Linear, the dewarp option on DJI cameras or the linear modes on Insta360 flatten the image while recording, cropping some width away. GoPro also offers Linear plus Horizon Leveling for straight horizons on top of straight lines.
In post, editors such as DaVinci Resolve, Premiere Pro and Final Cut Pro have lens correction tools with sliders or camera presets. Correction is always a stretch plus a crop, so starting from 4K or 5.3K footage leaves enough pixels for a sharp 1080p or 4K export after the fix.
What to watch out for
The horizon is the giveaway. A camera tilted down on a chest mount bends the horizon into a frown; tilted up, it smiles. Keep the horizon close to the middle of the frame when you aim the camera and the curve becomes far less noticeable.
Faces suffer most - a friend near the edge of a fisheye frame gets a swollen forehead or a stretched jaw. Keep people near the center or switch to a linear mode for social shots. Also avoid stacking effects: SuperView stretching on top of the native curve plus an aggressive correction filter often looks worse than either one alone.
How RawClip handles it
RawClip does not apply lens correction, so the curve you recorded is the curve you get. If straight lines matter, pick a linear mode in camera or correct the clips before upload. Otherwise send the footage as is - the AI selects shots by motion and peak action, not by lens geometry.