Raw File Editing

leebo

Hi, I'm new to digital camera world, and I have a question regarding editing raw files. I am afraid to go down this path for two reasons. The first reason is all my pictures which show barrel distortion, flair, chromatic aberration, excessive pixelation, and sunspots would just by chance all look like Christie Brinkley the famous model photo-shopped into my pictures. How am I going to explain this to my wife, that these crappy lenses all produced these errors. The second reason is how do you when you are finished? When did Michelangelo know when to stop when he made the statue of David?

P.S.
I know you are all willing to help and ask me about ‘my crappy lens’. Just because I have a Nikon D7100 with a 18-55mm AF-S zoom, a 55-300mm AF-S zoom, and a just purchased Nikon AF 24mm f2.8D, doesn’t mean you Canon photographers can feel smug.
Best regards, my first post,
leebo

PBked

Hi @LEEBO,
I guess what you are really saying is 'will my pictures look faked?'. Only if you superimpose Christine Brinkley on top of them.
Using editing software to correct barrel distortion is allowed and when done, no-one will know there was any in the first place. Also allowed is cleaning up CA, although it has to be pretty strong to warrant doing this, unless you are a pixel peeper. The plain fact is that no lenses, no matter how expensive, are perfect and all can use a little help from editing.
Mich Angelo stopped when he was happy with what he had produced and the same should go for you.
Regards,
Smug Canon User

leebo

Thank you PBKED, I appreciate your comments. Being new at this, and knowing nothing of raw files until looking at my D7100 manual, I was attempting some humor as I was unaware and very surprised at how technology has advanced in this digital camera age. My previous was a Nikon film D60 camera, which I have not used for many years.
I am really happy with my new setup. I did get a chance to take a few pictures this weekend of a very difficult, but beautiful animal subject. I noticed another person having a tumbler account that shows pictures. I shall try to register there and upload the pictures.
As to the editing question, I was serious about knowing when to stop. Probably will come with practice. Again, this website looks like a very good place to learn the art of using a camera.