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Distortion for Hasselblad XCD 45mm f/4 P
Pincushion distortion (bowing inwards) reaches about 1.4% into the extreme corners, an amount that can be an issue for flat horizons or architecture or groups of people. It is also double the amount of the 0.6% barrel distortion of the 45/3.5.
For myself, I find pincushion distortion more unnatural looking versus barrel distortion, particularly for human faces, but also horizons, even architecture. The world tends to bow-out or round-out, not pinch in as with pincushion distortion—it feels unnatural.
While distortion correction can drop distortion to near zero levels, doing so is undesirable because most of the image area will lose micro contrast with the stretching apart of pixels.
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