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Distortion: 280/4 APO-Telyt-R
Distortion is of mild pincushion variety typical of telephoto lenses , the consistent distortion pattern being easily corrected if one so desires. It is a very similar pattern to the 90/2 APO ASPH.
While mild, pincushion distortion (bowing in) is more disturbing (to this author) than the same amount of barrel distortion (bowing out), because it results in a pinched look. Something to keep in mind if shooting groups of people and/or placing a person’s face off-center in the frame.
Given the ultra high micro-contrast of the 280/4 APO, correcting distortion will likely to result in a small loss of contrast on the finest details, at least with high resolution digital SLRs. For that reason, I prefer to not correct distortion.
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