IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD AND APPARATUS

An image processing method in which at least one aberration of an optically recorded image selected from among lateral chromatic aberration, distortion, decrease in the brightness of the edge of image field and image blurring is corrected based on lens characteristics of a taking lens and position information of the image. Additionally, an image processing apparatus comprises an acquiring section for acquiring information identifying a taking lens; a storage section for storing lens characteristics associated with the type of the taking lens; and a correcting section which receives the corresponding lens characteristics of the taking lens from the storage section and corrects at least one aberration selected from among lateral chromatic aberration, distortion, decrease in the brightness of the edge of image field and image blurring. High-quality images that are free from color mismatch, distortion, uneven brightness, blurring and any other defects, or both vignetting and distortion can be outputted consistently. These high-quality images can be also displayed on an image display device, thus allowing the operator to perform verification and achieve consistent outputting of image-carrying prints.