Bad Camera Calibration

edit

I was having the same problem. I calibrated over and over again, but couldn't get any results better than the image you linked to, and sometimes worse. I read this question and answer from elsewhere on the site, and it helped me solve my problem. In the link, you will see that the person answering the question writes that the problem is related to deficiencies in a couple of OpenCV functions that only become apparent when dealing with cameras with strong radial distortion. For me, I was able to "solve" the problem simply by zooming in. The "fish bowl" effect of radial distortion is most pronounced near the edges of the field-of-view, so by zooming in, you are effectively "cropping" your image and thereby reducing the extreme radial distortion. This may not be practical for your application, if you require the widest angle possible, or if your camera doesn't have zoom, but it worked for me!