While working on my last short, I noticed the walls and straight edges would be...warped...sort of like a fish eye effect, but not as extreme.

Did I accidently put this setting on? Or is something wrong with my camera? maybe its my tripod?

Actually here is a pic!

http://www.ideacog.org/web/aclockwork4/images/293_3618.jpg

(Sorry for the crappy JPG) - but do you see how the sides are curved?

I hope this isnt a negative affect from when I was out in the rain (with umbrella) with the camera and it got a tad wet. drops here and there. I hate myself for staying in the rain the few minutes that we did, even with an umbrella.

Anyone know?

Nah, don't worry. It's completely normal. It's called barrel distortion, and it's present on almost all cameras....

A few raindrops aren't going to change the optical system of your camera. :)

Alex is correct. What you are seeing is indeed Barrel Distortion (http://www.dvinfo.net/articles/optics/lensdefects.php). All lenses do suffer from barrel distortion to one degree or another. However, the barrel distortion present in the DVX100 is greater than most mini DV cameras.

In my opinion it has more barrel distortion than any other camera in it's class (XL1, PD150, etc.). In all fairness, it should be pointed out that the DVX100 has the widest angle zoom of any camera in it's class also. The excessive barrel distortion has been noted in several reviews and I've noted it in several threads in the forums here.

Do search of the forums and you'll find several threads and links to images showing barrel distortion.

oh thank god its normal. is there anyway to minimize it though?

Don't zoom as wide. The effect is most pronounced at the widest setting and diminishes as you zoom toward the telephoto range.