apetty Posted January 21, 2008 Share Posted January 21, 2008 I was wondering what people use to help them keep their pictures level. I seem to have a problem with every thing tilting to the right. Even on the tripod. Not every time, but it is enough to be annoying, I would post examples but I have so many I'm not sure it matters. If I use the level bubbles on the tripod, the camera looks crooked. Maybe my head is on a tilt? LOL or I am just not keeping my head straight but maybe some advice from the pros would help. Not sure if this is the right forum for this but I figured I'd give it a shot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexander_illich Posted January 21, 2008 Share Posted January 21, 2008 I've had trouble with this in the past when I had an issue with the arch my foot, I found that it was mostly posture that lead to it, try to keep your back straight, if you are crouching it, watch what you are doing, it could be good to fix your posture regardless of the photos, also you might have a kink in your neck. who knows, and cameras always look crooked on tripods, it's very confusing sometimes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronald_moravec1 Posted January 21, 2008 Share Posted January 21, 2008 Line up a straight line with the top of the finder, top or edge of a building will do. If the pic shows a crooked line, The sensor in the camera is crooked or there is something wrong in the finder. If the straight line tracks the edge of the frame, then other pics are user error. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tridakfoto Posted January 21, 2008 Share Posted January 21, 2008 What camera body are you using? I have the 40D and don't usually have trouble with leveling photos but I do plan on getting the EF-D focusing screen here http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=WishList.jsp&A=details&Q=&sku=523871&is=REG in hopes it works much better. As for now with leveling I just try to find something in the photo when looking through the viewfinder that is either vertical or horizontal in which I can base the entire composition on it whether its a building, the horizon, a pole and so on. It tends to work 95% of the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apetty Posted January 21, 2008 Author Share Posted January 21, 2008 It is the 400D. I know its a user issue, I was just wondering what steps I can take to ensure I minimize the problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tridakfoto Posted January 21, 2008 Share Posted January 21, 2008 I shouldn't say the entire "composition" but more the leveling of the entire image is a better choice of wording. Just practice different techniques and see what works for you. Eventually you will find something that will help you out quite a bit and if you do have a camera that does allow for different focusing screens then I recommend the grid line screen to help you out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tridakfoto Posted January 21, 2008 Share Posted January 21, 2008 So with the 400D you cannot get the screens but do as was already stated and try to find something in your viewfinder that can help you to level your image. If you are photographing a person and behind them is a building or pole perhaps then try to line up your image based on this providing of course it is straight! If it is landscapes try to find a horizon or ground or some object that you can hopefully assist you here also. If you are taking photos in or around the home or in town you are sure to find at least one thing that can help with this and just practice and instead of shooting one image of a subject shoot 2 or 3 and you could have a better chance of having the image come out level. There is also plenty of applications in most photo software that can help to rotate and or crop your image as necessary. Avoid too much cropping tho as it may take to much from your photo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ed_okie Posted January 21, 2008 Share Posted January 21, 2008 use a double-bubble "cube" attached to the flash shoe, it works wonders, particularly with tripods (landscapes, closeups, wildlife, etc.) About $35; B&H Photo has them as do several other sites. This will take you direct to their website page: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/263729-REG/Bogen_Manfrotto_337_337_Flash_Hot_Shoe.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apetty Posted January 21, 2008 Author Share Posted January 21, 2008 Thanx Jay, I do use paint shot to clean up the shot. I liek to get it out of hte camera as good as I can. Ed, I'll have to check that out. Looks like a cheap and easy fix. I know one of my problems when not on the tripod has got to be the grip. It is on the right sire and must be weighing me down more than I expect. I will try to keep the helpful hints in mind next time I am out and about Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ken munn Posted January 21, 2008 Share Posted January 21, 2008 Line up a horizontal with the edges of a line of focus squares in the viewfinder. However, unless you are square in front of something, perspective will naturally make a horizontal rise or fall. As an aside, maybe you have uncorrected astigmatism in your eyesight? Worth getting it checked if you don't see an optician regularly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark u Posted January 21, 2008 Share Posted January 21, 2008 Does your hand holding technique prevent you from rotating the camera as you fire the shutter? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stefanovandelli Posted January 21, 2008 Share Posted January 21, 2008 The comment about astigmatism is interesting. I also experience the same problem and I am indeed astgmatic, but I never linked the two. I found that simply being conscous of the issue when I am framing helps correcting it. Often when I stop and really look carefully, I notice that indeed I am framing incorrectly, though it felt instinctively right to start with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
music man5 Posted January 21, 2008 Share Posted January 21, 2008 Does anyone know how the focusing screen is changed on the 40D? All I can find is that the instructions come with the screen you purchase. But I'd like to know how difficult it is before I purchase it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apetty Posted January 21, 2008 Author Share Posted January 21, 2008 I do get my eyes checked regularly and it was mentioned to me that I had an slight astigmatism. Never thought that would matter, or is someone pulling my leg LOL Mark, No, but I am left handed and the shutter on the grip is for right handed person. I had to remember to flip it the right way when I first got it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDMvW Posted January 21, 2008 Share Posted January 21, 2008 I think that there may be something to the idea that you are perhaps tilting the camera as you push the button (especially as you are clearly aware of the problem) - try a hand hold with the thumb under the camera with the trigger finger on the same hand. It's a little awkward on today's fat cameras, but was a classic recommendation in film days. Otherwise, try being conscious of squeezing the release instead of poking it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ken munn Posted January 21, 2008 Share Posted January 21, 2008 Not joking about astigmatism. It can make the sufferer believe he or she is seeing something straight, when it is actually askew. It gets me. I have to hang pictures using a spirit level. If I do it by eye, they are always high on the left/low on the right, despite the fact they look absolutely spot on to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob_osullivan Posted January 21, 2008 Share Posted January 21, 2008 Carpenters have a saying "you can't build somethign level onto something that isn't". They are refering to making additions on your house. When an old house is out of square, you must compensate by not building the addition perfectly square. For this reason I find level bubbles on tripods to be useless. If you are level at the cameara but your subject isn't, what's the point. As stated previously, just check against a vertical or horizontal line that you want to "look" level and use that. IF shooting with a very wide lens, you need to be strait on the subject for this to work, not obleque. Make sure you're not moving the camera at the instant of exposure. That should do it. Forget those levels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apetty Posted January 21, 2008 Author Share Posted January 21, 2008 Most of the time I do use a remote shutter release when on the tripod, so at this point, its just in the setup. I have a eye Dr's appointment Saturday anyway. I'll ask about the astigmatism. I hope this is it. I know at times I have seen everything was level in the view finder and I get it on the pc and its off. I have seen this in server DSLRs. When I used to shoot Film I dont recall seeing it that much at all. I guess the etes can get worse with age, most peoples do, but does the astigmatism get worse? I'll find out Saturday. Thanx for all the replys, and the ideas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JosvanEekelen Posted January 21, 2008 Share Posted January 21, 2008 A geared head on your tripod may make a difference since it forces you to finely adjust the 3 axes. Have a look at the Bogen/Manfrotto product line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan_myers Posted January 21, 2008 Share Posted January 21, 2008 It's extremely easy to change the focusing screen. Highly recommended. Just use the plastic tweezers that are provided, and don't touch the mirror. Of course, changing to a grid screen simply is not an options with some models. If shooting RAW and using Adobe Camera RAW (ACR) found in CS2 and CS3, there is a very handy little tool to level the image before you even convert it into a JPEG or TIFF. Fast and easy to use. You just click on the tool, then draw a line along whatever straight edge in the image you want to be level. The software rotates the image as needed. If you are a little off, it's easy to backup and redo it. (There's probably something similar in other imaging softwares.) You can also really fine tune it in most softwares, too. Pull down a guide, to match up with the important part of the image. Rotate the image as needed. Re-crop. Done. This can also be done with vertical lines. Heck, if the software allows perspective control (PS CS2 & CS3 do), it can even be done with both horizontal and vertical lines. Over time, you learn to see vertical and level. I worked construction when I was younger and pretty quickly developed an eye for it. That carries over to help with my photography. But sometimes when I'm shooting fast, things will still get a little askew and need to be fixed in post-processing. I am sometimes amazed how many images with impossible horizons end up in major publications. A lake or the ocean cannot possibly slope downhill to one side or the other! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tridakfoto Posted January 21, 2008 Share Posted January 21, 2008 Ken is correct in talking about astigmatisms. I also have astigmatism and before I got a new prescription for eye wear it was VERY bad but now I have learned to try and deal with it and so far so good but it used to be very bad. Strange how even factors we do not consider can affect our photography. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
music man5 Posted January 21, 2008 Share Posted January 21, 2008 Thanks Alan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDMvW Posted January 21, 2008 Share Posted January 21, 2008 I had lens replacements for cataracts in both eyes and they did my astigmatism at the same time. Now everything is pretty good, I don't have to wear glasses anymore, I can read close up, and I can see much better than when I had the cataracts. The downside is that something like color aberrations occur, so my vision is now only 20/20, not the crisp 20/15 I had before the cataracts. It also took about 6 months for my eyes to finally settle down, so it is not a procedure to be undertaken lightly. Once they mess around with them a couple of times, they will NOT go in again for any reason. I'm still not sure that astigmatism is the answer, but do invest in a grid for your viewfinder glass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colinsouthern Posted January 21, 2008 Share Posted January 21, 2008 It would be nice if Canon came up with a simple internal mechanism to detect when the camera was level - and additionally make leveling information available in the exif data so that programs could crop to level a photo automatically if the user wished. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogbert Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 The 400D viewfinder is very small which makes judging how horizontal the camera is very difficult. I suffer from this problem too. I have a bubble level for when I am trying to be precise. I use the focus markings and try to get them parallel to the horizon when shooting rough, and then there is always photoshop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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