Cameras for the left eye dominant photographer?

[Niels - NHSN]

I read somewhere that around 1/3 of the population is left eye dominant.

As a right eye dominant and right handed person it is not something I think much about, as most of the world is designed with my needs in mind.

However, yesterday I visited my local camera store and played with the camera below. At first I didn't realise why it seemed so awkward to operate, but along with realising why, I also found a new understanding of how it must be when being in minority.

I don't know if Welta designed this camera with left handed or left eye dominant photographers in mind, but it certainly seems to favour them.

Are there any other examples of classic cameras that favoured the left eye dominant photographers?

The camera below is a Welta Belmira from 1957. It is my understanding that the Tessar lens is a little unusual on this camera, most were sold with a Triotar.

 

 

[John Seaman]

I can't think of any offhand. Actually my left eye is dominant and I normally use it for photography. I'm accustomed to the camera blocking the view of my right eye, so I get on better with cameras with the eyepiece central or to the left. I know many photographers look at the scene through both eyes, one via the finder, one directly so as to be aware of the surroundings. I've tried it but always revert to using my left eye, allowing the camera to block the direct view.

Edit - I just remembered the Voigtlander Bessa 66 with its finder all the way to the right. I found it easier to use with the camera vertical, for the reason given above.

LINK --------

 

Edited November 19, 2022 by John Seaman

[AJG]

As a right handed and left eyed photographer I have often felt a bit uncomfortable with a lot of cameras.  When I bought my first serious 35 mm SLR in the late 1970's I ruled out a Nikon FM since the meter switch was the winding lever which poked my right eye when the meter was on.  The Pentax MX that I bought and used heavily for the next 15 years didn't have that problem.  Nikon might have sold me a lot of lenses if I had felt better about focusing that FM. I've been using Contax rangefinders a lot over the last 10 years and haven't found them to be that bad, probably since I wasn't used to shooting with both eyes open anyway, but that Belmira from  Niels' post looks tempting...

[rick_drawbridge]

Should anyone be interest, here's a link to a post on the Belmira I did some years ago. It, too, has the rather good Tessar lens.

I can't imagine using both eyes when taking photographs; I automatically close the eye that's not up against the viewfinder! I think it's really only cameras with a quick wind lever mounted on the right that poke left-eyed users in the eye that are the problem. Cameras like many of the Nikons that incorporate the on/off switch into the wind lever pose a problem for left-eyed users in that lever has to be moved away from the body to turn the metering on. I find this annoying, as a right-eyed used, as the lever pokes me in the forehead when the camera is held vertically. Cameras with a knob, or a lever set almost flush in the back of the camera like the Voigtlander Vito illustrated below, do not pose a problem. And, of course, there are numbers of cameras with the wind mounted on the bottom.

[stuart_pratt]

I suffer the same left eye viewer issues as others have pointed out. Classic Nikon’s are sadly a no-go area for me, other than the auto everything F100 which is great, if a little sterile. Whilst I researched my Leicaflex SL before purchase, and knew it had a similar switch in the advance lever, it has a two position lever with a just open, perhaps 10 degree offset to turn on, and a position with the arm at 90 degrees to the body for ‘rapid fire’ situations where you want to wind on quickly, and where the meter remains on. This latter position just clears the side of my head, and doesn’t poke out my eye so I’ll be sticking with this one! 

[Jochen_S]

Linhof Technika with Rangemeter on its right side and VF in the cold shoe?

[ken_davis1]

The Exakta SLRs have a wind on lever on the left although obviously the viewfinder exit on the pentaprism is in the middle of the camera, as a left hander I find this convenient although I've got used to lever winds on the right hand side.

Edited November 20, 2022 by ken_davis1
typo

[rws]

I too am right-handed and left-eyed, but I've never had a problem using any of the cameras I've had over the years.  Just the other day, my wife asked me if I kept my right eye open when photographing, and I told her no but that I'd never really thought about it.  I tried it for a while and didn't like it -- very distracting.  I'd much rather focus with just my left eye and let the camera keep my right eye covered.  I've always had good eyesight in both eyes, but over the years my right eye has lagged a bit behind my left in terms of acuity, according to my doc.  I don't know whether that could be a cause or an effect of being left-eyed -- probably neither, as out of the doctor's office I can't really tell the difference.  I haven't ever tried a purpose-built left eyed camera, so don't know if I would prefer it.  Probably not, after having used standard cameras for so many years.

[gary green]

I think the Zenobia 6x4.5 Japanese folder and it's brethren (e.g., Waltax) would be accommodating to left-eye/left-hand dominant folks with its (mostly) centered viewfinder and left-side shutter release.

[kmac]

Perhaps if cameras were purposefully made left handed, one would expect an "L" embossed somewhere on/in the camera. As with that nice Zenobia, I have a Doris, which is much the same, it also has the winder and shutter button on the left side, but the viewfinder is only just left of center. Another I have with winder and shutter button on the left is an Ensign Selfix 820 Special, the viewfinder being right of center. I think most features were for convenience of design, where to fit things. The shutter cocking lever is what I worry about, in which direction it moves. Because I'm right handed, it's more comfortable to "pull" the lever to cock the shutter, rather that to have to "push" it.

Edited November 20, 2022 by kmac

[bonsignore_ezio]

Left-handed and left eye-dominant here. Of course I did experience some problems when using virtually all classic cameras. For a while I did try a way around the problem by forcing myself to use the right eye and fitting the cameras with eyepiece correctors (mostly self-made), but eventually decided this was not worth the hassle. For most rangefinder cameras, I  find it very convenient to use the Voigtländer Kontur add-on sight, which enables (actuall requires) framing and shooting with both eyes open.

PS: I think it would be impossible to find a classic camera purposedly designed for left-handed (or left eye-dominant) people. Back then this was regarded as a serious birth defect, to be "corrected" at all costs. This was the case with me - which I am most grateful about, because as a result I am now able to write with both my hands and in both directions (left to right and mirror-reversed right to left, as Leonardo da Vinci).

Edited November 21, 2022 by bonsignore_ezio

[John Seaman]

• To be honest, I don't think the old camera designers gave a stuff about whether the users would be left or right handed / eyed. As long as the various controls were accessible, it was up to the user to adapt to the equipment, not vice versa.

[Mike Gammill]

Never thought that much about which eye, but I generally do rely mostly on my right eye.  However, if I'm using a camera with a waist level finder I could easily use either eye.  Interesting topic.