cameras for left handers

rickj

rickj

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do any body make them? if not do left handed people fined in strange using the controls on the wrong side.
sorry if it seems a strange question but it got me thinking the earlier.
 
I'm sure nikon made a film body for us lefties but never seen anything else!

Think it could have been the F100.
 
to be honest its all down to how you learn it..

for example im left handed for writing (mums left handed i guess she taught me) but for everything else (scissors, mouse, throwing, etc etc..) i use my right hand because thats how ive been taught by others or how its been laid out so thats what ive used.
 
neil_g said:
to be honest its all down to how you learn it..

for example im left handed for writing (mums left handed i guess she taught me) but for everything else (scissors, mouse, throwing, etc etc..) i use my right hand because thats how ive been taught by others or how its been laid out so thats what ive used.
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:plusone:
 
and i dont know why but it freaks people out when you tell them lol

"you write with your left hand but you use a mouse with your right.. how odd.."

well no not really. plus it means i can write stuff down while clicking on stuff.. and if im feeling really flash i can use a mouse in each hand on 2 computers at the same time. :D

mind you there is a guy at work who turns his mouse through 180 degrees and doesnt change the mouse settings so everything is back to front. but it works for him because when he was learning how to use it thats the way he thought it went..
 
I know a number of people that put the camera to their left eye. In fact I'm right handed but left eye dominant and shoot (shotgun, not camera) left handed because of it, which being right handed took a lot of getting used to, especially breaking the gun and loading. But I shoot a camera with my right eye as that feels comfortable to me... that's probably more odd :D
 
I was going to reply with which eye i use for photography but i don't know lol, its just become instinct :lol:
 
Don't know if it's just me, but taking portraits , the camera seems to be the wrong way round, but nothing else seems to bother me.
I guess i'm Just used to living in a right-handed world like the rest of us.... :thumbsdown:
 
V8burble said:
I know a number of people that put the camera to their left eye. In fact I'm right handed but left eye dominant and shoot (shotgun, not camera) left handed because of it, which being right handed took a lot of getting used to, especially breaking the gun and loading. But I shoot a camera with my right eye as that feels comfortable to me... that's probably more odd :D
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You mean you're not supposed to use your left?! I always have done as my left eye is much better than my right, and haven't thought of doing it any other way.

There also seems to be different ways people put a camera in portrait mode. Iturn it anti-clockwise, but some poeple tend to turn it clockwise.
 
neil_g said:
"you write with your left hand but you use a mouse with your right.. how odd.."

well no not really. plus it means i can write stuff down while clicking on stuff.
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That's what I do. I work with CAD drawing packages and use a mouse or tracker ball with the right hand and type with the left.


Steve.
 
Lefty here too, never found it an issue to be honest except the portrait orientation does feel slightly awkward for some reason. I got around that by getting a grip for my 450D, transforms the handling and I'd recommend getting a grip to anybody.
 
So, which is correct for portrait orientation here? (Sorry for sounding stupid!) Is it with the camera turned through 90 degrees anti-clockwise, or clockwise?
 
Deckard said:
Lefty here too, never found it an issue to be honest except the portrait orientation does feel slightly awkward for some reason. I got around that by getting a grip for my 450D, transforms the handling and I'd recommend getting a grip to anybody.
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oh thats really interesting, im a lefty with left eye dominant and also find portrait shots awkward, so much so i often avoid them. off to try a grip in jessops...
 
You'll have a more solid grip if you rotate the camera so that the shutter release is down. You can brace your right elbow against your body this way rather than having it waving in the air, but go with what feels right. Again, a big reason why I added a grip to my camera body.
 
I'm a lefty. I write with my left, mouse with my right.

I use my left eye for the viewfinder and have never even given a thought as to why, simply instinctive.

As for kicking balls...well thats filed under "exercise" which is something I don't do. I can confirm I drink beer with my left hand! :lol:

Barney
 
pecrow said:
oh thats really interesting, im a lefty with left eye dominant and also find portrait shots awkward, so much so i often avoid them. off to try a grip in jessops...
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Certainly have a play in Jessops to see how you get on. I'm not trying to rob Jessops of a sale here, but the official Canon grips are overpriced IMHO. I use a Phottix grip I got off eBay which came with 2 batteries for around £45 and has been very good although I'm getting some wear on the grip's rubber. In comparison the official equivalent would have cost nearly £200 [grip + 2 batteries].
 
I'm right handed, used to use my right eye as that felt natural but now use my left, especially for sports as I tend to track left to right and I can keep 'an eye' so to speak on the action out of my right. Turn anti-clockwise for portrait shots.
Hubby on the other hand keeps telling me I'm doing it wrong and should do it clockwise and since he's been at it for 30 or so years........we beg to differ. I go with how I'm comfortable as that's when I believe I'll get better results.
 
neil_g said:
to be honest its all down to how you learn it..

for example im left handed for writing (mums left handed i guess she taught me) but for everything else (scissors, mouse, throwing, etc etc..) i use my right hand because thats how ive been taught by others or how its been laid out so thats what ive used.
Click to expand...

:plusone:
 
cuddy wifter here as well, the only thing i cant do with my right hand is write to be honest , left eye for the camera though , my right eye is nigh useless even with glasses :eek:
 
Deckard said:
Certainly have a play in Jessops to see how you get on. I'm not trying to rob Jessops of a sale here, but the official Canon grips are overpriced IMHO. I use a Phottix grip I got off eBay which came with 2 batteries for around £45 and has been very good although I'm getting some wear on the grip's rubber. In comparison the official equivalent would have cost nearly £200 [grip + 2 batteries].
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thanks for that, anything for an easier life :thumbs:
 
I've often thought if must annoy left handed people - only having right handed cameras.

On September 5th I lost the use of my right arm (Radial Nerve Palsey) and the first week or so was hell. I found the most basic tasks a nightmare - shoe laces, buttons, using my mouse, knife and fork, brushing my teeth, shaving, writing, making tea, mobile phone texting and of course photography.

7 weeks or so later my arm / hand is no better. Full recovery could take more than a year but apart from driving (which I'm not) I hardly feel hindered at all now. It's amazing what the brain / body can do to overcome problems when it has to.

I did get lefty manfrotto one handed ball grip though - any excuse for a new toy.
 
i'm a true lefty.............................:D as i only have my left arm

i did write to canon and fuji a few years ago, "sorry, we dont make lefties"

i occasionally struggle with my 50d, but i make do' using tripod/mono and a shoulder tripod.:cool:
 
Goody13 said:
So, which is correct for portrait orientation here? (Sorry for sounding stupid!) Is it with the camera turned through 90 degrees anti-clockwise, or clockwise?
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It's not stupid at all. The correct way to rotate the camera is anti clockwise, which puts the shutter button on top. The weight of the camera is now fully supported by the left hand, while the right hand is unstressed for shutter button duty. If you rotate clockwise the right hand is unduly stressed in supporting the camera and performing shutter duty.
 
Goody13 said:
So, which is correct for portrait orientation here? (Sorry for sounding stupid!) Is it with the camera turned through 90 degrees anti-clockwise, or clockwise?
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Norm will be CCW but if you are using on board flash then it might be better to turn CW to suit the situation
 
I'm full of admiration for those who, for one reason or another, don't have the use of both hands.

I'm right handed but fairly adept with my left too and left eye dominant which did cause problems shooting (guns). I just learned to use my right eye more.
 
AliB said:
I'm full of admiration for those who, for one reason or another, don't have the use of both hands.

I'm right handed but fairly adept with my left too and left eye dominant which did cause problems shooting (guns). I just learned to use my right eye more.
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I found I could only shoot (gun) with my right eye if I shut my left... which is a bit limiting for your FoV.

For those who do not know which eye is your dominant one, there are a couple of simple tests you can do.

1st one - Focus on a subject at least 20-30' away with both eyes open. Then whilst still focusing on that object stretch out one arm and put your thumb up obscuring the subject you are focused on, now shut one eye... if your out of focus thumb jumps to one side a bit, you sut your dominant eye, if it didn't jump try it again but shut the other eye to be sure.

2nd test - Cut a hole in the middle of an A4 sheet of paper and hold it up infront of you at arms length. With both eyes open look at a distant object through the hole. Now shut one eye and see if the object you were looking at through the hole moves to the side (just like in No.1 test). Result is the same.

In theory, you are better to use your dominant eye, but you may find it un-natural to do so.
 
CT said:
It's not stupid at all. The correct way to rotate the camera is anti clockwise, which puts the shutter button on top. The weight of the camera is now fully supported by the left hand, while the right hand is unstressed for shutter button duty. If you rotate clockwise the right hand is unduly stressed in supporting the camera and performing shutter duty.
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I'd agree with this. Anti-clockwise every time for the reasons stated above. Having a dedicated support hand makes for a much more stable hold. No point in trying to support the camera weight and work the controls with the same hand.
 
Anyone who shoots shotgun and is right handed and right eye dominant is extremely fortunate. A guy I used to clay shoot with had centre vision-meaning neither eye was dominant. He used to have so much cast off put on his gun stocks that his gun looked a cross between a banana and a boomerang. We used to rag him something trerribe about his orthopaedic gun, but he usually had the last laugh when we totted up the score cards. :D
 
martsharm said:
I'd agree with this. Anti-clockwise every time for the reasons stated above. Having a dedicated support hand makes for a much more stable hold. No point in trying to support the camera weight and work the controls with the same hand.
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Rotating the wrong way seems very prevelant now, but I can understand why to a degree. In the days of manual focusing, your left hand was always cupped under the lens, where it supported the camera, but your finger and thumb also did the focusing as well as changing aperture without having to move your hand when you rotated the camera anti cloclwise. If you try to rotate right, you can see just how impossible it was to then control focusing and aperture.

With the focusing and aperture controls now removed from the lens body, it's easy to see how many newcomers can get into rotating the wrong way.
 
There is no wrong or right way really, whatever works for you is best. If you have a flash fitted to a bracket, it will probably be to your left meaning that you will have to rotate the camera clockwise to keep the flash above the lens.

I shoot more vertical images than horizontal and looking at a strip of my film, I see that I rotate both clockwise and anti-clockwise in more or less equal quantities. Neither way feels wrong to me and I don't actually think about it whilst I am doing it.


Steve.
 
CT said:
It's not stupid at all. The correct way to rotate the camera is anti clockwise, which puts the shutter button on top. The weight of the camera is now fully supported by the left hand, while the right hand is unstressed for shutter button duty. If you rotate clockwise the right hand is unduly stressed in supporting the camera and performing shutter duty.
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Thanks. Even though I have always used my left eye, at least I'm rotating the camera the right way for portraits!

Does anyone else find it frustrating if someone takes a photo with your camera and turns it clockwise for portraits, so they aren't all the same way when you upload them?
 
most post I have ever had to a question, some good reading thanks to all. I use my left eye and am right handed but I had to think first
 
Hasselbalds were designed to be used in your left hand :thumbs:
 
My partner is left-eyed, and she found it hard to see the corners of her 5D MKII's screen as a result - so she's fitted an eyepiece extender (the Canon one) and loves it. I had a try: makes the viewfinder image smaller, looks like about x.75 or something, but works for her.

Best

Richard
 
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