Eyeballing — left or right!

[Kodiak Qc]

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After a four hour shoot on the slopes of the vineyards,
my older son gave me his CF cards complaining non-
stop about the heat… like any Canadian would do!

"Another thing…" he said, "… at times I had the Sun
and sweat in the eyes, very unpleasant." He added. To
which my younger son said: " Of course, you're shooting
with the wrong eye! The older looked at me as to get my
very opinion on the matter and I explained them the domi-
nant eye preference.

Just to make sure, I, nevertheless, brought out the really
only bad points I observed when shooting with one or the
other eye:

Right eye shooters, like my older son, may look at the
subject with both eyes at the same time or, keeping an eye
in the VF, look around with the other. The disadvantage is
when shooting against daylight.

Left eye shooters, like Olivier (my younger son) and I,
are not blinded by the Sun since we are hiding behind the
camera. I was interesting though to see Olivier's reaction
when I admitted that the minus thing, when shooting with
the left eye, is that I often cause the focus point to run up
or down, left or right in the VF with my nose on the wheel!
"It happens to me too!" he said.

Question…
What other advantages or inconveniences did you experience
eyeballing left or right in the VF?

 

[Box Brownie]

I am a left eye shooter.......................but oh for the days of waist level viewfinders

 

[Kodiak Qc]

but oh for the days of waist level viewfinders

•


That's what I miss most of my F3HP's and F4E's…
these were special cameras!

 

[Box Brownie]

•


That's what I miss most of my F3HP's and F4E's…
these were special cameras!

Apart from TLR's my first SLR was an EXA 1a and never could afford the optional pentaprism. Panning with a waistlevel viewfinder was a novel experience every time I did it (much more about right & left brain than eyes).

 

[Nod]

"
Question…
What other advantages or inconveniences did you experience
eyeballing left or right in the VF?"

Is it Don McCullin who could probably give the best answer to that?

I'm right eye dominant but often keep the left open as well to follow wider action than I can see through the VF. Got a few cameras that would be very awkward to use left eyed - a couple of old rangefinders as well as the Fuji X-Pro1 and baby X compacts along with a couple of others with OVFs at the top left corner of the body.

 

[gramps]

Right eye shooting: I only get minimal nose grease on the rear LCD
Left eye shooting: Half the LCD covered with nose grease.



What do you mean, that's not what you meant!

 

[Snapsh0t]

Left eye shooting: Half the LCD covered with nose grease.

Plus the danger of getting right thumb in right eye.
The other problem if you're left eyed is which way to hold the camera in portrait orientation. Right hand on top never feels right to me, possibly because my nose is even more against the screen, but right hand underneath makes arm positioning very cramped.

 

[Ian W]

I'm a left eye shooter, permanently. It wasn't so much if an issue on my D7100, but the smaller Fuji X-T10 encounters a smudged screen frequently. Not major, but does need a wipe now and again.

Biggest annoyance is I love the rangefinder style such as the Fuji X- pro's. They just don't like me [emoji17]

As @Snapsh0t says, portrait shooting is a bit of a palava.

 

[Jayst84]

I'm not sure how you're holding the camera if it's shielding your other eye from the sun, surely that just depends on where the sun is? Likewise, I don't know why keeping an eye in the viewfinder and looking around with the other, would be limited to shooting with your right eye.

I shoot with either eye. Probably more left, even though that's my weaker eye, it feels a bit more natural to brace the camera that way. Swap all the time though, for no reason, or if there's something I want to keep an eye on on the other side of the camera.

 

[mikew]

Left eye no problem with cameras but made it difficult using a scope for field target shooting.

 

[Dave Semmens]

Left eye no problem with cameras but made it difficult using a scope for field target shooting.

I used to shoot field target as well Mike. Know a few left handed people swap to right handed guns due to right eye dominance.

 

[Pookeyhead]

Right eye shooters, like my older son, may look at the
subject with both eyes at the same time or, keeping an eye
in the VF, look around with the other. The disadvantage is
when shooting against daylight.

Then close your left eye

 

[Graham W]

Right eye shooter.
It's useful sometimes to keep both eyes open (Shooting bands from a busy pit for instance).
I do find though, that with my D750 I am inadvertently pressing buttons with my nose, something that doesn't happen with my D3s.

 

[shreds]

Of course the one thing not been mentioned yet is that anyone with differing requirements for differing diopter adjustments due to eyesight defects cannot swap and change the eye used for viewing without also changing the on-camera diopter adjustment too. So inevitably you become used to only using one eye.

 

[Kodiak Qc]

1-Plus the danger of getting right thumb in right eye. 2-The other problem if you're left eyed is which way to hold the camera in portrait orientation.

1- There are situations where getting bumped in the face by
a camera is less pleasant than when your hand is protect
ting by being in-between.
2- any which way one looks at it, being a left eye baller always
gets your thumb between the camera and your face.

 

[Kodiak Qc]

I do find though, that with my D750 I am inadvertently pressing buttons with my nose,

•

Yes, exactly what I was referring to!
I will remind my older son that it is
not because I have a big nose!

 

[Kodiak Qc]

changing the on-camera diopter adjustment

•

My sons and I have to change constantly!
I may have 20 / 20 but I must use +2…

 

[MadWoman]

I am a left eye shooter, and tend to keep my right eye open as I can still see past the camera with it. I have no problem with my 7Dii, but on my 5Diii the focus points tend to be moved around by my face catching the joystick which I find most irritating.

 

[Nod]

Plus the danger of getting right thumb in right eye.

At least these days it'll only be your thumb! Long gone (for most!) are the times when the wind on lever needed to be left out a bit to keep the camera switched on so would sometimes dig into the nose of left eyers!

I don't know why keeping an eye in the viewfinder and looking around with the other, would be limited to shooting with your right eye.

"Trigger" finger tends to block the view.

 

[ianp5a]

I'm left eyed and it prevents me using Back Button Focus, as my nose gets in the way of my thumb.

 

[Snapsh0t]

I used to shoot field target as well Mike. Know a few left handed people swap to right handed guns due to right eye dominance.

I still shoot HFT and fortunately I'm left-handed as well as left-eyed. But we did have fun while I was in the trade, persuading people that they had to use the same eye as the hand they were using on the trigger. We always advised to shoot with eye dominance if possible.

 

[Dave Semmens]

I still shoot HFT and fortunately I'm left-handed as well as left-eyed. But we did have fun while I was in the trade, persuading people that they had to use the same eye as the hand they were using on the trigger. We always advised to shoot with eye dominance if possible.

Shot a bit of HFT as well - some regional and national comps

 

[Kodiak Qc]

I still shoot HFT

Shot a bit of HFT as well

Google says High Frequency Trading??????

 

[Dave Semmens]

Google says High Frequency Trading??????

Hunter Field Target

It is a target discipline shot outdoors with an air rifle.

Metal targets that fall flat if hit in the kill zone are placed between 8 and 45 yards away, up trees and down in quarries - anything goes

Boys toys really

 

[Kodiak Qc]

It is a target discipline shot outdoors with an air rifle.

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Thanks for that, Dave!

…I will go to bed less idiot than yesterday… very coooool!

 

[TheBigYin]

Is it Don McCullin who could probably give the best answer to that?

Well, depends if you're shooting with a Nikon F - remember seeing that camera, when there was an exhibition of his work on at the Film Museum in Bradford, many, many, many years ago...

 

[Nod]

Can't see many DSLRs stopping even an air gun pellet!

 

[ABTog]

I am left eye dominant (found that out when clay pidgeon shooting ages ago), but I vary which eye I put to the viewfinder. However, my left eye is weaker than my right, so really I should adjust the diopter each time I switch eyes, but I don't bother. I do often shoot with my right eye to the viewfinder using my left to take in the whole scene. This is how you have to use pro video/tv cameras, so that you can see where you are walking while shooting. They are mostly setup for right eye shooting (with camera on right shoulder).

Never had a problem with my nose changing settings though.