I don't seem to be able to hold my camera straight anymore!

Rupert67

Rupert67

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It's probably an age thing (I'm 67) but I'm finding more often than not that I'm needing to straighten up my pictures during the post processing ritual. This is in spite of the fact that my 5DIII has a grid overlay in the viewfinder, which should make things easy, which it does a lot of the time, but nevertheless I'm clearly still subject to 'can't-see-straight-itis'!

Anyone else finding to their surprise that a picture they thought was dead straight actually appears slightly off vertical when viewed later on a computer screen?
 
This may be a little down to your technique as opposed to age.
Are you perhaps anticipating the shot? That is to say, you compose, everything in the viewfinder is straight, then you press the shutter release and you are unconsciously 'pushing' the camera down?
Are most of your shots leaning to one particular side?

Same principles as shooting a rifle apply, inhale, take aim, exhale a little so as you are not straining holding your breath, hold and squeeze :)
 
It's an age thing :D

As Iain says, are they down on the LHS? (which would imply that you are pressing down on the shutter)

My Nex 6 can have a spirit level in the electronic viewfinder, along with the grid lines. Neat idea and works well.
 
Nope, entirely normal!
 
I have recently acquired a camera with a built in level (EOS 80D) and find i have to tilt the camera significantly anti-clockwise from what feels right to get the camera level. I am putting it down to age (63).
 
I've had this darned problem all my life taking photos ......

Having road raced / cycled since being a nipper, having my head tilted slightly to one side as against directly crooked upwards when low down on the bars cycling is the norm so as to be able to see where i'm going:D

When in the UK my composures were typically down on the RHS, now that I live abroad and thus ride on the opposite side of the road, they tend to be down on the LHS:banghead:

Asmentioned above, becoming older probably aint doing me any favours either!

it can be so frustrating at times especially if like me, you tend to compose edge to edge in the viewfinder.
Levelling in PP then of course loses some of the image and often ruins the intended result:(
 
Rupert67 said:
It's probably an age thing (I'm 67) but I'm finding more often than not that I'm needing to straighten up my pictures during the post processing ritual. This is in spite of the fact that my 5DIII has a grid overlay in the viewfinder, which should make things easy, which it does a lot of the time, but nevertheless I'm clearly still subject to 'can't-see-straight-itis'!

Anyone else finding to their surprise that a picture they thought was dead straight actually appears slightly off vertical when viewed later on a computer screen?
Click to expand...

This is why we have so many pixels we don't really need these days - for straightening :)

67 isn't an 'age' to worry about technique, just keep shooting & enjoying - maybe a little wider than before to allow for the crop - and maybe a little higher on the ISO/Shutter speed to allow for age-excited camera shake too :)

Dave
 
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Rupert67 said:
Anyone else finding to their surprise that a picture they thought was dead straight actually appears slightly off vertical when viewed later on a computer screen?
Click to expand...


Yup! I've always had this problem and it was a real PITA in film days when you had to either live with it or get 7x5 prints done so you could crop them down to 6x4 with straight horizons. At least in this digital age we can do it in seconds with PS or whatever you choose to use. Most of my more modern cameras have levels built in to the viewfinder so it's less of a problem but I still get some cockeyed, especially using rear screens and when I'm wearing my contact lenses - I deliberately frame loose to leave more room for cropping.
 
Rupert67 said:
Anyone else finding to their surprise that a picture they thought was dead straight actually appears slightly off vertical when viewed later on a computer screen?
Click to expand...

All the time but TBH I thought it was just the drink :D
 
Hi Rupert67,,, right close to your age, along with the knees and heavy breathing from walking around the hill side. Always seems to sweat like rain on my glasses. Oh yea, forgot what I was doing. I really like the breathing taking aim, when that won't help, shooting faster, like 400iso on the older bodies, 640iso on the 1D's. Go off manual and put it on shutter priority. Also but not least,,close your eyes for a few seconds when you have just set up for your shot. Think in the dark when you open your eyes you need to shoot fast. This last one works for me cause I get mad I had tried everything else. [emoji792]
 
I totally rely on the spirit level in the viewfinder. I check it for every single shot. And I'm always off by a bit.

In the film days I would correct it under the enlarger or in the slide mount. But when I got my first digital camera, it was quite low resolution back then. So the picture would become slightly unsharp when rotated.

I had thought, as a solution, of getting one shoe made taller than the other.
 
Not age, its location.

Anywhere except in Greenwich (0 Degree Meridian) you are bound to have that tilt!

In Oz they are all upside down...................:police::police::police::police::police:

At 68, the camera is not the only thing I can't get straight anymore, but do keep trying:banana::banana::banana:
 
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It started happening with me when my cameras stopped being nicely rectangular and became all curvy and streamlined.
 
Technology is my enemy. I get used to using camera1 which has a nice steady electric horizon to line up with, then I use my older camera2 and everything is skewiff :-)
 
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