hot shoe spirit levels

[zlatkob]

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I've had pretty good luck with the simple Manfrotto hot shoe level, although I haven't compared a few of them for accuracy. Using it at night in the dark would require a flashlight.

[ho_co]

Not so accurate are they?

 

Alan--

Didn't Einstein say something about local gravity warps? Do you suppose that could be the cause of what your photo shows?

[Manolo Laguillo]

hi,

 

because the use of a spririt level is mostly done with the camera mounted on a tripod, perhaps it would be better using the levels some tripod heads come with.

But those levels are usually off...

 

I do own since last may the d4 Arca-Swiss head. The spirit levels (it has 3) are exact by 1/10 of a degree, says the designer.

 

The upper platform, the one that holds the "Flip-Lock" rapid attachment system (see the drawing on the left, that's the one I have, there are others available), can rotate. Therefore, after levelling the camera, you can pan it without losing the levelling. There is another rotating possibility all the way down, on the usual level.

 

Small, compact and light (only 800 gr), this head is not cheap, but it is the best one. It can easily support 30 Kg, and so it can become your one and only tripod head.

 

On the field the handling is 1st class. I like very much having the fine geared adjustment. If you unlock the movements, the thing becomes a ball head.

 

The d4m model (see the picture on the right) does not have the gearings, being therefore 160 gr lighter.

The absence of protruding handles is very important, and also the fact that the movements on the x and y axes work on the same point.

 

I don't know if this head would be the best choice if you use were going to use it with long telephoto lenses on a DSLR for sport, birds, etc, but it works wonderfully when doing landscape and architecture, and also interiors or portrait.

 

I use it mostly with the 28mm PC Super-Angulon on the M9, kind of small and light view camera.

 

More information here:

arca-swiss - rotules et appareils photographiques pour la photographie numérique et argentique en moyen et grand format

It's in french, but not that difficult to understand.

 

Regards,

 

Manolo

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[masjah]

I can't recall. Some are cheap ones because I got tired of breaking and losing expensive levels. I've had the same issue with the $36-40 Kaiser ones and the cheap ones. I might lean toward the expensive ones if I could line up a few of them in the store and see if they agree. They still can move around in a hot shoe. There is a lot of wiggle room in rotation when the camera is in the vertical position so even a "perfect" bubble level may not be so accurate in use. But this electronic level looks much more worth it than the overpriced bubble levels.

 

Here is my collection: (The black box is a beeping level I made.)

http://goldsteinphoto.com/Posts/level1.jpg

 

The rotational wiggle in the vertical position is a real problem.

 

I bought a cheap level that looks like a clone of the (overpriced IMHO) Manfrotto one. My sample seems accurate when tested against a much larger non photographic device, so I guess I'm lucky. I would have hoped that the Manfrottos were selected for accuracy, given their price, but I don't know this.

[davidbaddley]

At one point I noticed that many of my pictures seemed crooked from my camera tipping down to the right when I was sure I had carefully composed them to be level. I guess I was somehow dipping the camera slightly as I pushed the exposure button. Since then, I have been very careful to squeeze the camera between the base of my palm and my index finger (on the shutter button) rather than just pushing the button. This has solved much of the problem, and helped me quite a bit.

 

- David

[thighslapper]

To be honest......if you can't get verticals and horizontals correct when using a tripod by eye then I do wonder what sort of world you live in ...... OK at night maybe you need assistance but otherwise its not an issue......

 

The main problem is hand held wide angle lenses where you have to juggle composing with the external viewer and then lining up with the viewfinder.... and even then it is difficult.... unless you resort to the Frankenfinder.......

 

I have tried several of the illuminated LED ones and have yet to find a satisfactory way of mounting them in a position where you can see the LED's out of the corner of your eye to compose and level simultaneously..... you need some sort of double offset flash mount so the device sits above and in front of the viewfinder......

 

Anyway, too much technology is a powerful distraction from taking photos, so all the gizmos and trial bits have gone back in a drawer where they belong.

 

Back to practice, practice, practice and 'straighten' in Aperture for the worst offenders.....

[Manolo Laguillo]

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To be honest......if you can't get verticals and horizontals correct when using a tripod by eye then I do wonder what sort of world you live in ...... OK at night maybe you need assistance but otherwise its not an issue......

 

It can become difficult to correctly level (both right/left and front/back) the camera on a tripod by eye, indeed. The point is, of course, what is "correctly"for you? For me "correctly" can be only 100% right, not 80%. If it's correct, it's correct. "Nearly correct" is not correct. Period

After this outburst :-), may I explain myself better. I work professionally in architecture, landscape and cityscape photography since 35 years, and the only way of knowing "by eye" if the camera is level is by comparison with the vertical lines around you. But they are not always vertical. I remember in one assignment that I did detect a slight imperfection on the verticality of a 6 store high building because the verticals were clearly off. If I had levelled the camera by eye, comparing with the building's lines, everything would have been off. Levels on the camera must be in itself levelled, of course...

 

It's strange, but often it is easier to level the camera hand held than on the tripod.

 

Anyway, too much technology is a powerful distraction from taking photos, so all the gizmos and trial bits have gone back in a drawer where they belong.

 

Where do you trace the line between 'enough' and 'too much' technology, being photography a technology? BTW, a bubble level is not 'too much' technology, and using it can become second nature.

 

 

Back to practice, practice, practice and 'straighten' in Aperture for the worst offenders.....

 

I agree, of course. Levelling the camera must be learned. It is not easy, because the photographer must manage small error margins. Something similar happens when you must make a perfectly frontal view of a building, where the squarness has to be preserved on the picture. It's easy to think, but difficult to make!

[gyoung]

Not so accurate are they?

 

I have had one of those for about 20 years, no idea what make, the packet is long gone, seen much use for copying and architectural stuff on SLRs, and it seems to be accurate, I must have struck lucky!

 

As far as Ms are concerned, I have lost count of the number of slides I have remounted because horizons are not level, I seem to have a built in right hand lean

 

Might have something to do with the fact that my eyes and ears are not 'level' in my skull, something which becomes very obvious when you wear glasses and the optician has a struggle to line everything up

 

Gerry

[christer]

Not so accurate are they?

 

Calibrate them yourself with a permanent marker or a sharp knife.