when is level not level

[huwm]

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I have found myself correcting the horizon on a lot of my shots recently despite use of the green 'level' gauge bars whilst shooting. As I live on the coast i often have a handy 'known' horizontal level to use and find it to be out by about 2 to 3 degrees at times. Has anyone else had this problem and what did you do? I have been unable to find any information with regard to potentially recalibrating. 

[david strachan]

Hi,

I've never had much luck with "in camera" levels either.  So i usually use the viewfinder lens view markings to try to get as close to level. But they are very rarely perfect.

After some research, because i remembered how picky my camera club mentors were about sloping horizons...

I came to conclusion, horizons off horizontal by as little as 0.3 degrees would upset someone. 

...

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[Photoworks]

I click auto just in post.

[helged]

2 hours ago, Photoworks said:

I click auto just in post.

+1.

[david strachan]

So do I.

[huwm]

It's not great but seems to work reasonably most of the time.

I just hate having to do anything in post, my aim being to get it 'right' at the time.

[hansvons]

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I ditched the green level gauge bar and switched on the grid. That thing is a feature all better cameras offer, and Leica felt compelled to implement it. It takes away a short glimpse of time by forcing you to adjust your images to make that bar turn green. The grid, however, doesn't turn green but gives me an intuitive idea of the correct horizon. The camera handling stays intuitive, and the chances are higher that you get that odd shot. Much better. 

I use auto-adjust all the time. 

[LocalHero1953]

I agree the level gauge is not accurate (on SL2-S or Q2). It is occasionally useful when I'm taking shots of a (performance) stage looking upwards from one corner, where the level gauge provides at least a basic anchor to real world verticals and horizontals.

[huwm]

Thanks for the responses

I'll just ditch it and rely on my 'gut' with maybe the grid too

You're absolutely right hansvons it does waste time 

[BernardC]

I use a bubble level in my hot shoe. It's especially useful when shooting wide, because tilt makes images feel un-natural. Not much help when framing through the lens, but it works once you get a feel for your lens's coverage.

[LD_50]

I use the grid or the frame edges rather than the virtual horizon. I’ve done this with all my cameras with success. 

[Photoworks]

Since I shoot so much architectural, having the horizontal lights straight is a plus.

For me the green line get you close, but it is not very responsive, same from Leica to canon, Sony and Hasselblad on a gear head tripod .

I have invested in many many bubble levels, most of them even from the same production don't level the same if you put them all on the table. Strange but true.

[SrMi]

FYI:

SL2 and SL2-S store the roll angle (leveling) in the DNG files. You can use "dng_validate -v" command line to check the roll angle in radians at the time of the shot (e.g  <xmpDSA:RollAngle>-0.099998474). 

[Eclectic Man]

Are you using a tripod, or handheld, checking whether the camera is horizontal before taking the shot?  If handheld it could be (apologies) 'user error'.  If you are getting it horizontal on a tripod, then I'd ask Leica to have a look, as something may be wrong with the 'artificial horizon'.

A test would be to set up a spirit level perfectly horizontal and one vertical and photograph them from a tripod using both landscape and portrait modes, but just using the green artificial horizon, and also try the same handheld. (Horizontal and vertical lines through the centre of the image to avoid spherical aberration issues.)

Good luck!

(I do wonder why the IBIS does not have a setting for 'Camera on tripod, make the sensor level' , but then I'm only a 'user'.)

Edited February 14 by Eclectic Man
Added idea for a test.

[Photoworks]

18 hours ago, Eclectic Man said:

(I do wonder why the IBIS does not have a setting for 'Camera on tripod, make the sensor level' , but then I'm only a 'user'.)

I don't think the sensor moves enough to level every shot. I think Benro made a new tripod that does level at a push of a button.

[SrMi]

20 hours ago, Eclectic Man said:

(I do wonder why the IBIS does not have a setting for 'Camera on tripod, make the sensor level' , but then I'm only a 'user'.)

Pentax has something like that, AFAIK, but it has issues.

If using Adobe software, you can auto-level in post. It requires proper leveling calibration, though.

Edited February 15 by SrMi

[david strachan]

One needs a level in hot shoe or something on the tripod if using film cameras.

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[Sandokan]

When facing dead on to the sea horizon, it looks level and green line confirms it. It is when I have the sea at an angle to the camera that there is a discrepancy between green line and a visibly straight horizon. Then I ignore the green line. 

Hasselblad horizon level is VERY sensitive.