crooked/slanted pictures

Lately I've noticed that my pictures are coming out a bit slanted. I figured that it was just me standing uneven when I took the shots, but then a friend borrowed the camera for their vacation and all their shots had the same result.

Is it possible that the sensor or something got jarred a bit? Is it something that a local camera shop can fix or does it require a visit to Canon?

It's a RebelXT, if that matters.

Thanks all...

Well, it seems that a lot of my landscape shots on my 30D and 5D are slanted too. It has to be the sensor as I would never not pay attention and hold the camera crooked

Most likely thing is that you are standing unevenly or holding the camera a little crooked.

Hello jkaufman;

Easiest way to test this is to set-up the camera on a levelled tripod (use a hot-shoe spirit-level bubble if your tripod doesn't have one), and take an image of a straight line somewhere...

But I agree, most likely it's "user error"... I do it all the time... That's why I like the "Straighten" tool so much in PS...

Lee

I did this all the time on my 350D, pretty sure it was user error as I can nail it now with Live View and grid lines turned on..

It is almost certainly the way the camera is being held. It is consistent because we are creatures of habit, and tend to hold the camera the same way all the time.

I strongly suspect that the sensor will only fit one way in the body, and that if it were not right, it would be rattling around, focus would be off, etc.

If it's the camera, then it's not normally the sensor that slanted, it's the viewfinder.

I would have agreed that it was MY user error with my shots. However, when my friend borrowed the camera and all his pictures came back crooked as well, I figured I wasn't as bad as I had originally thought and it was the camera's fault.

A crooked horizon is actually hard to see in the view finder. Because it is level in the viewfinder. Its the framing that is crooked. It does not have to be off by much for it to be obvious in a print. There are very few hand held shots that are perfect. Thoes that are close are corrected after the fact in PP.

I agree that it is most likely user error. And yes your friend may be holding it crooked as well. That is not a scientific test. Just do as suggested. But you don't need a hot shoe level. Just set the camera on a regular level ( that is set to level) and take a shot. This will prove it one way or the other.

My shots are always crooked. I need to make it a habit to use my gridlines

Did both yourself and your friend remember to wear a shoe on each foot or no shoes at all....

any combination of shoe on left foot, no shoe on right foot
OR shoe on right foot and no shoe on left foot could be resulting in "tilted" horizons.

This could result also in people asking if you had either lost 1 shoe or possibly have you recently found 1 shoe.

Anyone asked you this lately?
P31 in the user manual reads along the lines of not operating optical equipment while under the influence of drugs or alcohol. You did mention your friend was on holiday - so I can imagine alcohol could have been a factor, what was your excuse?

hehe sorry just having a bit of fun here....

Youd be surprised at how much this happens... with a point and shoot you can hold the whole camera out away from you and probably judge level easier - the dslr is a big tool and it is hard to hold nice and level all the time...

You know those new Nikon cameras have the little spirit-level meters in their cameras now...maybe Canon should too

I HAVE THOUGHT THE SAME THING.!!! But not a spirit level. Just a light that goes on when the camera is level or 90 degrees.

The viewfinder on my 30d seems a bit crooked as well. I took a handheld picture of a door frame and aligned it with the autofocus dots, only to find that I still had to rotate it a click or two in Lightroom. Not as scientific as a tripod but it was a relatively fast shot.

jaybird wrote in post #5701506
Well, it seems that a lot of my landscape shots on my 30D and 5D are slanted too. It has to be the sensor as I would never not pay attention and hold the camera crooked

Most likely thing is that you are standing unevenly or holding the camera a little crooked.

I had the same thing with the 30D, but for some reason with my 5D I seem to get it right most of the time.

I am 90% sure the VF of my camera is at a slight angle. I can line a line up with the bottom of my vf display and it comes out the same amount off (I think its like .5 degrees when i rotate in photoshop). If it werent such an easy thing to fix Id do some more testing but I really am not bothered enough by it to do omre testing.