Which bubble level to believe?

The best answer is to have the level in the camera, a la the 7D. We wait three more years for the next iteration of the 5D.

tvphotog wrote in post #8753182
=tvphotog;8753182]The best answer is to have the level in the camera, a la the 7D. We wait three more years for the next iteration of the 5D.

hmmm. i didn't know that. how does it work?

ed rader

ed rader wrote in post #8753347
hmmm. i didn't know that. how does it work?

ed rader

I don,t know the details, I read about it in the www.dpreview.com review of the 7D.

Basically, once you've done with the AF points for AF you can activate a "level" mode and it uses the AF points to show how you're doing.

The hot shoe mount on my 1DsMkII appears to be pretty much bang on level in both axis lines, which I checked my tripod first with a 6 vial carpenter's level and then on the hot shoe.

I've ordered a Jobu 3 axis hot shoe bubble level which doesn't need to be reoriented when in the portrait mode and am looking forward to getting straighter shots and especially so when I wish to just hold the camera lower to the ground and use the level as my guide...because sometime my aging body doesn't like bending that low or laying in the dirt.

Ordinarily, I can get a shot within half a degree of plumb with my eye but working at odd shooting heights, it should prove to be a valuable tool. Keep in mind too, the electronic display in the 7D can't be used if you can't see the screen.

I'll test it out and post a shot once it arrives in the next day or two.

Cheers!

Curtis N wrote in post #8744797
I've never understood the idea of a hotshoe level.

You look through the viewfinder and you level the horizon across the frame. If you can't tell it's off kilter then, you won't be able to tell in the picture either.

sorry Neil but that is not my experience at all. i'm usually about a degree off on the right side. and some shots have no horizon and you have to go by vertical lines which will be plumb if the frame is level (unless there is WA distortion).

a hotshoe level gets me close enough that i may have to do nothing or a very minor tweak.

i try to fill the frame when doing landscapes and if i'm off two or three degrees it sometimes ruins the composition....it's happened to me many times.

in short, i'm a fan of the hotshoe level. it's not perfect, but for me it's consistently better than eyeballin' it .

ed rader

Some of us can hang pictures straight, others cannot. As an electrician (many moons and careers ago) I never needed to use a spirit level on sockets, switches and the like. I always did anyway, but my eye is reasonably good at it naturally. My wife on the other hand is dreadful at it.

But being a degree or so out is not the end of the world. God invented Photoshop for that and a million other things. Sadly he did not invent DPP.

SkipD wrote in post #8746525
You can easily test any spirit level that you're trying to use with your camera.

Suspend a plumb bob (or a home-made equivalent) so that the line (string) is in your test scene. Level the camera as accurately as possible with the spirit level. Position the camera so that the plumb bob line is near one end or the other of the image. Make a test exposure. Now, examine the image (on a computer, not the camera's tiny display) and see if the plumb bob line is parallel to the side of the image.

Do the above for each spirit level setup that you have and see what works best for you.

Excellent idea, Skip!!!

I was having the same problem with my hotshoe level and the level in the RRS MPR-CL2. When I layed the MPR-CLII on a flat granite floor and rotated it, the bubble indicated that the floor had changed it's tilt from one direction to the opposite. I sent it back to RRS for replacement. He sent it back to me after evaluating it saying that all of them were off to about the same degree and that it was within spec.

My panoramics line up pretty well with my hotshoe level, so I'm satisfied with its accuracy.

Curtis N wrote in post #8744797
I've never understood the idea of a hotshoe level.

You look through the viewfinder and you level the horizon across the frame. If you can't tell it's off kilter then, you won't be able to tell in the picture either.

For me, getting the back of the camera plumb while shooting a building interior is more of a chore than getting it level--much harder to distinguish in camera, especially when it's seldom desirable to be parallel to the opposite wall.

bunyarra wrote in post #8752053
Works great for one dimension but the camera needs to be level in 2 for architecture.

Actually I think the lens needs to be level in 3 planes; horizontal and vertical axis and the front lens element must be framed square to the subject, zero shift in the Z axis I guess you would call it. The last one is much more difficult for and I think some form of laser measurement must be taken unless someone has a great technique short for getting Z aligned correctly.

jetcode wrote in post #9128714
zero shift in the Z axis I guess you would call it.

Usually not, though, except for copy work.

RDKirk wrote in post #9128782
Usually not, though, except for copy work.

IMO it makes a difference with really wide lenses. Everything has to line up precisely to reduce perspective distortion and get good edge to edge focus wide open (assuming that is possible, 14L, 21 Distagon). That's where I like to be before I stop down a lens.

I think copy work such as photographing artwork is often done on a precision platform with 3 axis position control though I have only seen 1 rig that did this and it was pricey.

RDKirk wrote in post #9128782
Usually not, though, except for copy work.

And for architecture. It will kill your roof lines if you are not quite face on to the building or wall.

Not found a good solution for this except using a lined focus screen - and that is often a bit out once you get to PS.

There is obviously a reason the top architecture photog's take 3-4 shots / day

Lowner wrote in post #9127044
Some of us can hang pictures straight, others cannot. As an electrician (many moons and careers ago) I never needed to use a spirit level on sockets, switches and the like. I always did anyway, but my eye is reasonably good at it naturally. My wife on the other hand is dreadful at it.

But being a degree or so out is not the end of the world. God invented Photoshop for that and a million other things. Sadly he did not invent DPP.

being off a degree when running conduit is within tolerance but on a landscape it's unforgiveable .

ed rader