Hotshoe spirit level.

There seem to be two types; one type has a
clear plastic cube with columns of
fluorescent liquid enclosed, and the other
type has a "bullseye" level on top of a plain
plastic cube.

Which is best, assuming I will be always
looking down on to the camera.

"Peter Jason" wrote in message
...
There seem to be two types; one type has a clear plastic cube with columns
of fluorescent liquid enclosed, and the other type has a "bullseye" level
on top of a plain plastic cube.

Which is best, assuming I will be always looking down on to the camera.

I find the bullseye ones hard to use. YMMV.

One thing to watch out for is that there is often a bit of play in the hot
shoe mount, and sometimes "level" will be with the bubble slightly off to
one side of dead center.

There's one that has a 45-degree prism above it allowing you to level the
camera from normal shooting position. The local camera store has it on the
shelves, but I don't know if it is available online or not.

David J. Littleboy
Tokyo, Japan

In article , David J. Littleboy
wrote:

"Peter Jason" wrote in message
...
There seem to be two types; one type has a clear plastic cube with columns
of fluorescent liquid enclosed, and the other type has a "bullseye" level
on top of a plain plastic cube.

Which is best, assuming I will be always looking down on to the camera.

I find the bullseye ones hard to use. YMMV.

I agree. The bullseye ones are also worthless in portrait orientation,
whereas the cube type can be shifted to a proper orientation.


One thing to watch out for is that there is often a bit of play in the hot
shoe mount, and sometimes "level" will be with the bubble slightly off to
one side of dead center.

I don't have that problem with mine - it's snug. If you find one
that's loose, I'd imagine a little bit of scotch tape in the grooves
would snug it up).

My problem was frequently (and accidentally) knocking it off, often
losing it. I bought several off of eBay for about $5 each (because I
kept losing them). My solution was to take one of those lens cap
retainers with the self-adhesive dot on each end and secure one end to
the level and one to the camera. Now it sticks around if I knock it
off, and I can take it off when I want to use the flash without having
to stow it away somewhere.

--
You need only reflect that one of the best ways to get yourself a
reputation as a dangerous citizen these days is to go about repeating
the very phrases which our founding fathers used in the struggle for
independence.
-- Charles A. Beard

"Ken Lucke" wrote:
David J. Littleboy wrote:

One thing to watch out for is that there is often a bit of play in the
hot
shoe mount, and sometimes "level" will be with the bubble slightly off to
one side of dead center.

I don't have that problem with mine - it's snug. If you find one
that's loose, I'd imagine a little bit of scotch tape in the grooves
would snug it up).

Actually, it's not so much the play as a discrepancy between camera level on
the tripod and level level on the level, which means that when you rotate
the panorama head, you find that the camera isn't level.

David J. Littleboy
Tokyo, Japan

In article , David J. Littleboy
wrote:

"Ken Lucke" wrote:
David J. Littleboy wrote:

One thing to watch out for is that there is often a bit of play in the
hot
shoe mount, and sometimes "level" will be with the bubble slightly off to
one side of dead center.

I don't have that problem with mine - it's snug. If you find one
that's loose, I'd imagine a little bit of scotch tape in the grooves
would snug it up).

Actually, it's not so much the play as a discrepancy between camera level on
the tripod and level level on the level,

"level level on the level" ... cha cha cha... g

which means that when you rotate
the panorama head, you find that the camera isn't level.

Oh, OK... I get you. Fortunately, none of mine have seemed to have
had that problem, they're been accurate as far as I have been able to
determine.

--
You need only reflect that one of the best ways to get yourself a
reputation as a dangerous citizen these days is to go about repeating
the very phrases which our founding fathers used in the struggle for
independence.
-- Charles A. Beard

On Thu, 11 Jan 2007 12:10:14 +0900, a levelheaded David J. Littleboy
wrote:

Actually, it's not so much the play as a discrepancy between camera
level on the tripod and level level on the level

Really? Is this really on the level?

And lo, Peter Jason emerged from the ether
and spake thus:
There seem to be two types; one type has a
clear plastic cube with columns of
fluorescent liquid enclosed, and the other
type has a "bullseye" level on top of a plain
plastic cube.

Which is best, assuming I will be always
looking down on to the camera.

Speaking of levels, and not meaning to hijack the OP's post, but has
anyone ever heard of a hot shoe mounted spirit level with a small
light powered by the hot shoe? It could potentially turn on when the
shutter was half depressed (since the flash would receive a focus
signal), and then turn off after a moment.

How cool would that be?

--
Aaron
http://www.fisheyegallery.com
http://www.singleservingphoto.com

I find the two separate tubes better if you are trying to achieve a level
horizon. You get a precise reading of the horizon no matter what angle of
tilt you use. The bullseye type usually has quadrant marks, so if you center
the bubble in the front mark when the camera is pointed up (or the back mark
when pointed down) you achieve the same thing, really. It's mostly a matter
of taste, but I think the dual tube type is a bit more precise.

Toby



"Peter Jason" wrote in message
...
There seem to be two types; one type has a clear plastic cube with columns
of fluorescent liquid enclosed, and the other type has a "bullseye" level
on top of a plain plastic cube.

Which is best, assuming I will be always looking down on to the camera.

I'm with Toby. I recently did a series of images of houses with Christmas
lights, and the bubble is easier to see in the dark. If you have the camera
up on a tripod, you can see the bubble from below and behind the camera.
--
Mike Russell
www.curvemeister.com/forum/


"Toby" wrote in message
...
I find the two separate tubes better if you are trying to achieve a level
horizon. You get a precise reading of the horizon no matter what angle of
tilt you use. The bullseye type usually has quadrant marks, so if you
center the bubble in the front mark when the camera is pointed up (or the
back mark when pointed down) you achieve the same thing, really. It's
mostly a matter of taste, but I think the dual tube type is a bit more
precise.

Toby

"Peter Jason" wrote in message
...
There seem to be two types; one type has a clear plastic cube with
columns of fluorescent liquid enclosed, and the other type has a
"bullseye" level on top of a plain plastic cube.

Which is best, assuming I will be always looking down on to the camera.

Toby wrote:
: I find the two separate tubes better if you are trying to achieve a
: level horizon. You get a precise reading of the horizon no matter what
: angle of tilt you use. The bullseye type usually has quadrant marks, so
: if you center the bubble in the front mark when the camera is pointed
: up (or the back mark when pointed down) you achieve the same thing,
: really. It's mostly a matter of taste, but I think the dual tube type
: is a bit more precise.

: Toby

The biggest difference between the use of a pair of tubes or a bullseye
level is where you will be looking from. The proper way to view the tubes
is generally from the side (tho it is possible to use from above). But the
Bullseye is only useable viewed from above. One other concideration a
bullseye level takes up less room as it is just one dome, frequently about
the diameter of a dime. While a two tube device needs about a square inch
of space.

One thing that was hinted at above, I personally don't find a level on my
camera overly useful. The only thing this level will do is make sure the
camera is level. But I rarely worry about the camera being level but I DO
care if the tripod is level. I have two seperate bullseye levels on my
tripod. One is on the base, below the pan/tilt head, and one is on the
base that the camera attaches to (on top of the pan/tilt). The lower one
will give me a level base to make sure panoramas are rotated in a single
plane parallel to the earth. The upper one is used if I need the
rotational plane to be the same plane as the camera (a flat horizon will
be centered in the image all the way around). I use this one much less
frequent. Well designed cameras will have the base, which attaches to a
tripod, parallel to the plane of the center of the lens. I have heard
that some inexpensive cameras are not, but I have never personally had
one in my possession that I have found to be incorrect. Thus if I level
the top of the tripod head with relation to the earth, the camera will
also be level.

IMHO, YMMV.

Randy

==========
Randy Berbaum
Champaign, IL