Keeping the camera level
 

Hello all...

This may sound like another silly question from me, but when I go handheld I often have a hard time keeping the camera level. My natural most comfortable position is on a slight angle and as the day gets longer and the more I hold the camera, the harder is gets making sure it's straight.

I know you have to make sure the lines in the picture are straight when looking on the viewscreen, but is there some sort of leveler available that can be attached to the camera somehow to help keep the image straight?

I'm not aware of an accessory that can be used for this (I can't even imagine how one would work) but you can go into the camera's menu and activate an on-screen horizontal line to use as a guide: Go into 'DISPLAY SETUP', select 'MARKERS' and set to 'LEVEL MARK'.

Have you considered using a monopod to help support the camera? They're cheap and almost as fast as going handheld.

You can stick a circular bubble level on top of the camera somewhere:
CIRCULAR BUBBLE LEVEL- PACKAGE - RVWholesalers.com RV Parts

This is exactly what I was looking for! I searched B&H and Lowes, but they did not have anything like that, so I wasn't sure if anyone made attachable ones like that.

I had the same problem. I found out that the camera is slightly off level if you hold it by the tophandle. Canon should have placed the tophandle a little to the side to fix this problem.
I bought a bubble level from ebay wich fits in the shoe-mount. It's low priced an can save you a lot of time in the edit bay. Even tripod mounted it's a lot of times easier to check this 2-way level instead of the tiny bubble under the tripod head. Manfrotto&Bogen 2 Axis HotShoe Bubble Level BulkPackage - eBay, Other, Digital Camera Accessories, Camera Accessories, Cameras Photo. (Eindtijd 03-apr-09 19:52:04 CEST)

Based on Hubert's post, here are some more bubble levels for cameras:
bubble level, Cameras Photo, Collectibles items on eBay.com

Daniel,

I had the same problem.
Got myself a Spiderbrace: problem solved
(the contraption automatically makes
you keep the camera level, thanks to the way you hold it)

Best

Vasco

That is good... I have one on the way to me.

XH A1 uses the Spiderbrace 2

Brian, you'll love it: that little piece of cheap plastic
literally changed my life.
One more suggestion? Add a LANC remote (I got the Libec,
the cheapest I could find, and it does what it's supposed to do
@ a reasonable cost)
Enjoy!

Vasco

I got my Spiderbrace 2 in the mail today!

yes, I got a Libec from B&H a few weeks ago.


Both of these from learning more and more on these forums! :)

I plan to video some "hobby" auto racing and think these 2 above items will help!

They most certainly will. If your "hobby" racing uses real cars, and you're not riding in one of them, you'll want a tripod if you get serious. I've shot racing footage handheld, on a monopod and a US$400 tripod. It wasn't until I spent over 1.5 grand on a Cartoni Focus did I start getting the shots I really wanted.

Shooting races is my business so the spend made sense. It may not make sense for you to go that deep.

Yes, real cars. I just meant club racing then official events. This is just a hobby videoing ( I race too ) so not sure how much racing I will film.


I have a decent monopod and tripod for my still camera ( 30D ) but they might not be enough for the XH A1. ya, 1.5G's is a bit much for a tripod... that is the cost of a camera!

Next is to update my computer to capture and post process video and then will maybe see about other stuff down the road. I sold my 70-200 F2.8 IS lens to buy my XH A1 ..... will have to plan more items down the road.

Yep, once you get some tilted shots, it becomes a bugaboo.

I went through using the spirit level thing, but running/gunning/handheld out on airfields using the viewfinder, the A1 level marker works best for me and I want the cams shoe for other things.

For tracking aircraft smoothly on take-off, once the Manfrotto 503 is levelled I'll swap to the + in the EVF to track the a/c. Also found changing the A1 zoom readout to display numbers is better, to prezoom to the correct size framing.

Why the Cartoni Focus Tripp, did you try any other sticks first?

Cheers.

Camera Lvel
 

How will you watch the level (hand held) and the view finder at the same time? That doesn't make sense to me.

I couldn't manage a spirit level and the viewfinder handheld, don't know how you could.

In the A1s menu, as Nic says, you can select 'Level Mark'. This is a thin horizontal line ------ midway on the EVF and LCD. You use that to level the cam with for example, the horizon. You can also change it to display a Centre Mark +, or a Grid #.

Cheers.

I looked at the spiderbrace, but my style is very heavy on constantly changing angles on the fly and holding the camera at different heights, so something like the spiderbrace doesn't look like it would work for me a lot of times.

I also need my left one hand free because I do a lot of zooming in and out and fast camera moves.

I just got in a Spiderbrace 2 and one of these

Libec | ZC-3DV Mountable Zoom Control | ZC-3DV | B&H Photo Video

One review
I plugged it into the back of my Canon XH-A1 and it worked like a charm Very convenient when your camera is up on sticks and you don't feel like reaching around for the zoom and on/off button.
I don't know how I lived without it now!

These two are suppose to work well together.....

Maybe next weekend I will try these out... no time this weekend.

Daniel, have you looked at the Steady Stick? I have the same trouble keeping this camera level, plus I needed to be changing heights on the fly. My only complaint with it is that there is some play at the coupler, but I've got a machinist pal who's going to fix that for me. And for $99 I can't complain.

I never heard of the steady stick before. I looked at the video on the page and it seems kind of awkward. Is it comfortable? It also seems like it may help educe any shaking.

With a little practice I reached a point where I didn't feel like it was that awkward. Limited? Definitely, but not too bad for such an inexpensive piece of gear. As far as comfort, in the position I wanted it was digging into my hip so I cinched it up a bit and got used to using it in that position. Might be different for a guy--I don't know.

You're right; it helps a fair amount with keeping the shot steady while walking. You can move the handle around to make it act like a tiny crane, which is sort of cool for a particular [tiny] shot. (That might be in the video; if so, forgive me.)

If I get the play problem taken care of I'll be happier with it, but even now it's not bad.

Some 25 years ago I adapted a monopod and belt to do the same job, it worked fairly well for stills. I resurrected it for doing video from a boat, and in cramped situations where there was no chance of using a tripod, or even a monopod fully extended.

Allan... I started with a Libec that I recall cost about US$400 and they just didn't cut it at all.

I didn't really have the opportunity to try or rent other tripods since I'm a couple of hours away from any real city. So I went on an extensive research project to find the best bang for the buck. I cannot be certain that I achieved that goal but I am more than pleased with my choice. Following the action on the track yields much smoother moves than before and I can get some lusciously slow moves for nature work. Overall, it works.

I did consider Miller and the Vinten Vision and probably would have gotten the Vinten if I'd had a bigger spend.

I'm with Tripp on this one. Started with a real cheap tripod, through a few Manfrotto's and ended up with a Vinten vision 3 with a Bebop lanc controller. It does all i want, wich can't be said from the cheaper tripods. It's a lot of mney, but really well spent.
The lowest i would consider is a Libec LS38.

For trackdays/racing you need lots of zooms and quick pans wich suddenly stops. It's there where a good tripod isn't good enough.