How do you hold your DSLR?

[The Grays]

I always keep my hand craddleing the under side of the lens. It gives me more stability and less of a chance of someone kitting my elbow.

Dan

 

[mabas9395]

Using my camera would sure be easier if I wasn't left-eyed. I'm developing a bad case of right-eye envy.

 

[elizke]

Wow, I never even realized that most people use their right eye.

Now I feel odd. I'm right handed, so I've always been in the majority, so this feels strange.

I close the right eye too. Didn't know that was not good. Don't have a DSLR yet either, (I will by year's end I tell ya!) but when I've used one I do at least hold it under the lens like most do, so that's reassuring.

And when I do portrait, the right side of the camera goes up.

Interesting thread about things I never thought about.

 

[jann1033]

since we are on the topicof holding a camera, i can not see for the life of me how the live preview with the tilt screen ( sony?) would be useful at all for what they show it in the commercial...holding the entire camera away from your body to use the tilt screen like a digital point and shoot,,,i am just picturing doing that with a big lens, wobble wobble wobble....it looks like a dslr, maybe it isn't (i always miss the exact name of the camera.) i can see it for other uses ie macro on a tripod, but not instead of the eyepiece for all shots like they claim( says something like it 's another world when you look out from behind the eyepiece? huh? it makes no sense to me at all)

portrait left side up, everything else remains the same although for some dumb reason lately the strap keeps flapping over the eyepiece which is driving me crazy
at least you left eyes don't get nose grease all over your lcd

 

[Dcanoli]

...although for some dumb reason lately the strap keeps flapping over the eyepiece which is driving me crazy...at least you left eyes don't get nose grease all over your LCD!

I thought I was the only one that had to keep pushing the strap away! AARRGGHH!!

...and as for us "left-eyers," YES we do get nose smudges on the LCD!

 

[rtphokie]

The only thing consistent in the way I hold my camera is that it is rarely level.

 

[DVC Eric]

I hold under the base of the camera and lenses and i have my left eye closed i really don't know why.

 

[SonyaM]

My daughter holds the D80 like this....

And here is her photo of me with the D300
(both hands on the camera for prime lenses, which I use 90% of the time these days)

 

[Groucho]

Heh, that reminds of these photos. This isn't a DSLR, it's an old Yashica rangefinder, but here's how my kid (a little over 2.5 years old at that point) holds a "real" camera.

He's inherited our old Minolta X20 PnS now and actually taken some photos on your own, mostly of his toy cars or after lining up various "kid" things like baby powder, etc. We haven't let him play with an SLR yet (more for his own protection than the camera!)

Jann - I know what you mean about the camera strap (that's probably a downside of the Op/Tech loop strap), and definitely know what you mean about nose prints on the LCD - a constant irritant! Forget making the LCD bigger, they sure figure out an automatic wiper for it, like for your car's windshield.

 

[wkrider]

Those are great pics of the kids!!

 

[MickeyWanaBe]

Wow, I never even realized that most people use their right eye.

Now I feel odd. I'm right handed, so I've always been in the majority, so this feels strange.

I close the right eye too. Didn't know that was not good. Don't have a DSLR yet either, (I will by year's end I tell ya!) but when I've used one I do at least hold it under the lens like most do, so that's reassuring.

And when I do portrait, the right side of the camera goes up.

Interesting thread about things I never thought about.

I also thought using my left eye was normal. I have never really tried it using my right eye.

at least you left eyes don't get nose grease all over your lcd

When I read that leftys don't get the nose smudges I really began to worry that I was doing something wrong. Not only do I use the wrong eye, but I also smudge the LCD with my nose!

Glad to hear I am not the only one, Dcanoli.

I can't wait to get home and try out the other eye.

Anyhoo, I hold the camera with my left hand supporting the camera and lens from underneath and right hand on the right side. Portrait photos the right side goes up usualy, but I have been know to go both ways on that. Oh and I am right handed if that makes any difference.

 

[wdwensel]

I hold mine like everyone else, left hand on the bottom of the lens, or to the side of it. I'm a lefty, so I use my left eye (while nose-greasing the screen), and I usually have the left side of the camera on top when shooting portait.

Or when shooting an assignment called "under cover", I don't use any hands at all:

 

[Gdad]

My daughter with her D40 using perfect form to capture the elusive 'Hello Kitty'

 

[Steve's Girl]

My daughter with her D40 using perfect form to capture the elusive 'Hello Kitty'

She does a lot better than me! I never really paid much attention to how I held my lens until I recently got a bigger zoom lens and realized how important the infamous long lens technique really is. So, now I'm trying to unlearn all my bad habits and hold the lens "correctly". (being defined as left hand under the lens supporting the weight of the lens....and all that stuff)

 

[Groucho]

I actually didn't think of it earlier, but there were times last trip where I would actually hold some of the longer lenses by the lens hood. Theoretically, the farther apart your hands are, the steadier they are (which is why the ideal steering wheel position is hands at 9 and 3, not the commonly-though 10 and 2), so this may have helped the lens stay just a tiny bit more steady.

Think of it like a teeter totter - if you try to hold it still by grabbing the middle, it won't work very well. You need to go to the edges to get some control over it.

 

[jann1033]

The only thing consistent in the way I hold my camera is that it is rarely level.

for some reason recently every photo i was taking was about 1 degree off to the right..i was starting to think my camera was out wack cause they looked straight when i took them( i was checking and rechecking the horizon before i took the shot)...till i realized for some stupid reason i had developed the habit of tilting my head slightly when i was taking a photo so of course the horizon looked fine thru the tilted eyepiece but not so good afterwards... guess i skipped the "keep your head upright dummy" lesson from "techniques for holding a camera 101"

of course i was alone taking a photo when i realized that and started laughing out loud at my own stupidity. all the mom's gathered their little children together and quickly walked away from my area, ie"shhh honey , come quickly, that lady is nuts, nutty people laugh like that when they are by themselves..."

 

[Groucho]

for some reason recently every photo i was taking was about 1 degree off to the right..i was starting to think my camera was out wack cause they looked straight when i took them( i was checking and rechecking the horizon before i took the shot)...till i realized for some stupid reason i had developed the habit of tilting my head slightly when i was taking a photo so of course the horizon looked fine thru the tilted eyepiece but not so good afterwards... guess i skipped the "keep your head upright dummy" lesson from "techniques for holding a camera 101"

of course i was alone taking a photo when i realized that and started laughing out loud at my own stupidity. all the mom's gathered their little children together and quickly walked away from my area, ie"shhh honey , come quickly, that lady is nuts, nutty people laugh like that when they are by themselves..."

I'm not sure if it's from holding my head crooked, but like others, I often find my shots just slightly off-level. I saw a site a couple months ago that sells cheap (probably in quality as well as price) photo equipment, they had a bubble level that fit into your hot shoe, so you can just look at that to see if you're level.

Obviously that mainly helps on a tripod where you can look at while shooting... what camera makers need to do is forget everything else and put a digital level readout in the viewfinder! Now THAT would be a killer feature!

 

[Dcanoli]

for some reason recently every photo i was taking was about 1 degree off to the right..i was starting to think my camera was out wack cause they looked straight when i took them( i was checking and rechecking the horizon before i took the shot)...till i realized for some stupid reason i had developed the habit of tilting my head slightly when i was taking a photo so of course the horizon looked fine thru the tilted eyepiece but not so good afterwards... guess i skipped the "keep your head upright dummy" lesson from "techniques for holding a camera 101"

of course i was alone taking a photo when i realized that and started laughing out loud at my own stupidity. all the mom's gathered their little children together and quickly walked away from my area, ie"shhh honey , come quickly, that lady is nuts, nutty people laugh like that when they are by themselves..."

Can I just say something about this post?

I was looking at some of my pictures today (on camera), and I thought to myself, "Why are all my pictures tilted?" Everything I'm taking lately is tilted!

LOL...Glad I'm not the only one doing this!

 

[boBQuincy]

Can I just say something about this post?

I was looking at some of my pictures today (on camera), and I thought to myself, "Why are all my pictures tilted?" Everything I'm taking lately is tilted!

LOL...Glad I'm not the only one doing this!

There is a common condition with the eye muscles that causes many people to tilt their heads to one side. I have about 2 degrees of this in many of my photos unless I am careful to remember to notice the horizon. It can be corrected but is usually not recommended unless it becomes a big problem.

Most digital cameras have an orientation sensor, maybe a tilt sensor (like in Craftsman digital levels) will be added soon!

 

[bumbershoot]

Adding to the head tilt discussion....head tilt can be caused by vertebral subluxation, so you guys might want to find a nice chiropractor to help. As I finished college I noticed that the pictures of me over the years were showing more and more head tilt. Had my neck adjusted with a very specific technique, and pinballed all the day down the hall, as my world was brought upright. It's amazing how the world looks when your head is on straight!