Discussion
Which eye do you put to the viewfinder?
Are you "ambi-ocular" by any chance??
Are you a "leftie" like me?
I always thought I was in a small minority, insisting upon doing things the difficult way. Which includes the stupid habit of turning the camera anti-clockwise for portrait mode - worst possible technique unless you have a VR. Turns out that I've met quite a lot of people who do it the "challenging" way as their natural preference....
Are you "ambi-ocular" by any chance??
Are you a "leftie" like me?
I always thought I was in a small minority, insisting upon doing things the difficult way. Which includes the stupid habit of turning the camera anti-clockwise for portrait mode - worst possible technique unless you have a VR. Turns out that I've met quite a lot of people who do it the "challenging" way as their natural preference....
beano500 said:
Which eye do you put to the viewfinder?
Right, as I have a nose.
beano500 said:
Which includes the stupid habit of turning the camera anti-clockwise for portrait mode
I found it depends on the shutter release design/position. With my trusty old Ricoh XR-7 I kept right hand down, braced against my chest and used the thumb to fire. However on the F70 and D70 this feels totally wrong and liable to slip, so I now use the 'hand over the top' technique quite happily.
size13 said:
I have the strange habbit of using my right eye for the viewfinder, but still using my left eye to see if there is any other action going on!
I do exactly the same, especially when shooting parties/events.
People will tend to use their 'master' eye - I am right master, so I use my right.
Most men are right master, a minority are left.
In women it is a pretty even split.
Some people have NO master eye.
To find out which of your eyes is dominant:
a. Look at a door across the room or an opposite wall,
b. Focus on the door knob or a light switch,
c. Extend both hands out in front of you and overlap your thumbs and index fingers to form a rough circle about 2 inches in diameter,
d. Center the door knob or light switch in the circle, and then,
e. Keeping the object centered, bring your hands back to your face.
When your hands touch your face, your dominant eye will be looking through the circle.
Another way is to point at it, and close one eye and then the other, the one that has your finger still pointing at the object when it is open and the other is closed, is your master eye.
(How do I know this? I am a qualified Clay Pigeon shooting coach, and master eye is one of the first things you determine before letting someone fire a gun)
Further to this, your master eye is the one that provides the main picture. The other one just 'fills in' providing 3D and associated speed/distance info.
In shotgun shooting it is important to keep both eyes open, as otherwise you cannot judge speed and distance. In rifle shooting you can close one eye, and use your 'best' one (master) as things don't tend to move that much ;-)
If you want a more fun test (and in a PH theme), try driving with one eye, and you will suddenly realise how important having 3D vision really is.
In shotgun shooting it is important to keep both eyes open, as otherwise you cannot judge speed and distance. In rifle shooting you can close one eye, and use your 'best' one (master) as things don't tend to move that much ;-)
If you want a more fun test (and in a PH theme), try driving with one eye, and you will suddenly realise how important having 3D vision really is.
Phil S said:
In rifle shooting you can close one eye, and use your 'best' one (master) as things don't tend to move that much ;-)
You have to use your right eye if you are right handed! Otherwise expect some nasty injuries from the recoil!
Ah Ha, but, you could hold the rifle in your left shoulder (unless it's a nasty one like SA80, where you would get rounds ejected into your face).
Rude Girl said:
My left eye is shortsighted whilst the right is longsighted. Doesn't always make things easy!
Used to work with a guy who had the same situation. Quite a larg difference to normal in each eye. However, combined the effect was neutral, proscessed out by the brain. So he was adivsed to leave it like that. No prescription.
Must be his brain build - he is also excellent at multi-multi tasking on complicated subject. (Pretty crap at trivia though!)
size13 said:
I have the strange habbit of using my right eye for the viewfinder, but still using my left eye to see if there is any other action going on!
I remember years ago reading about a motor sport photographer who always used this technique and si I tried to adopt it myself.
When I remember to do it and get into the swing it works very well. Highly recommended, though getting the focus right can be a problem. Works best for me with pre-focus on the point you wish to grab the image.
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