folding hot shoe spirit level

[Willie]

Someone made off with my folding hot shoe spirit level. In searching online I can't find the same thing. I read about it on one of the photo sites a few years back and bought it. Then while shooting someone tried it to see if it would fit his hot shoe and somehow forgot to give it back to me.

Anyone know who makes it? A web search does not bring it up.

It fit into the hot shoe, sits flat and would also flip up or, out if the camera was used horizontally. I used it on the Canons as well as the hot shoe of the Linhof Technika as I could see it from the back of the camera easily.

A link or information to the maker would be most welcome.

[asf]

I've also been looking for these ....

[xkaes]

I've never heard of these. There are lots of two-way and three-way levels that are cheap that would work both vertically and horizontally. I use a three-way, but I'll admit it is not tiny. Is the issue for you a problem of space?

[Jeff Keller]

http://www.cameralevel.com/hinged-level.html ?

[Bob Salomon]

http://www.cameralevel.com/hinged-level.html ?

Store leftovers?

[Willie]

Jeff,

Thanks for the connection. That is the hinged level I am looking for. A lot better than the blocky things that stick up and can't be left on the cameras.

Mine somehow 'disappeared' after the camera was in a group and folks were checking it out. I know it did not fall off as it fits nice and snug. Need to push a fair amount to get it off.

I'll order a couple so I'm OK in the field again.

[Tin Can]

http://www.cameralevel.com/hinged-level.html ?

$40 for that crap!

I have given up on camera levels. I might have poor eyesight but I sure see level better than any tiny level, Those digital ones are really bad. I use them to set up, but then I follow my own level.

ps: I had horrible vertigo for 20 years. An OM heart stent changed my life. No vertigo. Perfect perception of level.

This 100-year-old house is way off...got it cheap from a guy from Brooklyn.

[Tin Can]

I’m not kidding look at the geometry and mechanics of a tiny level fitted to a shoe. The tolerances cannot work.

Trust your eyes. We are built to hunt.

[Willie]

All I know is that using it I have level horizons. Much better than I do eyeballing it.
Using the flip up model I find it easy to level shooting vertital images as well.

[Tin Can]

I sorry Willie, I didn’t mean my opinion to be a personal attack. You are correct as it works for you and it’s your money.

I hope I didn’t offend you or anyone else.






All I know is that using it I have level horizons. Much better than I do eyeballing it.
Using the flip up model I find it easy to level shooting vertital images as well.

[xkaes]

Thanks for the connection. That is the hinged level I am looking for. A lot better than the blocky things that stick up and can't be left on the cameras.

I'll stick with my "blocky" three-way level -- that cost me about $5. While I don't leave it on the camera's shoe when it's packed away, there are lots of things I have to take off the camera before it is stowed. Adding/removing a bubble -- which I don't use much anyway -- is not a burden to me.

[asf]

Yes, these small levels aren’t accurate, but they can help, especially if you know the offset. Some of us aren’t as good at eyeballing it as others.

For the blocky shoe types I’ve found Kaiser to be the best. Others are hit and miss. Every 3 way block (shoe type) I’ve tried are so sloppy they’ve been useless.


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[EdSawyer]

The Jobu level is the best of this type that I have tried. Machined from a solid block of aluminum. https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/419394-REG/Jobu_Design_LVL_DB_Bull_s_Eye_Double_Bubble_Level.html

[Jeff Keller]

I take a lot of pictures of homes for sale. My experience has been that the hot shoe bubble levels are very helpful. I use a Linhof 3D geared leveling head (actually an Alpa branded version) and find that the image can be very accurately level.

A few digital SLR's don't have the sensor level with their body.


I’m not kidding look at the geometry and mechanics of a tiny level fitted to a shoe. The tolerances cannot work.

Trust your eyes. We are built to hunt.

[Jac@stafford.net]

A few digital SLR's don't have the sensor level with their body.

A few do, such as Canon. It's a digital level viewed through the viewfinder.
(And at least two MF have an analog level viewed through optical viewfinder.)

[Alan Gales]

A few do, such as Canon. It's a digital level viewed through the viewfinder.
(And at least two MF have an analog level viewed through optical viewfinder.)

My Fujifilm X100s digital camera has a digital level viewed through the viewfinder. I never use it though because I almost always use the camera for taking pictures of people.

I've found that most people are not level headed anyway so it doesn't matter! ;)

[Jeff Keller]

I was referring to the image sensor. With a few cameras you can level the body of the camera but picture won't be level. The Canon built in digital level seems to be accurate but doesn't seem to have quite as much resolution as a bubble level. The main issue for me is that I put the camera in the corner of a room and can't get behind the camera to look through the viewfinder. An external level is necessary ... and remote shutter trigger.



A few do, such as Canon. It's a digital level viewed through the viewfinder.
(And at least two MF have an analog level viewed through optical viewfinder.)

[Bob Salomon]

A few do, such as Canon. It's a digital level viewed through the viewfinder.
(And at least two MF have an analog level viewed through optical viewfinder.)

More then two. Both of the Linhof Technoramas as well as Hasselblad Wides have visible levels in the finder. And Rollei had an add on level device that could be seen through the sports finder on the TLR.

[Paul Ron]

buy bulls eye levels from amazon, 6 for $5. self stick tape it to the camera.

you can send me the $35 i saved you.

[Jeff Keller]

You have to look straight down at a bulls eye level. Not very helpful when the camera is at eye level (or higher).


buy bulls eye levels from amazon, 6 for $5. self stick tape it to the camera.

you can send me the $35 i saved you.

[xkaes]

buy bulls eye levels from amazon, 6 for $5. self stick tape it to the camera.

you can send me the $35 i saved you.

Yikes! I way over paid. All I got was ONE three-way level for $5. I could kick myself. But at least I can use it when I have my 4x5 upside down on my tripod -- and I have a few times. It's hard to "get your bearings" under those circumstances -- without a level that you can see from every angle.

[Paul Ron]

here ya go, pick one....
https://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=bullseye+levels&tag=mh0b-20&index=aps&hvadid=7010506476&hvqmt=p&hvbmt=bp&hvdev=m&ref=pd_sl_66dcw62pnf_p

[Tim Meisburger]

My favorite by far is the folding level on my Ebony. If they sold those, I would buy one for every camera I own.

[Doremus Scudder]

buy bulls eye levels from amazon, 6 for $5. self stick tape it to the camera. you can send me the $35 i saved you.


You have to look straight down at a bulls eye level. Not very helpful when the camera is at eye level (or higher).

I've installed bull's-eye levels on all my field cameras that came without levels. They work just great, especially if one takes a bit of time to level the camera and then install the level (double stick tape or glue) so that it reads level when the camera is level... you get the idea.

As for reading it. I find the bull's-eye levels easy to read at eye level looking in from the sides. I look at the level from the back of the camera to level from side to side and then again from the side when leveling fore and aft. It's just as easy to read the levels this way as looking straight down on them (if not more so since I can adjust just one axis at a time without confusion).

For architectural work, however, final leveling is always done with the grid on the ground glass; the camera might be level, but the rest of the world rarely is :)

Best,

Doremus

[asf]

My favorite by far is the folding level on my Ebony. If they sold those, I would buy one for every camera I own.

Those have a folding mirror and are much more useful, if only there was a source for those …


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[Jeff Keller]

Doremus,

Wouldn't a small T-type bubble level (https://www.ebay.com/itm/Ten-2-Axis-23mm-x-15mm-T-Dual-Tube-Vial-Bubble-Spirit-Level-Screw-Mountable/152811086007?hash=item23944020b7:g:W9UAAOSw~gRVnBsc) work better?

I needed to replace a level on my Norma a couple years ago. I needed to put a couple holes in the small t-bubble level but it works fairly well.



I've installed bull's-eye levels on all my field cameras that came without levels. They work just great, especially if one takes a bit of time to level the camera and then install the level (double stick tape or glue) so that it reads level when the camera is level... you get the idea.

As for reading it. I find the bull's-eye levels easy to read at eye level looking in from the sides. I look at the level from the back of the camera to level from side to side and then again from the side when leveling fore and aft. It's just as easy to read the levels this way as looking straight down on them (if not more so since I can adjust just one axis at a time without confusion).

For architectural work, however, final leveling is always done with the grid on the ground glass; the camera might be level, but the rest of the world rarely is :)

Best,

Doremus

[Jac@stafford.net]

More then two. Both of the Linhof Technoramas as well as Hasselblad Wides have visible levels in the finder. And Rollei had an add on level device that could be seen through the sports finder on the TLR.

Thanks for that, Bob. For the rest of us, the early (I don't know about later, don't have one) Hasselblad SWC viewfinder has a 90° view from eye-level to the target level embedded into the body. Elegant, simple, expensive.

So I wonder if an add-on circular bulls-eye level with a 90° mirror might be helpful. For a source of the mirror I would look to Edmunds and especially discarded old folding cameras.
.

[Doremus Scudder]

Doremus,

Wouldn't a small T-type bubble level (https://www.ebay.com/itm/Ten-2-Axis-23mm-x-15mm-T-Dual-Tube-Vial-Bubble-Spirit-Level-Screw-Mountable/152811086007?hash=item23944020b7:g:W9UAAOSw~gRVnBsc) work better?

I needed to replace a level on my Norma a couple years ago. I needed to put a couple holes in the small t-bubble level but it works fairly well.

A T-bubble level would work fine too, if you have room. Most of my cameras are don't have a lot of exposed surface area on the top, so I opted for the smaller bull's-eye level. Note that you need one that has transparent sides to look through in order to use them at eye level; similar to the ones illustrated here: https://www.leveldevelopments.com/products/circular-levels/plastic-circular-vials/

More important is mounting the level(s) correctly. Since there is often play in the camera back, I set up a shot of a building that I know is level and plumb (e.g., a modern well-engineered structure) with my gridded ground glass and make sure all verticals are parallel. I then test fit the level and see what it might need in the way of shims, etc. to get it to read correctly with the camera thusly set up. Sometimes I'll use a double thickness of double-sided tape strategically placed to do the trick. Then it's mount the level and check again. Even with the level carefully mounted, I'll still trust my eye and the grid over the level reading.

Best,

Doremus

[Tin Can]

Wysiwyg

[chassis]

Agree with Doremus re: architecture and using the ground glass. I also check with a torpedo level to confirm. I sometimes wonder about the square-ness of a sheet of film in the film holder, and the square-ness of the film holder in the spring back - not a big issue and solutions are readily found.

[Willie]

On the 35mm and 120 cameras I use the hot shoe level, the model that flips up and like it.
For the 5x7 and 8x10 I use either a torpedo level or this solar powered calculator/level/angle finder/tape measure. It is small and the tape measure helps with bellows extension for figuring exposure.
Have tried the small block/cube type levels and they work but I like the flip up as it stays on the smaller cameras.

[Kerosene Hat]

I've done well with a bag of 20 small levels for $8 from Amazon / China, and affixing a couple to my field camera with industrial strength Velcro. A non-fastened one helps me get my front standard level. YMMV