so... in the interest of getting my lines straight, i have decided that i need one of those thingamadoohickies that you stick on the camera where the off-camera flash goes to tell you when the camera is level to the horizon...
having googled, it turns out that there are varying incarnations of this little gizmo and i am not clear on which one i need... which plane (or whatever the correct geometric term is) will the triple axis cover off that the double axis won't? and will having 3 axes to play with change my life? or turn me into a puddle of angst?
@imagenation hopefully it will help me avoid tilting the camera when i want things to be level... i find that if i am looking at something that should be a square angle, i will inevitably muck it up and the picture will make it look like the angle is 80 degrees... even when i am trying really really really hard to NOT let this happen :)
I like the two-axis one best of all (top of your list). I used that style for all my tripod-mounted shots until I got the new camera (which has a level built in, yay!)
Because it's double-height, each level is larger than in the three-axis cube, which makes it easier to read and more accurate.
The main benefit of the three-axis level is that you can tell not only whether the camera is level left-to-right, but also whether it's level front-to-back. However, that's not a very useful thing to know for most photography -- about the only time you might use it is if you are doing architectural work with a wide-angle lens and don't want to correct for converging verticals in post-processing.
Because the two-axis level can fit in your hotshoe in a few different orientations, you can also fit the two-axis level in a way that allows you to check that alignment (although it's most useful in the orientation where it shows if you are left-to-right level in both portrait and landscape format).
Don't bother with the tiny, flat levels -- they're wonderfully compact, but that's it. They only give an accurate indication when the camera is level both front-to-back and left-to-right -- if you point the camera up or down they rapidly become useless. Don't bother with electronic levels, the batteries will always be flat when you need them.
@m9f9l you make it sound so easy! ;p i've come to the conclusion that i live in a tilted world... everything i take comes out on a cant, no matter how careful i am with lining things up!
@northy I live there too! I have to get someone to realign anything I hang on the wall, because no matter how hard I try, they never end up straight. I thought I had crooked eyes, but it must be the tilted world...
@northy I've got a triple-axis level, and to be honest, the third axis is irrelevant 99% of the time. However, since it cost me just €8, it didn't break the bank to add that extra axis. Alexis (@abirkill) described perfectly well what the third axis might be useful for, so I won't repeat it here.
Basically, if you're using the camera on a tripod, both the 2-axis and the 3-axis levels will help you keep the camera straight, so any option you choose will be more than adequate.
(Also, and at the risk of stating the obvious, these bubble levels aren't of any use at all off-tripod...)
I used to own a 40D and had the same problem as you. I would line things up based on the focus points and then discover I had to fix the horizon on every photo. I then read that the focus points arent always level so I bought a EF-D focus screen for it and, because that shows a horizontal, realised that indeed the focus points were not level. Thereafter, all my photos were fine using the focus screen. Not sure if you can replace the focus screen in yours.
I have just bought one of these from eBay, can't tell you how good it is though as I'm still waiting for it to arrive, I got the one with 2 axis, cost about £1.30 so even if it doesnt help I haven't wasted my money :)
I saw it and I do want one, the hot shoe triple access thingy looks the coolest. I really just want it to put on my desk at work and make people ask me what it is so I can act superior.
@northy - yep, I live in that world too. Everything looks like it is going to slide off the side of the photo. Will follow this thread with great interest.
@aponi omg! just about spit out my juice! i am SO gonna do that... maybe i'll buy two.. one to use, and one to, y'know, leave on my desk ;p bahaaaaaaaa!
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Because it's double-height, each level is larger than in the three-axis cube, which makes it easier to read and more accurate.
The main benefit of the three-axis level is that you can tell not only whether the camera is level left-to-right, but also whether it's level front-to-back. However, that's not a very useful thing to know for most photography -- about the only time you might use it is if you are doing architectural work with a wide-angle lens and don't want to correct for converging verticals in post-processing.
Because the two-axis level can fit in your hotshoe in a few different orientations, you can also fit the two-axis level in a way that allows you to check that alignment (although it's most useful in the orientation where it shows if you are left-to-right level in both portrait and landscape format).
Don't bother with the tiny, flat levels -- they're wonderfully compact, but that's it. They only give an accurate indication when the camera is level both front-to-back and left-to-right -- if you point the camera up or down they rapidly become useless. Don't bother with electronic levels, the batteries will always be flat when you need them.
@orangecrush - which part did i lose you at? ;p
@northy
Basically, if you're using the camera on a tripod, both the 2-axis and the 3-axis levels will help you keep the camera straight, so any option you choose will be more than adequate.
(Also, and at the risk of stating the obvious, these bubble levels aren't of any use at all off-tripod...)