lefties cameras

Martin E. Morris

Martin E. Morris

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Martin
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Hi there all,
I don't post much on here at all but since I sold all my gear due to a stroke which left me without the use of my right side. I'd already lost my right eye years ago and using any camera with a touch screen was a pain because my nose got in the way and changed certain aspects before I took any pics which got me so annoyed(I cleaned that up a bit).
I have heard that Canon are bringing out a dedicated leftie at some point.
Have any of you heard of this? also does any other manufacturer have lefties without attaching gadgets and gizmos to the (normal) right handed models.
I'm dying to get back into photography, admittedly I won't be able to scale any heights I used to but there are plenty of other avenues I could try.
Cap
 
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There are a lot of posts and topics, on various blogs and forums. I found these by looking on search engines, but most of the articles are a few years old. Seems that manufacturers, were being asked about a camera for left handed people. Not sure if anything ever came of it.
 
Box Brownie said:
I doubt that there will be a camera designed specifically for 'lefties' :( ...
Click to expand...
It would cost a manufacturer, a fortune. They would never be able to recoup their investment.

No, I could not see one being designed.
 
Surely Live-view can be used by left and right handers?
I would have thought a mirrorless camera would be ideal. A cage mounted camera (as in video cage ) could have a wired shutter button mounted on it that would suit your specific circumstances.
 
kendo1 said:
Surely Live-view can be used by left and right handers?
I would have thought a mirrorless camera would be ideal. A cage mounted camera (as in video cage ) could have a wired shutter button mounted on it that would suit your specific circumstances.
Click to expand...
But the OP said, " a stroke which left me without the use of my right side". So I think he may need the shutter button on the left.

But yes, maybe a shutter release would work.
 
jonbeeza said:
But the OP said, " a stroke which left me without the use of my right side". So I think he may need the shutter button on the left.

But yes, maybe a shutter release would work.
Click to expand...

I was once without much of the use of an injured right hand for a while. I ended up attaching a handle to the camera in the form of a folded up monopod. That gave me a fat comfy handle I could easily grip and carry with my left hand, and easily hold up a heavy camera with a heavy lens to my eye. I had the monopod foot extended slightly so that I could tuck it into my trouser belt to take some of the weight in a long hold. I had a radio shutter release attached. The trigger was elasticated to the monopod in a position that I could reach to press the trigger with the index finger of my left hand while holding the monopod handle with the other fingers. Sounds complicated, but once set up it was quite quick and easy to use.
 
chris malcolm said:
I was once without much of the use of an injured right hand for a while. I ended up attaching a handle to the camera in the form of a folded up monopod. That gave me a fat comfy handle I could easily grip and carry with my left hand, and easily hold up a heavy camera with a heavy lens to my eye. I had the monopod foot extended slightly so that I could tuck it into my trouser belt to take some of the weight in a long hold. I had a radio shutter release attached. The trigger was elasticated to the monopod in a position that I could reach to press the trigger with the index finger of my left hand while holding the monopod handle with the other fingers. Sounds complicated, but once set up it was quite quick and easy to use.
Click to expand...
Nice little set up, you managed there. :)

I hope @Martin E. Morris does get something organised. Not much fun, if you can't enjoy your hobby.
 
Slightly OT but you can use a phone camera single handed, maybe with the addition of a grip like the shoulder pod etc.
 
I can't see a left handed camera being likely any time soon. I noticed in a video that Steve McCurry uses his left hand to fire the shutter. Apparently he has a damaged right arm, but he does hold the camera via a grip in his right hand. I found a link which shows some pictures of him in action - http://www.raulechivarre.com/shooting-with-steve-mccurry.html
 
I just tried using my left hand to fire the shutter button, on my Compact camera. It is doable, but I do have long fingers. I know it wont be easy, for others, especially with a disability.
 
sphexx said:
As others have said, manufacturers won’t be interested because the market is too restricted. You say “without attaching gadgets and gizmos” but don’t say why you exclude attachments. Surely there are many solution using remote releases and grip/brackets such as:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/JJC-HR-R...mera-video-recording-Stabilizer-/141414844201
Click to expand...


a good few years ago i modified an old Hama grip very similar to the one in the link it was for film cameras with the mechanical remote cord i'm pretty sure i put a couple of micro switches in the grip to trigger auto focus and shutter and wiring / jack plug to suite
it was fine for smaller cameras with short lenses but felt very awkward with a DSLR and long lens

something like that would probably suite a micro 4/3rds camera or some of the mirroless cameras around today

to be honest i didn't know they were still making them it's well over 10 years ago since i modified the one i have
 
sphexx said:
As others have said, manufacturers won’t be interested because the market is too restricted. You say “without attaching gadgets and gizmos” but don’t say why you exclude attachments. Surely there are many solution using remote releases and grip/brackets such as:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/JJC-HR-R...mera-video-recording-Stabilizer-/141414844201
Click to expand...
Steve McCurry uses something like this - he shoots with both hands, but it looks like he has limited use of his right hand. Connect a remote release cable and the setup should be usable with one hand. Obviously this would be easier with a smaller camera.
http://www.raulechivarre.com/shooting-with-steve-mccurry.html
 
Martin E. Morris said:
Hi there all,
I don't post much on here at all but since I sold all my gear due to a stroke which left me without the use of my right side. I'd already lost my right eye years ago and using any camera with a touch screen was a pain because my nose got in the way and changed certain aspects before I took any pics which got me so annoyed(I cleaned that up a bit).
I have heard that Canon are bringing out a dedicated leftie at some point.
Have any of you heard of this? also does any other manufacturer have lefties without attaching gadgets and gizmos to the (normal) right handed models.
I'm dying to get back into photography, admittedly I won't be able to scale any heights I used to but there are plenty of other avenues I could try.
Cap
Click to expand...

I was going to suggest a touchscreen, as some both focus and fire the shutter, at the same time.
 
Either a cable release or a wireless remote will allow left-handed use.

Back in the day, the East German Ihagee made Exakta and Exa cameras that were entirely left-handed and even produced one with two shutter release buttons, one on the left and one on the right.
 
jonbeeza said:
But the OP said, " a stroke which left me without the use of my right side". So I think he may need the shutter button on the left.

But yes, maybe a shutter release would work.
Click to expand...

I addressed that problem.
 
I would have thought by now, there would be a smart camera. Voice command, to alter settings, and to fire the shutter. Can a smart phone already do that? :thinking:
 
over the years iv'e tried various methods for left handed only use of a camera and with out some sort of support it's nigh on impossible with a DSLR

the camera grip mentioned above works for smaller cameras and if you can use a tripod the best head i have come across is one of the manfroto 322RC2 heads which can be set up for right or left handed use, there's also a shutter release add on that can be used with it but the price is high and i'm not entirely sure how it connects to the camera

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Manfrotto-322RC2-Heavy-Duty-Grip/dp/B000JLK5PK

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Manfrotto-322RS-Electronic-Shutter-Release/dp/B00131LBAI

i still have the luxury of using my right thumb to press the shutter, holding the camera left handed has become second nature but without the use of my right thumb the camera would have to be supported one way or another
 
john.margetts said:
Either a cable release or a wireless remote will allow left-handed use.

Back in the day, the East German Ihagee made Exakta and Exa cameras that were entirely left-handed and even produced one with two shutter release buttons, one on the left and one on the right.
Click to expand...
More or less proves the point that the market won’t allow it to happen — I guess some guy in the politburo was left handed or one armed or maybe Walter Ubricht himself ;)
 
You can hold and trigger full size SLR with the lefthand using the lower grip and lower (side) trigger.
In this situation adding a monopod below helps with the balance, and of course can be extended and used like a monopod is intended to be.
 
sorry to hear about your health issues.
regarding the screen you can switch that off of course.
I'm left eye dominant and always use my left eye when snapping.
I would steer away from canon to start with and look at mirrorless options for reasons of handling and weight to start with.
much more accessible if you don't have use of both hands.
 
jonbeeza said:
I was going to suggest a touchscreen, as some both focus and fire the shutter, at the same time.
Click to expand...
Touchscreens aren't an option for someone with the use of only one hand because you need to hold the camera with one hand and touch the screen with another.

How about a "pistol-style" grip, a bit like the Steve McCurry grip posted above, but with a trigger built in so you can operate with one hand?
31PomI7nUnL.jpg


This one for small cameras: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Maxsimafoto®-shutter-release-trigger-smaller/dp/B009D3F7HG
This one for bigger cameras: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Neewer-Professional-Handheld-Trigger-Replacement/dp/B00NIJJ06U

Actually, they look like the same item, but the second one shows it with a small DSLR on it. Though I would probably be tempted to put either M4/3 or Sony A6000 series or at most a Canon 200D.

Here's a video of one being setup:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyV7CxcAbEs&vl=en


Here's another pistol grip, this time attached to a Vanguard tripod:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPRhn9584To
 
Retune said:
Steve McCurry uses something like this - he shoots with both hands, but it looks like he has limited use of his right hand. Connect a remote release cable and the setup should be usable with one hand. Obviously this would be easier with a smaller camera.
http://www.raulechivarre.com/shooting-with-steve-mccurry.html
Click to expand...

interesting how he uses the shoulder strap to support his right arm. And his over hand use of his left hand to release the shutter.
It would be interesting to see him actually working close up.
 
to be honest i don't think much can be gained from Steve McCurry's technique of holding a camera
it looks like he has developed a way of holding / steadying the camera using his right hand to hold a pistol type grip and his left hand curled over the camera to press the shutter which works for him but of little use for somebody who can only use there left hand with no right hand assistance so to speak
 
FWIW
My Olympus E-PL5 didn't have a viewfinder, my most common method was to hang it off the neck strap, just above waist height with the screen folded out at 90 degrees facing up.
That allowed me to frame and compose and use the touchscreen without supporting the weight of the camera.
I now have an E-M10 Mkii which has an EVF but still often shoot this way as you get a very stable base and the angle can be flattering for family snap shots.
Olympus can be set to touch to focus/touch to focus and fire/touch off.

I think of it as a box brownie stance like the main illustration here.
https://www.thoughtco.com/brownie-camera-1779181

Might be worth popping into a camera shop and trying out a flip up screen mirrorless?
 
cosmicma said:
to be honest i don't think much can be gained from Steve McCurry's technique of holding a camera
it looks like he has developed a way of holding / steadying the camera using his right hand to hold a pistol type grip and his left hand curled over the camera to press the shutter which works for him but of little use for somebody who can only use there left hand with no right hand assistance so to speak
Click to expand...

Hence why I linked to pistol-style grips with a shutter/trigger built in, that way it can be focused and fired with one hand.

Like this
31PomI7nUnL.jpg
 
ABTog said:
Hence why I linked to pistol-style grips with a shutter/trigger built in, that way it can be focused and fired with one hand.

Like this
Click to expand...
And why I linked the same grip at post #7 :(
 
ABTog said:
Hence why I linked to pistol-style grips with a shutter/trigger built in, that way it can be focused and fired with one hand.

Like this
31PomI7nUnL.jpg
Click to expand...

i have one and have already spoke a little about my experiences using it

unfortunately the OP hasn't got back yet so we don't know what type of camera he wants to use or under what circumstances
 
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