Suggestions for bubble level?

taomei

taomei

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Hi there RF forums, I'm kind of a newbie despite being a lurker for some time.

I got a Fuji TX-1 relatively recently and have only just put it through 2-3 rolls so far, loving it! Problem is I quickly realized I need a bubble level badly as any 1 degree off creates problems :bang: and you lose quite a bit when cropping.

I see some users elsewhere have the tiny low-profile spirit bubble levels that slide into the hotshoe - but it seems impractical for some reason, being that you must view it from above (waist level shooting?). Anyone have suggestions for how they keep things level?
 
there are electronic levels with an acoustic signal (beep) on the market. If you don´t worry about the beep these are the better choice for a rangefinder system ;)
 
I haven't found any bubble level that works for handheld shooting; its just impossible to look through the finder and also look at a level. In that case, I do as best as I can by eyeballing the scene through the finder, which is usually not perfect, then I fix in Photoshop later.

For tripod work, this is the one I use:
http://cameralevel.com/hinged-level.html

It is expensive, but worth it. Better than any other hotshoe level I have tried. Its not perfect; any level that small can't be perfectly 100% accurate, but its better than the others. I wish someone made a longer level with a hotshoe base for more accuracy.
 
When I used an Xpan I had the Hasselblad hot shoe bubble level.
I used it occasionally, but as Christopher pointed out, it became more practical to really attempt to get the frame level in the viewfinder.
Unless you're working on a tripod, then the bubble level works really well.
 
Voigtlander made an eye level bubble level for the 12mm. I wonder if the bartender has any for sale? I used one with the external view on a double hot shoe. Very nice for handheld.
 
Chriscrawfordphoto said:
I haven't found any bubble level that works for handheld shooting; its just impossible to look through the finder and also look at a level.
Click to expand...

It's not an XPAN, but the Hasselblad Superwide C and C/M has a bubble level right in the finder. You can level and shoot at the same time!
 
Chriscrawfordphoto said:
For tripod work, this is the one I use: http://cameralevel.com/hinged-level.html It is expensive, but worth it. Better than any other hotshoe level I have tried. Its not perfect; any level that small can't be perfectly 100% accurate, but its better than the others. I wish someone made a longer level with a hotshoe base for more accuracy.
Click to expand...
Thank you for the link. I have a small collection of hardware store spirit levels that are all shockingly inaccurate. When working with a 4x5 from a tripod, I often mount the camera quite high, making it impossible to see the built in bubble. I have a generic acrylic shoe level, but for some reason they all have the same design which has the injection point for the cast right at the back making it difficult to read the left to right level. I have a little camping mirror to read the top level, but I more than once forgot to bring it. Having a convenient accurate bubble level should be a no-brainer.
 
Thanks for the hinged bubble level link! It looks pretty useful and handy and I might look into getting that for tripod work across multiple cameras.
 
I use my Xpan on a tripod the whole time and the only bubble level I use is the cheapest I could find on ebay! It mounts to the hotshoe unless I have the 30mm viewfinder on, and when thats on, I just put it on top of that to make sure it's level...never let me down! It's the only cheap thing I have to do with the Xpan system!! Less than $5!!
 
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