United Brachial Plexus Network

Just wondering what us lefties are doing to work a camera properly? It's verrrrry frustrating to find cameras are made under the assumption that a person has 2 working arms and/or can just use the right hand. So far I havn't found any company that makes a left-handed option for ple like me. Anyone else have any luck?
Right now I eithertry to stretch my short fingers to work the camera, or hold it upside down to take a picture. I'm very interested in any other ideas or techniques any of you use to work a camera.

i like photography so finding a camera that i, also a new lefty, can use was one of my first searches after i got over the shock of the injury. there are not, that i'm aware of, cameras for lefties. however, many companies make slimlines that can work. i like the optics of nikons and my p90 is now a challenge but my sister has a small coolpix that is easy to manipulate, but i have big hands/fingers. i'd suggest a trip to a big buy or some such box store and just spend some time working with whatever display models they have. keep us posted on your opinions on the models you try out.

how about some attachment?

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1 ... GL402.html

Been looking for 6 yrs. now. Nobody makes them. It is very frustrating. I as well turn the camera upside down to take pics, or use a tripod. I would like to find a good video cam to use, but can't seem to find any. I'm sure someone would custom make something to your specs. I haven't looked into that option. Good luck. Post if you find anything.

Jim

wish I had a solution. Pretty much gave up serious photography because of this. Can't work the machine properly to dictate what you want. Point an shot is it. Upsidedown!

There is a Russian camera out there for left hand. But it's an old SLR for 35mm film. Can't remember the name of it. I looked for one for a while, but dropped the hunt, because I figured I'd still have issues trying to capture what I wanted spontaneously. Any one finds an answer, I'll buy them an ice cream!

Chris


Soviet lefty Киев-6C:
http://www.sovietcams.com/index.php?1013655439

Thanks so far for all the comments. I guess for now I will have to settle for shaking my fist at the camera industry until it gets it head on straight (and saving up my rubles)
Right now I'm using a panasonic lumix dmc-lz10k. It's a pretty nice little point and shoot with a decent price (I got mine half off....even better) It's at least cabable of taking some really nice pics, has a leica lens, and has a nice set of manual options that give you much more control over your pics then a lot of point n' shoots. I've been working on the grip and I've discovered that when on, the slight telescoping of the lens allows me to curl my pinky and ring finger around the outer edge of the barrel without worry of blocking the lens. This extends my hand enough to let even my stubby fingers reach the mode dial and shutter button, and still leave the LCD screen uncovered by my palm. Works surprisingly well and feels fairly stable. I guess at this point the only way I could reasonably try to use say a "prosumer"SLR would be mounted on a tripod which is ok for private but not at all practical or engaging for every day use. A lot of people just don't realize that good photograghy is a two-handed job.........
I would actually love to get back to using the classic pentax k1000 (thank you college) just because I grew up on 35mm and I really just love the feel of film and having everything fully tactile (non-digital) I have a feeling getting used to that with one hand would be an olympic event that I'm not up to .............yet

leica are very good optics. or at least back in the 60's they were. companies change hands over time and what the brand used to provide sometimes is not what the current deal is. i also have used a small table tripod to hold the camera and the way i get around not having to also navigate the shutter button is to use the timer function. i'll set it for 10sec then compose and hold steady, i'm getting better. it's a decent exercise, ya know, to see how accomplished i can become. mine has a video function so if resolution is not a huge issue i just do clips and then grab a frame on the laptop for a picture. that works well for me.

Hahahah, I agree about the leica. It doesn't guarantee quality as it's hard to find consistant quality control in anything these days, but anything to make a point n' shoot better I'll take.
That's a nice trick with the self-timer. I'll have to try that. Seems like it would work quite well when a lot of adjustments are neede, especially for composed shots.
My first goal is to get myself to a point where I can just take the damn picture quickly and unobtrusively, and not fumble around with the grip and buttons. Any picture is better than no picture, lol. I've even whipped out my instruction manual for the camera to make sure I'm using everything correctly (I was not raised on digital cameras and all those menus can really get putsy) I still really miss the old pentax. Fully manual but still beautifully simple to use, and dark rooms are way more fun than just uploading photos, lol.

I did a little googling and came up with this. It can be used by righties or lefties.

http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/M1/M1A.HTM

Angela,
I've got use of my right, not left, so using my little point-and-shoot digital (olympus 790SW - shock, dust, waterproof - awesome camera) is easy enough, but i want to get back to using my pentax 35mm (mine is a spotmatic, a little older, bigger, and heavier than your k1000). obviously like you said, using a non-auto-anything SLR is a two-handed job. now, i can use it on a tripod, but that really limits what you can do. i'm planning to make myself a sturdy shoulder-mount for it, kinda like something i've seen pro videographers use to help them support heavier cameras for all-day shoots. (of course, i'll look like an idiot but i got over that a long time ago. see http://www.flickr.com/photos/55365281@N03/5704296707/ for proof.

basically the idea is that the camera would hang out more or less in shooting position all the time so you could wind film, set exposure, and rough-focus, i figure i can then manage to fine-tune framing the shot, fine-focus, and trip the shutter with one hand. in your case, i would suggest permanently attaching a short shutter release to put the shutter on the proper (left) side of the camera, or at least where you could reach it while focusing/fine tuning the composition of the shot. think that would work?
-b