Left hand shooting.

Jeroen

No idea where to post this. Big Picture seemed most appropriate :-)

A friend of mine had an accident and has lost all the function of his right arm. This means he cannot use a DSLR in the proper way. I am trying to find a solution so he can use his Canon DSLR using only his left hand. I'm trying to find a simple and elegant solution without the use of a lot of duct tape :-)

What I came up with untill now:

- Get him a battery grip and turn the camera upside down.
This means everything is upside down and he can't see or reach the top of the camera. It also makes the camera very heavy. He cannot hold the camera with 2 hands.

- I have a Hasselblad pistol grip laying around that he can have. Maybe get a remote for a Canon DSLR and tweek the grip a bit.
This seems the best idea so far.

If anyone has a good idea, I am open to any sugestion. :thumb

marionet

Holding a camera steady with one hand seems like it might be difficult, especially if he's used to being right-handed. There might be (or maybe could be made) a support that goes around his neck, like the neck supports for harmonicas. Then a cable release could do the shutter.

Jeroen

Fortunately he has always been left-handed. But i was thinking about that too. I tried to shoot upsidedown with my own battery pack in 1 hand. That's pretty shaky indeed. Thanks for the input.

chrisjohnson

Jeroen wrote: »

Fortunately he has always been left-handed. But i was thinking about that too. I tried to shoot upsidedown with my own battery pack in 1 hand. That's pretty shaky indeed. Thanks for the input.

Sounds like a nightmare. If it happen to me I would be researching monopods or figuring out how to operate a remote with my teeth. When all else fails it would be p&s from now on.

angevin1

Jeroen wrote: »

No idea where to post this. Big Picture seemed most appropriate :-)

A friend of mine had an accident and has lost all the function of his right arm. This means he cannot use a DSLR in the proper way. I am trying to find a solution so he can use his Canon DSLR using only his left hand. I'm trying to find a simple and elegant solution without the use of a lot of duct tape :-)

What I came up with untill now:

- Get him a battery grip and turn the camera upside down.
This means everything is upside down and he can't see or reach the top of the camera. It also makes the camera very heavy. He cannot hold the camera with 2 hands.

- I have a Hasselblad pistol grip laying around that he can have. Maybe get a remote for a Canon DSLR and tweek the grip a bit.
This seems the best idea so far.

If anyone has a good idea, I am open to any sugestion.

I know if that happened to me the first thing I'd try is mounting my camera on a lightweight tripod. and then using a remote such as the Rc-6 to trigger the shutter. Yet, I just tried something else and it was simple. I grabbed my 5Dmk2 with 40mm lens attached and was able to pick it up, look thru the viewfinder, compose and fire all with my left hand only. I gripped it with: Hand under body, thumb up front and fingers extending around the stock grip. Have you tried that?

KevXman

I Googled left-handed DSLR and here is one that is pretty clever and fairly simple.

http://www.petapixel.com/2010/04/24/aluminum-dslr-attachment-for-left-handed-shooting/

Good luck!

—Kevin

deb22

Jeroen, I may be able to help, I lost full use of my right side and and arm and have only part use of left and I live with severe nerve pain in the one that's left. To boot I was right handed and it took me a long time to figure it out. Holding a camera like normal is not possible for me, the angle sucks and even a pound is too heavy. I shoot wild life so with a canon L 100x400 and a 200L prime and a 17 wide angle, Here is what I do. Buy one of those lens rings that fit around the barrel [ Can't think of the name right now but you know it surrounds the lens and can be a quick release when attached to a tri-pod.] That is the part you hold and then with a wired release on the inside of the ring you press with any finger. It will give full versatility of movement and give him the freedom he needs. You must buy a large one [even fits on a wide angle] to allow for a proper grip. Rest the bottom of the ring in the palm of your hand with fingers wrapped around the ring so fingers point to the left, the shutter release can be loose or attached and any finger[or thumb] can press it. It is amazing how much weight can be held with this method and just turning arm sideways will allow for vertical shots as well. The 1x400mm is crazy heavy and I can do it quite easy, The ring balances the lens and camera if placed correctly so he should be fine with flashes or what have you attached. Settings are another story, it just can't be done unless the camera is put down so if he gets real good at presetting his ap,shutter speed etc, and uses his body to adjust depth etc, he can still do a fantastic job. Tell him it may seem that people are looking at him but really it is not true and most will not even notice until they want to shake his hand to introduce themselves and they realize he cant until his camera is put down and his left arm extended. His confidence will return way faster if he starts doing something right away so he can realize nothing is impossible. Good luck to both of you, He will do fine with a friend who is going the extra mile to search things out for him. If he has any questions in the future please have him contact me anytime for any additional support. [ mental or physical]

Jeroen

Thanks everyone for all the tips :-)

@deb22
Thank you! That looks like a really good solution and I will certainly tell my friend about that.
To be honest, I never expected a reply from someone who experienced the same problem. I am very glad you replied to this thread. Thanks again.