WTB: hotshoe spirit level

Nikolai · June 23, 2006

I can see them at adorama and b&h (as well as in many other places), but it seems a bit strange to pay $25..$35 for a tiny piece of a translucent plastic.. :scratch
I'm looking for something under $10 (better under $5:-) :dunno
TIA :thumb

gtc · June 23, 2006

level
i use a a round one, plastic, that I bought from a hardware for $5.00

you could get the crossed cylinder type-two planes-for about $10.00

Nikolai · June 23, 2006

Does it have a hotshoe mount?

gtc wrote:

i use a a round one, plastic, that I bought from a hardware for $5.00

you could get the crossed cylinder type-two planes-for about $10.00

But hey, it might be a cool DYI project: get a level, use the file to profile it to fit the hotshoe:-)

Thanks!

Art Scott · June 23, 2006

Nikolai wrote:

But hey, it might be a cool DYI project: get a level, use the file to profile it to fit the hotshoe:-)

Thanks!

Way toooo much work....find someone in a machine shop and have run thru a Manual Milling machine.......heck of a lot faster and some of the machinist just might do it for free.

Nikolai · June 24, 2006

Art,

Art Scott wrote:

Way toooo much work....find someone in a machine shop and have run thru a Manual Milling machine.......heck of a lot faster and some of the machinist just might do it for free.

If I had a MMM, I'd do it myself, I'm qualified.. The problem is - I have no idea where to look for one. Westlake Village and Thousand Oaks are anything but industrial zones..

Thanks for the idea, though

David_S85 · June 24, 2006

Calumet sold me the same basic yellow dual mount spirit level a few years back for about $8. Now I see they're $29.99. Must have got some new employee that didn't look it up, or they didn't know they could get 30 bucks for it back then.

They shouldn't be that much. But they are.

Nikolai · June 24, 2006

David,

David_S85 wrote:

Calumet sold me the same basic yellow dual mount spirit level a few years back for about $8. Now I see they're $29.99. Must have got some new employee that didn't look it up, or they didn't know they could get 30 bucks for it back then.

They shouldn't be that much. But they are.

That what ticks me off! I saw tons of this yellow boxes in Utah, and every single person I asked about the price was saying something to the extent of $5..$10. But when I look online the lowest price is $15..$19, and that one is associated with like $10 s/h, so essentially, same $25..$30 (or even way more).
I don't get it..

gtc · June 24, 2006

i find that i don't need a mount
i put it on the flat circular rotator at the top of the legs under the head to level the tripod,then mount the camera and put the spirit level on top of the hot shoe,level the camera and put it in my pocket...if you wanted to you could blu- tak it or similar but there is really no need

Nikolai · June 24, 2006

Greg,

gtc wrote:

i put it on the flat circular rotator at the top of the legs under the head to level the tripod,then mount the camera and put the spirit level on top of the hot shoe,level the camera and put it in my pocket...if you wanted to you could blu- tak it or similar but there is really no need

That's exactly the thing: I'm not sure that I need it, so I would like to try. And since it's obviously not something I will use everyday, it will take me much longer than any standard return period..

I'm OK to spend $5..$10 to experiment, but spending $25+ for a potential no-gonna-use-piece-of-junk is killing my psyche..:):
Cheers, mate!

Nikolai · June 24, 2006

OK, got something to play with..
One trip to OSH (hardware chain) and $1.99+tax made me a proud owner of an Empire Bullseye Level:

No shoe mount

, but fits any pocket

(it's a quarter size in diameter and a quarter of an inch thick:-) and should do the job until I decide I'm ready to play with the Big Dogs:-)

Thanks for your help!

Art Scott · June 24, 2006

Does your camera have a flash shoe cover....if so get an extra one and super glue the bullseye level to it.......now you have a level that is shoemountable and will not just fall off .

wxwax · June 24, 2006

Nikolai wrote:

One trip to OSH (hardware chain) and $1.99+tax made me a proud owner of an Empire Bullseye Level:

No shoe mount , but fits any pocket (it's a quarter size in diameter and a quarter of an inch thick:-) and should do the job until I decide I'm ready to play with the Big Dogs:-)

Thanks for your help!

I can't make those work.

The only one I can make work has a vertical level and a horizontal level. That way, no matter the camera's oreintation and angle, I can always level it. Can't do with a bull's eye level, at least, I can't.

Like this.

Art Scott · June 24, 2006

wxwax wrote:

I can't make those work.

The only one I can make work has a vertical level and a horizontal level. That way, no matter the camera's oreintation and angle, I can always level it. Can't do with a bull's eye level, at least, I can't.

Like this.

Aren't these already made to fit hot shoe?

At least the ones fron porters are made to fit shoe...but almost $40.00

wxwax · June 24, 2006

Art Scott wrote:

Aren't these already made to fit hot shoe?

At least the ones fron porters are made to fit shoe...but almost $40.00

Yes, hot shoe sliders on them. I bought mine a few years ago, I don't think I paid $30-$40, but I see that's what they're going for now.

Art Scott · June 24, 2006

it wasn't that long ago that they were selling for under$10 at B/H and Adorama....and place like Porters and other like them had them for under $5......I do not understand how prices can jump so high (exception gasoline and oil of course) in such a short period of time.

Nikolai · June 24, 2006

Thanks, Art

Art Scott wrote:

Does your camera have a flash shoe cover....if so get an extra one and super glue the bullseye level to it.......now you have a level that is shoemountable and will not just fall off .

I had no idea there is such thing as a flash shoe cover... I will check it out!
Thanks, man!

gtc · June 26, 2006

keep it loose
i prefer to keep it loose-use it to level the tripod base and then onto camera hotshoe to level the camera and then off into the pocket-levelling the base ,then maybe the head does most of the work for you .

then finally the camera-this way your head is not at an angle to achieve a level horizon,which avoids balance problems with long lenses

.its also cheap enough to lose out in the field,but like lens caps that at put straight into the pocket tghis has not happened yet.

David_S85 · June 27, 2006

One of the reasons I went with RRS' PCL clamp on top of the ball head was the bullseye level that was built-in so I would never have to mess with a hot shoe based spirit level again.

A spirit level is still good for hand-held shots though, but I tend to cheat and just rotate the shot in an editor if I get it wrong (which is most of the time).

Nikolai · June 27, 2006

David,

David_S85 wrote:

One of the reasons I went with RRS' PCL clamp on top of the ball head was the bullseye level that was built-in so I would never have to mess with a hot shoe based spirit level again.

A spirit level is still good for hand-held shots though, but I tend to cheat and just rotate the shot in an editor if I get it wrong (which is most of the time).

May I ask you: what is the advantage of having $275 PCL clamp on top of the (already expensive) ball head (presumably the one with panoramic lock/knob) compared to having $1.99 (or even $30) separate spirit level?
I honestly wondering...

WTB: hotshoe spirit level

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