leveling off...

[dresden_phoenix]

This may bee somewhat of a noob question from someone who is somwhat experienced with photography.

Lately I have gotten into photographing buildings and other architectural structures. It seems that despite my efforts many ( not all) of my shots come out somewhat tilted tilted. It is something I easily correct with cropping in PS, since I am shooting digital i really do hate losing up to 10% of my pixels for something I should have been able to do while composing the shot on the field.

The shots and hand held and for the most part I am standing on level ground, looking up. Many times I even line up the markings in the view screen to some sort of horizon reference So I am quite surprised to find that buildings in my shot seem to be leaning one way or the other. could anyone here share any suggestions or experience they have.. it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[Mike Cash]

You've encountered the dreaded "leaning viewfinder" phenomenon. For the moment, just take some small comfort in the knowledge that you aren't the only one.

[J.Scott]

My K10D suffered from this problem. I sent it back to Pentax (under warranty) and it was repaired free of charge - minus the cost of shipping the camera to them.

[flyer]

This is called "keystoning". It happens when the sensor plane and subject are not parallel. To avoid it, you can use wider angle lens, keep it parallel to the subject and crop the unneeded part in post. If possible, try to go back further and use a longer focal length, so yoou won't tilt the camera up as much. The last (expensive) solution is to try and find a "shift lens". Such lens can be de-centered, so you can keep the camera parallel to the subject and shift the lens up to include everything. Good luck.

[little laker]

Originally Posted by dresden_phoenix

Many times I even line up the markings in the view screen to some sort of horizon reference

From what I've experienced this is the wrong approach while shooting buildings.
Use the side of your subject building to line the camera up with.
I usually just use the lines in the viewfinder as a guide.

Can you tell that I've had the same problem too many times before

[Parallax]

Originally Posted by Mike Cash

...........................For the moment, just take some small comfort in the knowledge that you aren't the only one.

.............Amen!

[volcom101]

If you really want to get that shot, I suggest that you bring a tripod and shoot that way.

Best,

Shane

[SpecialK]

Sorry, keystoning and tripods are not the issue. Misalignment of the viewfinder/sensor is.

I've had the same problem with my K100D. By the time I figured out it was the camera and not me, it was too late for warranty service. I just try to correct a little bit while shooting...yet l always end up correcting again in PP :-(

[JohnV3]

This is no solution but Picasa has an easy tool for straightening photos without using the crop feature. I'm not sure but it may have to do some minor cropping to accomplish the leveling. I haven't noticed any loss.

John

[nixcamic]

If keystoning is the issue, which i'm guessing it's not, hugin can be used to fix it. Hugin can be used to do a lot of stuff, definantly would put it as best free photography program.

[kenyee]

check viewfinder alignment first. Get a tripod and a level (building). Use the building level to tape a piece of tape to a mirror so it's perfectly level. Level your tripod head and camera. Level your viewfinder image with the tape. Take an image. The result should be perfectly level. I checked my K10D when people were saying the viewfinder is skewed. This is an old technique from the Canon G3 days where they had misaligned sensors...

Even w/ a perfect viewfinder, I find that I sometimes can't get stuff level. I concentrate on matching the viewfinder grid with some horizontal objects but I'm frequently off by 1-2 degrees.

[rfortson]

You can get a bubble level that fits in the hot shoe of your camera. That way, you can be sure the camera is level in spite of what the viewfinder may indicate.