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Adrian
Tinkerer
Username: Adrian
Post Number: 179
Registered: 08-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, July 07, 2008 - 10:23 am: | 
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Just a random thought really - I've noticed it most with SLRs, though it may just be that they are more obviously lopsided than, say, a compact.
Most SLRs seem to have the lens mount off-centre, usually to the right as you look from the front. Is there a mechanical reason for this, or is it simply a matter of 86% of the population being right-handed?
Adrian |
Glenn
Tinkerer
Username: Glenn
Post Number: 379
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, July 07, 2008 - 07:05 pm: |
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There just happens to be more mechanical bits in the wind on side of the traditional slr, and this traditional layout has been carried over into electronic era - housing batteries etc. Obviously there are exceptions, but why have a camera body larger than it needs to be? If all the population was left-handed, then the asymmetry would no doubt be the opposite way round - no real reason why you cannot have a left-handed camera.
I must say that although I am left-handed, I find the slr much easier to use in its present form, than if one was built for left hand shutter release/wind on. For me the left hand carries out the most critical functions - focus and zoom, thus the present design of slr is the one that is the most natural and fastest in use. |
Adrian
Tinkerer
Username: Adrian
Post Number: 180
Registered: 08-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, July 08, 2008 - 02:45 am: |
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I must confess, I opened a film door last night and thought "Ah!" - there is indeed more "stuff" on the wind side, at least on a Nikon F3 which has two spools at that end. The Trip 35, which appears symmetrical (and, of course, isn't an SLR) has just one...
Funny you should say that about the left hand doing the important things, Glenn. My girlfriend is left-handed and she says the most left-hander-friendly camera she's ever used is my Balda Baldessa - which has all the gubbins to the right side! I think it's just a nice shape to hold securely with the left hand.
I was alarmed a little while ago to realise that the focus on Nikon lenses is the opposite direction to other models. I didn't actually notice when I used one first - either because I'd been using scale-focus cameras for a while, or I'm just plain thick, but oh boy, did I notice when I went back to my OM-10! For most of the film, I was trying to turn the wrong way first...
Adrian |
Alex
Tinkerer
Username: Alex
Post Number: 67
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, July 08, 2008 - 04:03 am: |
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I too am a sinistral, and like Glenn, I find it more natural and convenient to steady the camera on my left hand, and use my left fingers to operate the focus and aperture rings.
There's possibly some interesting thesis material on conventions on left and right handed systems, such as driving on the left or right, focussing to the left or right, and so on. With the likes of driving, all have to conform to the same scheme, whereas for things like lens focussing, it's different. One of the reasons why my Nikons get less use than my Yashicas and Contaxes is, as Adrian observers, that the focus ring has infinity at the opposite side from other makes. My fingers know instinctively that if something nearer is to be focussed on, it's 'thumb up, fingers down', and vice versa to focus on something farther away. It takes a while to 're-programme' the fingers when using the Nikons.
Thinking about the positioning of the film gate, it might be to minimise wastage in the film cassette. There's always going to be wastage at the leader end, but it would make sense to have the film gate closer to the cassette end, to minimise the amount of film left in the cassette after the last exposure. Of course, that might just be fanciful thinking on my part, as I've never tried to measure the difference. |
Mndean
Tinkerer
Username: Mndean
Post Number: 56
Registered: 08-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, July 09, 2008 - 08:39 pm: |
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Glenn,
Now you know the reason why I never got a Nikon. I learned on an M42 SLR, and every other camera I have had focuses the opposite of a Nikon. I have one lens which came in a package with many other items, a Sigma zoom which focuses the Nikon way, though it isn't for a Nikon. Guess how often I used it. It sits quietly in its case now. |
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