What is your experience with using a bubble level?

[milosh]

I am curious to hear do you always use your bubble level and can you rely on it all the time?

I'm using a bubble level just like this one:


and I've found myself in many situations where a horizon that should be level (according to the bubble level) looks really crooked. I then have to disregard what the bubble level is telling me and simply adjust the tripod head according to my sight. I've seen many professional landscape photographers saying they rely on it for their every photo and it works great. They swear by it.

I guess it works better for folks who shoot seascapes, but since my every horizon is a "local" horizon so to say (a line of trees, bushes, etc.. very far away) I very often find it misleading.

[Woody]

I've been worried about getting my shots level as well, especially stitched panoramas. My conclusion is that I just use my natural judgement and then using a grid in Lightroom, just tweek it level there.

It works for me.

Cheers,

John W

[sk66]

I think it depends....are you trying for a capture of reality or a level horizon? Not all horizons are, nor should be, level. However, all "verticals" should be vertical; a level is good for that and for pano's.

[milosh]

Originally Posted by sk66

I think it depends....are you trying for a capture of reality or a level horizon? Not all horizons are, nor should be, level. However, all "verticals" should be vertical; a level is good for that and for pano's.

I'm not really sure.. Here's an example: this is a raw sooc, just resized for upload. For this photo, the bubble level showed a different angle as a correct one (don't have a photo) but it looked crooked so I readjusted it to my liking. Now the "horizon" (the grass line behind the trees) looks ok but the tree is leaning slightly to the right. But that leaning tree doesn't look so weird as the original leaning horizon did. What to trust in cases like this one? I think it was like this every time I tried to use it.

[OsmosisStudios]

Luckily my camera has a built in aviation-style horizon system. Works a treat on a tripod, especially when used in conjunction with the gridline overlay

[navcom]

I think you need to rely on your composition first, your bubble second. As Steve says, all horizons are not level in the real world. The bubble will orient to a gravitational "level" but the horizon may not do the same. The world is not perfectly flat and about the only place a bubble will guarantee level is when looking out to sea...at least level enough for photography. All terra firma is sloped, even if slightly, one way or the other. Even a wide and flat open field sometimes is skewed enough that if you rely on the bubble, it will be slightly off.

My Pentax also has a built-in "attitude indicator" which is really no different than an external bubble. I use it quite a bit but only to get close. I still verify it in the viewfinder. What it does work well for is shots in very low light or at night when it's just not possible to see the horizon...it will at least get you close enough in many situations that you won't have to crop half your image away to make it level in post.

[inkista]

I love my 2-axis bubble level, but I'm not using it for composition or straight horizons. I'm using it for spherical pano coverage with a Y-string plumb line. The plumb line tells me if I've moved in space, the bubble axes tell me if I've rotated in roll. I also use it with a monopod to make sure I've kept the monopod perpendicular. Different usage.

[milosh]

Originally Posted by navcom

I think you need to rely on your composition first, your bubble second. As Steve says, all horizons are not level in the real world. The bubble will orient to a gravitational "level" but the horizon may not do the same. The world is not perfectly flat and about the only place a bubble will guarantee level is when looking out to sea...at least level enough for photography. All terra firma is sloped, even if slightly, one way or the other. Even a wide and flat open field sometimes is skewed enough that if you rely on the bubble, it will be slightly off.

My Pentax also has a built-in "attitude indicator" which is really no different than an external bubble. I use it quite a bit but only to get close. I still verify it in the viewfinder. What it does work well for is shots in very low light or at night when it's just not possible to see the horizon...it will at least get you close enough in many situations that you won't have to crop half your image away to make it level in post.

I agree. Based on my experience so far, the right way is to set it level through the viewfinder. And since all of my landscapes are inland, that's the only way for me. I will certainly try to make use of it once I get to a sea shore.

[Krusty79]

As soon as I tilt my lens down to get some foreground interest in the shot, I find my level useless. The best way for me to get the horizon straight is if I have a body of water to line up with the horizon. However, this doesn't work when shooting the Pacific Ocean! I just try to get it close so I don't lose much of the image when I correct it in PP.

[mipo]

First thing I place on the camera when I use the tripod.
Not always follow its indications.
But I start with a level camera then assess what the picture composition needs.