Horatio
Masked photographer
I've always preferred the left eye when using SLRs and find it challenging now to use the right eye with the CL. Anyone else?
My first 35mm camera was a Minolta Hi-Matic F, when I was 13 years old, but I don't really remember which eye I used with it.
My first 35mm camera was a Minolta Hi-Matic F, when I was 13 years old, but I don't really remember which eye I used with it.
raydm6
Yay! Cameras! 🙈🙉🙊┌( ಠ_ಠ)┘ [◉"]
Yes. Left-eye dominant.
D
Deleted member 65559
Guest
Horatio, I am left handed and left-eye dominant. I have used rangefinders for decades....& always use my left eye....even with the small CL
coelacanth
Ride, dive, shoot.
I'm left-eyed & lefty in general to begin with, and also have a defect on my right eye so I have to use the left eye on rangefinder camera for sure. So I can't get that "see the real world with one eye while framing" thing that people say but I learned to live with that.
Phil_F_NM
Camera hacker
Very heavily left-eye dominant, due to a really good astigmatism in my right. I tried contacts years ago but never could get used to sticking my fingers in my eyes every morning. Besides, as a mechanic, it just wasn't the best option. Anyway, I've always used my left eye for focusing and framing. With cameras like the Nikon S2 and SP, I loved how I could keep both eyes open and reduce strain/squint/headaches because of their 1:1 viewfiinders.
Phil Forrest
Phil Forrest
cjm
Well-known
Same here.
Horatio
Masked photographer
Looks like I'm in good company! There's hope yet. 
charjohncarter
Veteran
I'm left eyed, and over the years it has become my poorest eye. But I can't go to my right eye.
Horatio
Masked photographer
That stinks. Have you considered TLRs?
hap
Well-known
Left eye dominant. If I use my right eye and leave left eye open, often lose the RF patch ...so no go.
Ronald M
Veteran
Left eye dominant and right handed. PITA. Can’t aim a shotgun. Can`t use a RF with both eyes. Probably why can’t play golf, tennis, baseball, or badminton.
Had an optometrist once whose job in WW2 was to screen applicants for aerial gunner. If left/right like I am, the Army did not spend 10 cents trying to train them. Guess they made them cooks or typists.
Had an optometrist once whose job in WW2 was to screen applicants for aerial gunner. If left/right like I am, the Army did not spend 10 cents trying to train them. Guess they made them cooks or typists.
PRJ
Another Day in Paradise
I usually use my right but I use my left too. Same difference to me really. Whatever side my nose fits on.
juraj_v
Member
I'm also left handed and left eye dominant and never used my right eye, regardless if it was an SLR or RF...until I bought a Canon P and discovered a whole new level of shooting experience, with both eyes open. It's very natural, like watching the usual reality, just with projected framelines. It gets a little time to master the technique, but it's worth it.
Scrambler
Well-known
It is dead easy to work out eye dominance. Wikipedia puts it at 30% left eye. I'm able to get a viewfinder to work with my right eye but left is easier and better for me.
There are some RFs designed to work better for a left eyed/left handed user. The Ensign Selfix 220 Auto-Range is the only one of these that I own. A cool camera though not really an interchangable lens.
At the SLR level, roll the camera right or left for vertical, whatever works. And for the left handed crew, the Exakta requires right hand focussing and left hand shutter release.
There are some RFs designed to work better for a left eyed/left handed user. The Ensign Selfix 220 Auto-Range is the only one of these that I own. A cool camera though not really an interchangable lens.
At the SLR level, roll the camera right or left for vertical, whatever works. And for the left handed crew, the Exakta requires right hand focussing and left hand shutter release.
CMur12
Veteran
I'm the same. My left eye used to be my better eye, but over the years it has become my weaker eye, possibly from the added burden of dominance. It feels very awkward to sight with my right eye, so I don't do it. This is one reason why I like waist-level finders.
I'm left-eye dominant, right-handed, and I lead with my left leg!
When I use any camera with an eye-level finder, including RF, I use my left eye. I never felt any reason not to.
When I was a kid, I had a helluva time trying to figure out why I couldn't get the hang of archery!
- Murray
charjohncarter
Veteran
I have some (TLRs) and they are much easier to use.
charjohncarter
Veteran
That's why I failed at archery, now I feel better.
Bingley
Veteran
Aother left-eye dominant rangefinder user, even though I’m otherwise right-handed...
Horatio
Masked photographer
Same here! Right-handed and left eye dominant.
Richard G
Veteran
I am heavily left eye dominant with partial amblyopia of the right eye due to childhood squint, attended to surgically in childhood but ineffective.
I used the left eye with the M2 and 50 for over fifteen years from the age of 17, and that’s with glasses on. But when the arrival of children required the addition of a fast 35 Summicron I couldn’t with glasses see those wonderful 35 frame lines. I could get closer to the VF with my right eye and with patience I was able to switch. It probably helped that I had to learn to use an ophthalmoscope in my early 20s. That necessitates using the right eye to examine the patient’s right eye. Even so, I presume anyone could switch camera eyes if I could.
I used the left eye with the M2 and 50 for over fifteen years from the age of 17, and that’s with glasses on. But when the arrival of children required the addition of a fast 35 Summicron I couldn’t with glasses see those wonderful 35 frame lines. I could get closer to the VF with my right eye and with patience I was able to switch. It probably helped that I had to learn to use an ophthalmoscope in my early 20s. That necessitates using the right eye to examine the patient’s right eye. Even so, I presume anyone could switch camera eyes if I could.