SLR for someone with bad hands/arthritis

[jmooney]

In my experience (and I've been living with the same condition almost all my life) dials and knobs are not all that bad. Indeed less bad than the four-fingered AF-lock-AE-lock-exposure-override-release routine of the modern pro AF SLR - a single incapacitated finger on the right hand and the ergonomics of the current pro camera fall apart...

You hit the nail on the head sevo...I was getting along pretty well with whatever I had but the base knuckle on my right index finger blew up within the last month so things have changed a bit. I'm down to 3 unaffected fingers and when I was at the rheumotologist last month he used the term "rapidly progressing" which I didn't care much for....

I've been living with this for about 16 years now but for some reason it's gone in to overdrive in the past year.

The ole press-squeeze-turn-do-the-hokey-pokey required on most digicams is a pain, literally.

 

[jmooney]

Jim, when your hands are misbehaving, do you get any shake? If so then something with image stabilisation (which both Nikon and Canon offer in their lenses - not sure about Minolta) might tip the balance.

I've always liked Nikon's ergonomics - I have the F80 and it's good. Also it's not too small if you have larger hands.

If you have smaller hands and don't need image stabilisation, I recently came across a Pentax MZ-5 with 35-80/4-5.6 kit lens and it's very good also: lightweight (plastic) body, KAF2 metal mount, choice of MF/AF, aperture ring on lens or via body control wheel (depending on legacy or modern lens), shutter dial and exposure compensation dials on top, motorised film loading advance and rewind, P/A/S/M. The only fiddly things are the small lever for metering mode and perhaps the interlock buttons on the top dials - which have to be pressed to change EC and to select/deselect the A position on the shutter speed dial. It's just a little larger than the OM1.

Thankfully shake in not an issue for me. I had an F80 in past...I may have to revisit that. I'll check out the Pentax as well.

 

[jmooney]

Having dealt with this for while, I will lay out some experiences and you can interpolate them for your situation as needed. i have some additional hand injury in addition to arthritis so what I need may be different for you. For me, I do not have a problem with knobs and dials, in fact, a large easy to manipulate knob or dial can be easier and less painful than a small button or constant pressing, which is actually more painful on the my bad days where fine motor control is a dream. On a bad day, I have to limit what I do with the iPad. For me camera weight is an issue with any prolonged use because of the strain on hands. My hands are fairly large. By controls I mean aperture, shutter speed, and loading film mainly.

Canon A-1 -> grip +, weight +, controls are meh, because of how they are executed except film loading which is good
Canon FTB QL -> grip is iffy, but good deal otherwise if serviced and lubed
Nikon F3 -> grip -, with MD-4 way too heavy, controls + except rewinding film
Leica R4-> grip ok, with winder feels like it puts odd stresses on hand and wrist
Leicaflex SL -> the odd shape makes it easy to hold which mitigates the weight issue somewhat (that was a surprise), controls are really easy to manipulate - the shutter wheel is surprisingly easy, the 2-cam lenses are really heavy though
Olympus OM 1&2 -> these are my favorites as aperture and shutter are in a line and large control so less stress on the hands overall, with a case the grip is good (my preferred) or with an empty winder (no batteries) which allows a large grip with virtually no weight gain - however, the film rewind button which is not great best of days is a really nasty on the bad ones.

You may also find that the throw on lenses matters. The Leica R have a long throw which means more turning of the lens when focusing which can be painful in itself at times. Hope some of that is useful.

Thanks for all this great info, especially about the long throw of the Leica lenses I wasn't aware of that. I had actually considered the R8 because of the crazy shape which looks like it would work well but the cost is prohibitive at this point.

 

[jmooney]

I wish you get better, autoimmune diseases s*ck.

I also recommend a Maxxum body. Nice big grips, the eye focus might help, great auto exposure and auto everything modes, and you can pick between a light body like the 7000i or a heavy one like the Maxxum 9. Good battery life time, and easy to change film and battery, too. Great and affordable lenses, too.

Roland.

Thanks! and yes, they do in fact s*ck greatly....

I'm going to spend some time researching the Maxxums...they seem to be a high vote getter here and I've never really looked in to them before.

 

[jmooney]

I also wanted to say thank you as well for all the good wishes and I want to extend the same to my fellow sufferers.

Off to Google and KEH! 🙂

Jim

 

[Addy101]

KEH has 15% off for Minolta stuff as we speak. If you decide on one of those.

 

[Kenj8246]

Speaking as someone who's 30 years into a rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis with two total knee replacements and a right shoulder, I find that bigger cameras, within reason, are preferable.

That said, if your doctor is amenable and it's indicated, I can also wholeheartedly recommend Enbrel. It has changed my life for the better.

Kenny

 

[Gregoyle]

I think that any camera which allows you to use it with a minimum of hand and finger clenching and unclenching would most likely be the most comfortable to use over a long period of time.

To me this means automation. AF would likely be better than MF, and program modes would be better than manual modes, as far as comfort is concerned.

Honestly, digital sounds like the answer you are looking for. If something the form factor of the D700 is about right for you but cost is an issue, you might consider one of the older full-sized APS-C DSLRs from Canon or Nikon (Canon 40D, 50D, 7D, etc., Nikon D300, D7000).

If you would like to have more manual control without hurting your joints as much, consider older prime lenses (so no zooming in and out) with aperture rings, used in Aperture Priority, for example the Nikon AF-D lenses. That way you would be able to maintain a similar hand position when changing aperture to holding the camera normally.

The higher-end Nikon film bodies like the F100, F6, or F5 might work nearly as well, although truly I think if developing film caused me pain each time I did it I might just go with digital.

I hope some of that helps.

-Greg

 

[Chris101]

Thankfully shake in not an issue for me. I had an F80 in past...I may have to revisit that. I'll check out the Pentax as well.

An N/F80 would be one I would surely look at. Pick an AFS lens to use with it, and it will be quiet as well. I especially like that it has auto-everything. Even film loading can be done with minimal interaction. They are cheap, light and take a lot of lenses, so your creativity will not suffer.

 

[Bill Clark]

Suggest a camera with auto most everything. Auto exposure, film advance, easy loading and unloading if film. Kind of like the old Kodak ad that said, "you push the button and we do the rest!"

 

[David Hughes]

Hi,

The problem with the right forefinger could be solved with a old fashioned flash bracket meant for a TLR.

I mean the sort like a letter "L" where the short arm was a nice fat hand grip and the long arm of the letter was a metal bar with a slot and a tripod screw. They often came with a cable release that terminated in the fat hand grip and could be used left handed and the shutter fired via the cable release with the left hand. You see them on ebay from time to time but they never seem to sell.

Now all that's needed is a camera that has AF, auto loading and that takes an old fashioned screw in cable release.

BTW, wasn't there a thing for Hasselbads that went round the focussing ring and gave it a large sticking out tab? Intended for Arctic conditions etc but probably easily made with a cable tie and something for the tab bit...

Hope this helps.

Regards, David

 

[Gary Sandhu]

The mamiya 7 for 120 and the F6 for film 35 - both have comfortable hand grips and not too heavy.

 

[Orbiter]

I would think the challenge of loading film might be something that would figure in your decision. The Konica FT-1 has an easy, automatic system for loading film, and a built-in motor drive for advancing film. I found one with a nice 50 mm f1.4 lens for around $100, a real bargain. Something to consider, especially since the Konica lenses are so terrific and the camera is fairly light.

 

[farlymac]

Okay then, Jim. Might I suggest one of the Canon T series cameras? T-50, 70, or 90. (The 60 and 80 were sort of first run types for AF, and don't really work very well in that capacity, and their lenses are hard to find)

The T-50 is basically a Program only, the T-70 adds Shutter and Aperture Priority modes, and the T-90 is similar to the Nikon N90 with a larger grip and battery compartment. More real estate for your hands, simple film loading, built in drive, and they take the FDn lenses (which are available, inexpensive, lighter, and easier to mount than the older FD ones).

Oh, and to help keep the inflammation in check, drink a tumbler full of cherry juice each day. It has made an improvement with my hands (I've got the regular Arthur's Ittis, but it comes from damage over the years).

Good luck with the search, and Happy New Year!

PF

 

[waynec]

I've got a camera for you that will probably work just right for your situation and I'll sell it for $10 + shipping. It's a Minolta 7000I and it's in E+ condition. It has a big grip that's angled and it's pretty easy to hold. It has a nice big screen with 85% magnification and shoots great.

 

[Skiff]

This place is great. Thank you all for the wonderful info. I will answer some questions individually now since people took the time to write. I knew I get some great info here.

As a general answer to many: My hands are fairly big (I'm 6'1" 260) and on good days I could use just about anything but I need to plan for the bad days because they are becoming more frequent and the disease just spread to the base knuckle on my right index finger and since I'm right handed this has opened up a bunch of new issues hence my question.

If I had to name my style it would be documentary in that I photography what's around me and what I come across and of course my wife and daughters so I don't have any really specialised needs other than a wide normal lens and a box to hold the film 🙂

I do have a digital camera but it's small (Sony a3000) as are most cameras these days and this was a problem even when my hands were much better. A D700 or similar would be great but it's not in the budget and I prefer film when I can shoot it. My wife has taken over a lot of the digisnap needs with her D3100.

So that's where I'm at and as I said individual responses forthcoming...

Jim

Hi Jim,
In this situation with bigger hands and the preference for film an ergonomically perfect film camera makes most sense:
Nikon F6.
Best ergonomics of all 35mm SLRs.
With an outstanding performance in all other areas, too.
It can be easily handled even if some fingers are not working properly.
E.g. loading the film is even possible with one hand only.