# Extreme angles photography. Which tools to use?



## John Thomas (Jan 3, 2013)

Hi all,

We do enough extreme angle photos and I mean here by "extreme angle" the low angle shots (significantly lower than the eye level) and the high angle shots where the photog needs to keep the camera above of his head.

Unfortunately, as you know, 5D3 has a fixed rear screen, so we are forced to use a "trial-and-error" technique to do our shoots.

However we did some research and we found till now that there are several gadgets to help here. I will list them in the following lines with my observations, their pros and cons, (according with my (humble) opinion of course) inviting you to add / modify / delete the list. Let the ball roll:

- Right Angle Finders. Something like this one:

http://www.amazon.com/Seagull-Finder-Minolta-Olympus-cameras/dp/B000CS40WY

Cheap, good raport price / value. However these things are 90 degrees only. Also they cannot extend. It would be very nice if there would be a product which will have an extensible arm (or should I say... leg?) which optionally would change its angle at, let's say 45 degrees, in order to give more flexibility in camera positioning. 

A plus is that the thing is optical, hence fast low-light AF, no batteries, small in size, lightweight etc.

As an aside note, "360 degrees rotation" from the product's spec means for me that it rotates in the parallel plane with the camera rear not on the perpendicular one. 


- Field Monitors. Something like this:

http://www.lcd4video.com/lcd4video-7-hd-lcd-monitor-kit-w-dv-battery-adapter-silver-package/

Way bigger and heavier than the previous option (the above is an 7" monitor). Perhaps a 5" one would be a better choice. Also, perhaps it would be a fragile option for a photojournalist. Needs battery (ok, I can cope with that). Also, it uses the HDMI output which means that it will use the LiveView engine hence the AF will be slower (even if I use the Quick more) and the camera's battery will drain faster.

Any thoughts here?

- Mirror. A simple mirror. See discussion here:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/diyphotographynet/discuss/72157624847895646/

I think it is a very good idea however I think that the camera won't be so steady since one of the hands will keep the mirror. No, I cannot use always a tripod.

Any comments? Thoughts? Better options? Better products?

TIA for your feedback


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## neuroanatomist (Jan 3, 2013)

I have the Canon Angle Finder C, which is the OEM version of the Seagull finder you linked (and probably provides better optics than the 3rd party versions). It's useful for on-the-ground and general macro shooting, IMO, less useful for over the head shots.


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## John Thomas (Jan 3, 2013)

...also, after a few more digging I found these:

1.
http://flipbac.com/angle-viewfinder-about.htm

Very nice and cheap, but it seems that it wouldn't last long. Also it won't fit on 5D3's 3.2" screen. (perhaps an email to them can "fix" that).

and

2.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2013-NEW-VARAVON-Mark3-Mark2-MULTI-FINDER-3-5-LCD-Straight-Low-Angle-View-/230903965200

priceeeey ...however an interesting idea. Well executed, imho. For over the head you must turn the camera upside down tough.


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## paul13walnut5 (Jan 3, 2013)

Hahnel inspire?

Only downside (depending on your region and your camera usage) is that it needs the camera set to NTSC video mode.

Can give you approx view and retain cams AF potential or actual live view, but with attendant concessions to AF in live view mode.


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## picturesbyme (Jan 3, 2013)

Freelancer posted a link about the new 24-70 4IS and while I couldn't care less about that lens I found the lv solution interesting.

http://www.traumflieger.de/reports/Videos/Traumflieger-DSLR-Woche/das-neue-Canon-24-70mm-4-0-im-Test-Teil-1-DSLR-Wo-14-1::386.html

http://www.traumflieger.de/shop/::961.html

I used an Asus Transformer before but a larger android like my tbolt would be good enough so I might look into that one too...


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## AdamJ (Jan 4, 2013)

Pixel makes a wireless live-view monitor. I don't have one so can't say how good it is.

http://www.pixelhk.com/Proshow.aspx?id=111


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## nightsky87 (Jan 4, 2013)

Even with my 60D before, I never really got around to using the vari-angle screen. Instead, I'd take my Google Nexus 7 tablet and hook it up to the camera. With DSLR Controller on the device, you can control the camera from the tablet so you don't have to keep moving the camera to change settings.

All you need would be:
- Tablet (I like the Nexus 7... and its cheap!)
- USB on-the-go (OTG) cable (this connects USB devices to the tablet)
- camera USB cable
- DSLR Controller for Android (cheap software)

Quite a cheap and lightweight solution if you ask me... at least compared to external monitors!


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## Atonegro (Jan 4, 2013)

For situations where I can't use an angle-finder, I use my Zigview.
Has a lot of other nice features too.

http://www.shutterbug.com/content/zigview-s2-add-live-view-intervalometer-and-motion-sensing-your-d-slr-compact-device

http://www.dphotojournal.com/zigview-s2-digital-angle-finder/


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## EDV (Jan 4, 2013)

Right now I am checking out the new CamRanger system from http://www.camranger.com So far it is only for iOS devices but they say they are working on Android and OS X versions as well. 

I am using it with an EOS 1D X


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## John Thomas (Jan 5, 2013)

There is also Phottix Hero Remote View which is interesting:

http://martybugs.net/blog/blog.cgi/gear/PhottixHeroLiveViewWirelessRemote.html

---------------------------
@Atonegro:

How do you find the image crop of the Zigview S2?


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