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HANDLING THE CAMERA

Cameras which rely on screen viewing produce a distinctive ‘praying mantis’ posture. Some of these cameras are so small that it’s hard to get a decent two-handed grip, but two hands will always give better support than one.

Good handling, with the left hand supporting the lens. On a very wet day, the camera is in an Aquapac waterproof case. (Jon)

SLRs in particular are designed for shooting with the viewfinder. This gives an extra point of contact – the photographer’s head – and is therefore intrinsically more stable anyway. To get the very best support and access to camera controls, make sure the left hand is cupped underneath the lens, with the thumb and index finger forward.

This is really the best way to hand hold any camera, as long as the lens is large enough to allow it. The ergonomic advantages become even clearer when longer lenses are in play.

In this book, when we refer to focal lengths in the general text you can assume it’s ‘35mm equivalent’ unless we specifically say otherwise. So if we say 28mm we mean a moderate wide-angle and if we say 14mm we mean a pretty extreme wide-angle. To get a better idea of what this really means, take a look at the daffodil image opposite. This was taken on a full-frame DSLR, so the 12mm lens really is a 12mm (35mm equivalent).