Left, or Right? Which Eye Do You Use?

fjrabon · Mar 20, 2015

I'm like KmH. I shoot left eye except for sports where I keep my right eye in the viewfinder but keep my left eye open to see what's about to come into the frame.

My vision in my left eye is way better, so for normal shooting I use it to better judge what's through the viewfinder. But for sports there's such a huge advantage in shooting with both eyes open. Plus in sports, action is moving too fast to accurately judge focus and composition in minute detail anyway.

Msteelio91 · Mar 20, 2015

90% of the time, my right eye is the only one that's being used. This is mostly because it's nearly perfect in vision, and my left eye is terrible. However if I'm doing something with a lot going on I'll keep both eyes open in case my left eye catches something out of the viewfinder that's worth panning to.

TCampbell · Mar 21, 2015

I can use either, but prefer the left eye. There are a few advantages to shooting with the left eye because the camera body isn't symmetric -- the shutter button is on the right. My camera bodies are "gripped" which means I can actually use my left shoulder as a brace if shooting with the left eye. You can't really use the right shoulder as a brace when shooting right-eyed because the shutter button is on that side of the camera body (you'd need to be double-jointed to operate the camera.)

DarkShadow · Mar 21, 2015

Left.

NCspotter · Mar 21, 2015

It feels really unnatural for me to shoot with my right eye, so I use my left.

dennybeall · Mar 21, 2015

I'm also right eye dominant and shoot with my right hand and eye as well. Having spent my early learning time doing photojournalism I learned to keep the left eye open most of the time also. With "stuff" going on all around you it's a good thing to see what's happening at all times.

BrickHouse · Mar 21, 2015

I am right eye dominant and shoot rifles/pistols with my right eye but shoot my camera with my left eye. Not sure why, just feels more natural.

Gary A. · Mar 21, 2015

waday said:
Gary A. said:

Both.

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Eyebidextrous?

Yes ... lol. I use one eye for focusing and the other eye looking out for bodily harm and/or additional photo ops. As an example, when shooting an American football game. If the offense is on the right moving left, I will shoot with my right eye, keeping my left eye open and watching for a linebacker or D-Back speeding my way. If the offense is moving the other direction, from left to right, I'll focus with my left eye, keeping the right open watching for any potential impact and hopefully avoiding imminent death, destruction and an untimely doom.

407370 · Mar 22, 2015

Am I the only person that only uses the video display? I never shoot anything at eye level so find it really awkward to hold a camera to my face when lying on the ground for example.