The Upside Down DSLR

by Raoul Isidro

 

"People think I'm crazy, doing what I'm doing." John Lennon

 

Either no one has come out brave enough to admit doing it or they are all scared and ashamed to admit it. What? Using an SLR, be it digital or film, in an upside down way.

Ok, let's cut to the chase. I have been using SLR's in an upside down way even before digital. I used to do it on film SLR's. Now it's such a blast doing it upside down on new modern digital SLR's!

 

The benefits of using a DSLR in an upside down way:

·         Your nose will no longer be flattened.

·         Your screen monitor and menu buttons will no longer be drenched with your fluids.

·         You can actually see the ground  you're  walking on.

·         The foreground has never been so clear.

·         You can breathe again.

Of course, there are drawbacks and sacrifices:

·         You have to adjust to the new way of handling the camera.

·         Your unused arm muscles will be challenged.

·         People think you have gone off the rails.

·         People stop and pester you thinking you are using a new gadget.

·         Your family will disown you.  Specially on holidays.

If you are reading this article, then you are truly interested in using your camera. Why don't you just go ahead and grab it right now and see for yourself the great big difference? There is no harm, no one is looking (as yet).

 

You will have to get used to handling the camera in a way your body and mind has not experienced or accepted before. The shutter button will be on the left, the zoom will be on the right hand.

 

Major brand  camera makers will have a lot of following should they invent a DSLR that would free up squashing your face against the back of the camera. They should have done this a long time ago. It's called thinking outside the box... the light box.

 

 

"The greatest camera in the world is the one you hold in your hands when shit happens."

Raoul Isidro

 

 

 

 

Some technical notes, disclaimers, and the usual fluff:

I won't be responsible if you break your camera trying to do this stuff. Cameras should be able to take inverted gravity as part of their design. If you drop your camera, then go check your health and see a doctor or something. The same also goes with you having pulled muscles or cramps trying to operate the gadget in a new position. It's called Yoga or equivalent.

Serious note:

The modern camera's Exposure Metering will go crazy and insane with the upside down method and produce weird exposures. If you are able, switch to Center Weighted metering to produce normal exposures.