Help! My pictures are crooked!

[5nap5hot]

I just got back my first roll with my new Bessa R3M. I have noticed that many of my horizons are crooked. I haven't used a real rangefinder before. Is it my framelines that are tilted or is because I am tilting the camera? I tried to crop my images using the corners of the viewfinder is there a distortion when looking to the corners for alignment? My lens is a Nokton 40/1.4.

[fishtek]

I did that when I first used my "R", too. The shutter button needs less force than you might think! Mostly, I think it just requires paying a bit more attention to the composition, then "squeezing the trigger" gently. It's a pretty small and light camera, and is easily tilted off level.

Regards!
Don

[Steve Litt]

I had the same problem and my first rangefinder was a Bessa R too.I bought a soft release from Cameraquest and got used to mentally checking eye centre and level before a gentle squeeze but soon it became second nature.

Regards
Steve

[5nap5hot]

I have a soft release already. I am not a heavy trigger guy. I had trouble seeing the corners of the 40 framelines. Maybe I tilted it when i was aligning the corner edges.
I seem to have lost the quick release plate for my tripod ...so i cant check it conclusively.
Do you guys use the framelines as a guide to make sure the pic is straight? For example aligning the frame line with the edge of a wall.

[KoNickon]

Some of the earlier Bessas had problems with misaligned framelines. I had thought this was fixed, but maybe not. It is after all the same design. If you determine that it isn't user error (and believe me, it's easy to not get the horizon straight), I'd send it back.

[5nap5hot]

Well .. I just went through all the frames I shot with the camera. (over 120 frames) They are all lower on the right hand side. ( the horizontally shot pics). I will check it on the tripod tomorrow...but there is definitely a trend. I am not a newbie photographer. I have shot thousands of frames.

[5nap5hot]

welp! I put it on a level counter and clicked the 75 frameline up. It seems to be level. I did notice that the angle of the line changes as your eye changes position. I clicked it to 40 to try to align the lines of a doorway in the side of the frame with the outer frameline... nope no alignment.
I take it that the framelines are NOT to be used for cropping an image. Just as guidelines.
I will just have to get used to how a rangerfinder works in this way

[ClaremontPhoto]

I'd say it's the force of your finger on the shutter release. I had the same problem.

Also, even if a horizon is just a tiny little bit tilted it looks bad. It's something to do with our visual perception.

Thank you Adobe for the Image | Rotate | Custom... item in Photoshop. I sometimes use 0.25 or 0.5 rotate left.

[5nap5hot]

Yes... I think you are right Jon. It is the finger side that is always lower. I need to be more gentle.

Thanks guys