stormgirl_lp
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How does this affect your photography? How did your pain change your approach to photography? Did you have to give up things like landscape/wildlife photography?
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Does anyone else here deal with knee/back pain?
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thinkinginimages
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Cherry_F
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Thanks for the tip. Actually, I have stopped using the mouse. Up to now, the touchpad works better for me.
Another point is vision. Glasses help a lot... Up to now...
I'm afraid this thread will drift into a medical condition discussion. Inevitable, I guess, due to the average age of the members here. Is it good or bad? For gear manufacturers, maybe
thinkinginimages
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I see it all as ergonomics and accessibility. Before I retired I was a consultant for a tech company in NY. The "unusual questions" would often come my way. I realized that adaptive/assistive technology was a huge, untapped, area.Thanks for the tip. Actually, I have stopped using the mouse. Up to now, the touchpad works better for me.
Another point is vision. Glasses help a lot... Up to now...
I'm afraid this thread will drift into a medical condition discussion. Inevitable, I guess, due to the average age of the members here. Is it good or bad? For gear manufacturers, maybe
Don't give up and adapt to tech. You want tech to adapt to you. Just as an example: Wacom makes huge touchpads with programmable buttons. I have an old Intuos 5 Medium. The touchpad area is 8.8" X 5.5". That's a heck of a work area, and there's bigger. There's a control surface on the side for zooming. The reps are nice people, too.
If you have a tablet, you might also be able to adapt that to be a giant touchpad.
The things I have seen. There's also arduino tech...
It's a great topic. Maybe Adaptive/Assistive needs it's own forum.
InkedMarie
Senior Member
Amazon has a new white one with the 10-30 lens for $450. Used ones too.
Marie
yardcoyote
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I know several people with various hand/movement issues who use graphics pad devices as mouse replacements. This seems to work really well.
Adrian Harris
Veteran Member
Assuming this may be a new issue for you to deal with, and you have my sympathy. It will certainly affect you initially, but the good news is you will adapt.
When my back packed up I gave up macro for 7 years. When knees and ankles became arthritic my walking distance reduced dramatically, to the point that some days its limited to less than 100yds, but others I can eventually manage 2 miles as long as there are plenty of places to keep sitting down to recover.
This last 2 years I have returned to macro, but have to be very selective what I do.
I carry a small 'waterproofed' roll of sponge-foam to either sit, or lay on. It weighs nothing and as I have attached a shoulder strap it's easy to carry.
Getting back up is always tricky, it involves rolling over onto my knees first then pushing up with hands.
I never get down for a casual snap, so am selective what I try and shoot.
The big change which helped me to get back to macro being practical has without doubt been acquiring the 'olympus' OM1 camera. The stabilisation is staggeringl allowing hand held very high speed focus bracketed bursts. Meaning I don't need to stay in an awkward position for long periods. I don't need to carry a big tripod or motorised rail. Having a focus bracketed sequence means I can choose which to stack and depth of focus later when editing, etc, etc.
My kit has to be very light now. And for birds, butterflies, dragonflies and floeers/fungi, I find the OM1 + 100-400 zoom ideal. It fits in a small side bag. And if I want to do real 1:1 macro the tiny 60mm macro lens fits in a tiny pocket.
With this setup I can aldo stand (or sit) and hand hold the 400 zoom without need for a tripod.
For me lack of weight has been the major help in getting me back out there
Regarding landscape, I now nearly always look for places within a few hundred yards of the car. I mis the coastal walks, but am thrilled with what I can still do.
Best wishes.
thinkinginimages
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In terms of adaptive/assistive tech of any kind, even camera peripherals, I think the point I was aiming for was don't wait for someone to make something. Ask for "it", even if you don't know exactly what "it" is. With 3d printing, arduinos, STEM, kick off an idea and see where it goes. Send out lots of "I need", "can you help?" and "do you know who could?" messages.
DMKAlex
Veteran Member
We all are getting old. Some older than other. Eventually, we will lose all our stamina and strength. But before that, as long as you can walk a couple of hundred feet from your car, you can almost go anyway in the USA, which caters to people without too much walking. Naturally, hiking some adventurous trails is not on my agenda anymore.
I am 74 and would not hesitate going oversea, or any national parks. Locally, I go to the zoo, the botanical garden and various sites in the city.
About 5 years ago, I started to have some sore and weakness on my right leg. I long had a sore/weakness on my back from a car accident in my younger day. I started joining a gym with the Silver Sneaker program of medicare. I am glad that all those problem went away.
I also critically evaluate the lenses I need and trimmed it down to only two. I have a small shoulder bag to carry the one that's not mounted on the camera and some batteries. For my video, I use only the gimbal for a short lens when I walk around. For the heavy tripod I have a cart to tow it around.
I don't think I have to give up anything for my age yet. Hope that I can keep it up for another few more years.
stormgirl_lp
Active member
This is a super relevant question. Don't worry about taking the thread in that direction. I have an essential tremor myself and while it only causes me to fumble lightweight items (I HATE stryofoam cups), that will change in time. I'm watching responses here. This is also a good question for a new post. There may be more members with this condition who are not reading this thread.Thanks for the tip. Actually, I have stopped using the mouse. Up to now, the touchpad works better for me.
Another point is vision. Glasses help a lot... Up to now...
I'm afraid this thread will drift into a medical condition discussion. Inevitable, I guess, due to the average age of the members here. Is it good or bad? For gear manufacturers, maybe
chasg
Senior Member
Same with my 56 year old ex-martial arts knees!
A small square of 'anti-fatigue' mat makes an excellent kneepad
Hi Cherry.
I've personally noted that keeping the whole forearm on the table where my mouse is placed makes the mouse work very stabile. (And a 24" IPS ASUS monitor on the table, which I got for a very reasonable price). I have a traditional keyboard on a moveable "shelf" some 11,5 cm below the table surface. This way keyboard work and mouse work are very well working. Picture processing with the mouse works well. Some few times, when very small mouse movements are needed i might support the side of the mouse with the forefinger of the other hand, in order to achieve a very precise small movement of the mouse.
Working on the (integrated) keyboard of a laptop computer or the integrated mouse pad is however unnecessarily difficult, as the movement of the keys are extremely small and the mouspad hard to work on in a precise way. A pure touchscreen computer/tablet is still worse to work on, with no key movement whatsoever.
Concerning picture shooting with non stabile hands I have noted that the weight of the camera is extremely important to get stabile pictures, regardless the fact that all my cameras have IBIS. With a small light 1" Panasonic TZ100 there is no problem whatsoever. With a Pentax S-1 there is no problem with a light Pentax 18-55mm zoom. But already using a Tamron 17-50mm zoom which is only some 300-400g more heavy I note that it is more difficult to get stabile pictures :-|
regards
Jahn
I had some lower back problems after a few bad mountain bike crashes. Then diagnosed with diabetes which, when you read into it, can also cause issues with the lower back. Started doing some light yoga with positions that target that area, very easy to start with. Things have improved a lot, can carry a heavy backpack with heavy duty tripod, with camera and 600mm lens on separate strap for multiple hours hiking through Peak District. Before the yoga that would have not been possible. Obviously won’t work for everyone and get professional advice etc.
Anyone with knee problems should look into Ben Patrick, best known as 'Knees of Toes Guy'.
He basically re-introduce exercises that strengthen the tendons in the knees, making the knees both stronger and healthier.
I started doing them recently, especially for martial arts. I even got one of his books recently.
I hope these videos helps and inspire you. As for lower back pain, I don't think I ever suffer from lower back pain for a long time. That because
1. I don't over do it.
2. For the past few years I switched to Kettlebells and heavy clubs/mace and these build up stabilising muscles in the core by the weight being off centre/balance. In other words, I got a develop six pack and I don't do sit ups.
He basically re-introduce exercises that strengthen the tendons in the knees, making the knees both stronger and healthier.
I started doing them recently, especially for martial arts. I even got one of his books recently.
I hope these videos helps and inspire you. As for lower back pain, I don't think I ever suffer from lower back pain for a long time. That because
1. I don't over do it.
2. For the past few years I switched to Kettlebells and heavy clubs/mace and these build up stabilising muscles in the core by the weight being off centre/balance. In other words, I got a develop six pack and I don't do sit ups.
Cherry_F
Senior Member
Thanks for the tips! I plan buying a tele zoom to shoot birds, and I agree weight/balance matters, I converted to M 4/3 mainly for weight reasons. The thing is, one has to find the right combo balance, not too heavy, not too light.... I am happy I recently found a nice gear shop close to my place, the people here are very friendly, they spontaneously offered me to test various lens before I open my wallet... Of course prices there are a bit higher than those available on the web but I believe it's worth the gap.
Not maybe addressing photography exactly, but for the past 20 years I've discovered a better approach to dealing with such pain. Consult a pain doctor-specialist. My problem might have started when working summers in factories for college tuition, lifting things that I was not built for lifting. Years later, back surgery of lumbar 5 that evolved into a staph infection of the spine. Then years of prescription patches for chronic pain, given by a general practitioner. And finally now, a pain specialist arrives in the county who is taking a more systematic approach for my pain relief. Throughout all this, the drug patch use was controlled, but because of side effects I hope to find something "better". Good luck, in any case. Losing years of any amount of feeling in a body is not the best way to live.
Tl:dr: Yes, I've dealt with back pain. It did affect my photography severely. However I'm now almost pain free. I credit swimming/water exercise. I don't have to limit my photo excursions now, although the M43 kit I carry is relatively light.
Full version: In case it may help someone, this was my experience. I'm 72. A few years ago I had severe sciatic pain. At its worst I couldn't walk fifty feet without severe pain. I went through several rounds of physical therapy, with little relief. Oral steroids gave relief for a few weeks at best. A steroid injection in my back did not help. My doctor prescribed strong pain meds, which helped, but I chose to stop them, to avoid the well known issues.
I wanted to get some exercise, but anything weight bearing was excruciating. I occurred to me that swimming was not weight bearing. My wife and I went to the local YMCA, and in a few minutes we had free memberships, courtesy of Medicare and our supplemental insurance. We gradually worked up to about an hour of water exercise class and/or lap swimming, four or five days a week. In a couple of months I was almost free of pain, and have been so since.
Full version: In case it may help someone, this was my experience. I'm 72. A few years ago I had severe sciatic pain. At its worst I couldn't walk fifty feet without severe pain. I went through several rounds of physical therapy, with little relief. Oral steroids gave relief for a few weeks at best. A steroid injection in my back did not help. My doctor prescribed strong pain meds, which helped, but I chose to stop them, to avoid the well known issues.
I wanted to get some exercise, but anything weight bearing was excruciating. I occurred to me that swimming was not weight bearing. My wife and I went to the local YMCA, and in a few minutes we had free memberships, courtesy of Medicare and our supplemental insurance. We gradually worked up to about an hour of water exercise class and/or lap swimming, four or five days a week. In a couple of months I was almost free of pain, and have been so since.
NormSchultze
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I'm 82 with a compression fracture of the spine-which is healed. I second the referral to a Pain Specialist. I got a lot of relief from an xray guided injection. Not perfect but better. Now controlled w/ pills. The next step would be radio frequency ablation to "kill" the nerve that is causing the pain. We'll see if the plan will pay for it !
Chronic pain requires specialized knowledge and treatment. It just does.
Chronic pain requires specialized knowledge and treatment. It just does.
PhotoMac503
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Yes, until I got my weight down to a reasonable level.
Spending hours on post is not good for your health. That's a good reason to avoid spray and pray.
Nearly every photographer I know/see is overweight. It's not really an active hobby, and then a lot of people eat while doing post.
Also, carrying a sling/shoulder bag is not healthy, which is why I discourage their use.
Spending hours on post is not good for your health. That's a good reason to avoid spray and pray.
Nearly every photographer I know/see is overweight. It's not really an active hobby, and then a lot of people eat while doing post.
Also, carrying a sling/shoulder bag is not healthy, which is why I discourage their use.
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